Coniophis

{{Automatic taxobox

| taxon = Coniophis

| fossil_range = Turonian-Priabonian
~{{fossil range|94|34}}

| authority = Marsh, 1892

| image = Coniophis holotype Marsh 1892.png

| image_alt = Holotype vertebra of Coniophis precedens

| image_caption = Holotype vertebra of Coniophis precedens

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

Coniophis carinatus Hecht, 1959Coniophis Marsh, 1892 in GBIF Secretariat (2017). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist Dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2018-04-06.{{cite web|author1=|title=Coniophis|url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=38081|website=Fossilworks|access-date=17 December 2021|language=English}}
Coniophis cosgriffi Armstrong-Ziegler, 1978
Coniophis dabiebus Rage & Werner, 1999
Coniophis platycarinatus Hecht, 1959
Coniophis precedens Marsh, 1892

}}

File:Coniophis.jpg

Coniophis is an extinct genus of snakes from the late Cretaceous period. The type species, Coniophis precedes, was about 7 cm long and had snake-like teeth and body form, with a skull and a largely lizard-like bone structure.{{cite journal |last=Marsh |first=O.C.|year=1892|title=Notice of new reptiles from the Laramie formation|url=https://archive.org/details/b2230552x|journal=American Journal of Science|volume=43|issue=257|page=449|doi=10.2475/ajs.s3-43.257.449|bibcode=1892AmJS...43..449M|s2cid=131291138}} It probably ate small vertebrates. The fossil remains of Coniophis were first discovered at the end of the 19th century in the Lance Formation of the US state of Wyoming, and were described in 1892 by Othniel Charles Marsh. For the genus Coniophis, a number of other species have been described. Their affiliation is, however, poorly secured, mostly based on vertebrae descriptions from only a few fossils.

Fossil distribution

Fossils of Coniophis have been found in:

;Cretaceous

Milk River and Frenchman Formations, Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan)
Intertrappean Beds, India
Wadi Milk Formation, Sudan
United States
Hell Creek Formation, Montana
Fruitland Formation, New Mexico
Naturita, Cedar Mountain, Straight Cliffs, Kaiparowits and Wahweap Formations, Utah
Lance Formation, Wyoming

;Paleocene

Santa Lucía Formation (Tiupampan), Bolivia
Jbel Guersif Formation, Morocco
Fort Union Formation, Montana, United States

;Eocene

Itaboraí Formation, Brazil
France
Aït Ouarhitane Formation, Morocco
United States
Chadron Formation, North Dakota
Bridger, Wagon Bed and Wasatch Formations, Wyoming

References

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Sebastián Apesteguía, Hussam Zaher: {{lang|en|A Cretaceous Terrestrial Snake with Robust Hindlimbs and a Sacrum.}} In: {{lang|en|Nature}} 440, 2006. {{doi|10.1038/nature04413}}, S. 1037–1040.
Judy Gail Armstrong-Ziegler: {{lang|en|An Aniliid Snake and Associated Vertebrates from the Campanian of New Mexico.}} In: {{lang|en|Journal of Paleontology}} 52 (2), 1978. S. 480–483.
Marc Augé, Jean-Claude Rage: {{lang|en|Herpetofaunas from the Upper Paleocene and Lower Eocene of Morocco.}} In: {{lang|fr|Annales de Paléontologie}} 92, 2006. {{doi|10.1016/j.annpal.2005.09.001}}, S. 235–253.
Richard Estes: {{lang|en|Middle Paleocene lower vertebrates from the Tongue River Formation, Southeastern Montana.}}In: {{lang|en|Journal of Paleontology}} 50, 1976. S. 500–520.
Richard C. Fox: {{lang|en|Fossil Snakes from the Upper Milk River Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Alberta.}} In: {{lang|en|Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences}} 12, 1975. S. 1557–1563.
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J. Alan Holman: {{lang|en|Fossil Snakes of North America. origin, Evolution, Distribution, Paleoecology.}} Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2000. {{ISBN|0-253-33721-6}}.
Nicholas R. Longrich, Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, Jacques A. Gauthier: {{lang|en|A Transitional Snake from the Late Cretaceous Period of North America.}} In: Nature, 2012. {{doi|10.1038/nature11227}}, S. 1–4.
Nicholas R. Longrich, Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, Jacques A. Gauthier: {{lang|en|Supplementary Material.}} In: Nature, 2012. {{doi|10.1038/nature11227}}, S. 1–10.
Othniel Charles Marsh: {{lang|en|Notice of New Reptiles from the Laramie Formation.}} In: {{lang|en|American Journal of Science, Series 3}} 43, 1892. S. 449–453.
Paul Orman McGrew, Max K. Hecht, John M. Hummel, George Gaylord Simpson, Albert Elmer Wood: {{lang|en|The Geology and Paleontology of the Elk Mountain and Tabernacle Butte Area, Wyoming.}} In: {{lang|en|Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History}} 117, 1959. S. 117–176. ([http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/1970//v2/dspace/ingest/pdfSource/bul/B117a03.pdf?sequence=1 Volltext])
Jean-Claude Rage: {{lang|fr|Le Gisement du Bretou (Phosphorites du Quercy, Tarn‐et‐Garonne, France) et Sa Faune de Vertebres de l'Eocene Superieur.}} In: Palaeontographica Abteilung A 25, 1988. S. 3–27.
Jean-Claude Rage, C. Werner: {{lang|en|Mid‐Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Snakes from Wadi Abu Hashim, Sudan: The Earliest Snake Assemblage.}} In: Palaeontologia Africana 35, 1999. S. 85–110.
Jean-Claude Rage, Guntupalli V.R. Prasad, Sunil Bajpai: {{lang|en|Additional Snakes from the Uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of India.}} In: {{lang|en|Cretaceous Research}} 25, 2004. {{doi|10.1016/j.cretres.2004.02.003}}, S. 425–434.
Jean-Claude Rage, Marc Augé: {{lang|en|Squamate Reptiles from the Middle Eocene of Lissieu (France). A Landmark in the Middle Eocene of Europe.}} In: Geobios 42, 2010. {{doi|10.1016/j.geobios.2009.08.002}}, 253–268.