Derasmosaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Albian}}

| image = 9182 - Milano - Museo storia naturale - Derasmosaurus pietraroiae - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto 22-Apr-2007 (cropped).jpg

| image_caption =

| genus = Derasmosaurus

| species = pietrarojae

| parent_authority = Barbera and Macuglia, 1988

| authority = Barbera and Macuglia, 1988

}}

Derasmosaurus is an extinct monotypic genus of rhynchocephalian known from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) aged Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy. The only species in the genus is Derasmosaurus pietrarojae. It was originally considered to be a specimen of Lacerta brevicauda by Costa in 1866, it was later considered a specimen of the lizard Chometokadmon fitzingeri by D'Erasmo in 1915. It was described as a distinct rhynchocephalian genus in 1988.C. Barbera and L. Macuglia. 1988. Revisione dei tetrapodi del Cretacico Inferiore di Pietraroia (Matese Orientale, Benevento) appartenenti alla collezione Costa del Museo di Paleontologia dell'Università di Napoli [Revision of the tetrapods from the Lower Cretaceous of Pietraroia (Eastern Matese, Benevento) belonging to the Costa collection of the Paleontological Museum of the University of Naples]. Memorie della Società Geologica Italiana 41(1):567-574 It is distinct from other indeterminate rhynchocephalians found in the Plattenkalk.{{Cite journal|last1=Cau|first1=Andrea|last2=Baiano|first2=Mattia A.|last3=Raia|first3=Pasquale|date=May 2014|title=A new sphenodontian (Reptilia, Lepidosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous of Southern Italy and the phylogenetic affinities of the Pietraroia Plattenkalk rhynchocephalians|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195667114000081|journal=Cretaceous Research|language=en|volume=49|pages=172–180|doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2014.02.001}} It is considered to be aquatically adapted, and possibly a member of the Pleurosauridae.{{Cite journal|last1=Simões|first1=Tiago R.|last2=Caldwell|first2=Michael W.|last3=Pierce|first3=Stephanie E.|date=2020-12-07|title=Sphenodontian phylogeny and the impact of model choice in Bayesian morphological clock estimates of divergence times and evolutionary rates|url= |journal=BMC Biology|language=en|volume=18|issue=1|pages=191|doi=10.1186/s12915-020-00901-5|issn=1741-7007|pmc=7720557|pmid=33287835 |doi-access=free }}