Aigialosauridae

Artistic reconstruction of live Aigialosaurus dalmaticus

• Europe

Aigialosaurier ( Aigialosauridae ) were medium sized, adapted to an aquatic life diapside reptiles from the Late Jurassic ( Tithonian ) to Early Cretaceous ( Turonian ) lived on the coasts of Europe. An incomplete skull comes from the Tithonian of southern Germany, several skeletons from deposits of the Cenomanian and Turonian of the one found in Yugoslavia.

Features

Her skull resembles that of the mosasaurs. The eight cervical vertebrae and the postcranial skeleton of the extant monitor lizards. The limbs are somewhat reduced, but not yet converted to the fins as mosasaurs. The long tail is compressed laterally and at the very end, like ichthyosaurs, bent downward.

System

The monophyly of the Aigialosaurier is not secured, they may be the sister group of the mosasaur, or is a group of primitive mosasaurs.

Genera

• Aigialosaurus
• Carsosaurus
• Coniasaurus
• Opetiosaurus
• Proaigialosaurus