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Information about Clidastes

Clidastes
Fossil range: Late Cretaceous

Image of Clidastes from 1919.
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Sauropsida
Order:Squamata
Suborder:Lacertilia
Family:Mosasauridae
Subfamily:Mosasaurinae
Tribe:Mosasaurini
Genus:Clidastes Cope, 1868
Species
  • C. propython Cope, 1869 (neotype)
  • C. iguanavus Cope, 1868
  • C. liodontus Merriam, 1894
  • C. "moorevillensis" Bell, 1997
Clidastes is an extinct genus of sea lizard in the mosasaur family.

Clidastes was the smallest of the mosasaurs, averaging 2-4 meters (7-12 feet) in length, with the largest specimens reaching 6.2 meters (20 feet) long.

Clidastes was an agile and fast swimmer that cruised the surface or shallow waters hunting for fish, flying reptiles and anything that got too close. It possessed a delicate and slim form with an expansion of the neural spines and chevrons near the tip of the tail and this enabled it to chase down the fastest of prey.

References

  • Cope, E.D. 1868. On new species of extinct reptiles. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 20: 181.
  • Cope, E.D. 1869.On the reptilian orders, Pythonomorpha and Streptosauria. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 12: 250–266.
  • ICZN, 1993. Opinion 1750. Clidastes Cope, 1868 (Reptilia, Sauria): C. propython Cope, 1869 designated as the type species. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 50: 297.
  • Merriam, J.C. 1894. Ueber die Pythonomorphen der Kansas−Kreide. Palaeontographica 41: 1–39.
  • Kiernan, C.R. 1992.Clidastes Cope, 1868 (Reptilia, Sauria): proposed designation of Clidastes propython Cope, 1869 as the type species. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 49: 137–139.
Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya) refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white chalk cliffs of southern England, which date from this time. Rocks deposited during the Late Cretaceous Period are referred to as the Upper Cretaceous Series.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1880s  1890s  1900s  - 1910s -  1920s  1930s  1940s
1916 1917 1918 - 1919 - 1920 1921 1922

Year 1919 (MCMXIX
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conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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For other uses of the term, see Fossil (disambiguation)


FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under the DOS operating system.
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Sauropsida ("lizard-face") is a group of amniotes that includes reptiles, dinosaurs, and birds. Among amniotes, sauropsida is distinguished from theropsida ("beast-face"), also called synapsids.

Taxonomy

Classification to order level, after Benton, 2004.
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Squamata
Oppel, 1811

black: range of Squamata


Suborders
see text

This article is about the Squamata order of reptiles. For the Roman scale armour see: Lorica squamata.

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Lacertilia*
Günther, 1867

Families

Many, see text.

Lizards are reptiles of the order Squamata, normally possessing four legs, external ear openings and movable eyelids.
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Mosasauridae
Gervais, 1853

Subfamilies

Halisaurinae
Mosasaurinae
Plioplatecarpinae
Tylosaurinae

Mosasaurs (from Latin Mosa meaning the 'Meuse river' in the Netherlands, and Greek sauros
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Mosasaurinae

Mosasaurinae (Gervais, 1853; Williston, 1897) is a subfamily of mosasaurs, a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine squamates.

Russell (1967, pp.
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In biology, a type is that which fixes a name to a taxon. Depending on the nomenclature code which is applied to the organism in question, a type may be a specimen, culture, illustration, description or taxon.
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