Morphology of Funiusaurus luanchuanensis (Squamata, Polyglyphanodontia) based on new material
- 11 Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, 100044;2 Henan Natural History Museum Zhengzhou, 450016
Abstract
Polyglyphanodontia is a successful clade of squamates thriving during the Late Cretaceous. They were widely distributed in Asia, North America and possibly some other regions, and are highly diverse in taxonomy, morphology and ecology. Although the clade is better known to have many large herbivores, quite a few small insectivorous species were described from all the main localities where polyglyphanodontian fossils were found. Funiusaurus luanchuanensis from the Upper Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Henan Province, China is one of them. Previously, it was described based only on a nearly complete but relatively fragmentary skull which therefore provided limited morphological information. Herein we add a great amount of anatomical data of this species based on high-resolution computerized tomography data of a new completely preserved skull and several other cranial and postcranial specimens, especially of the palate, braincase, vertebral column and limbs. The new data of Funiusaurus will help to build a more comprehensive phylogenetic data matrix of Polyglyphanodontia in the future, and further clarify the evolutionary history of body size or diet shift within the clade.
Related
- Endocranial morphology in worm lizards (Amphisbaenia, Squamata): multiple neuroanatomical solutions to a fossorial lifestyle
- Cx3cr1-BAC-CRE-mediated knockout of toll-like receptor 4 alters mouse communicative behaviors, microglial morphology, and engulfment of synaptic material
- The Impact of Substrate Properties on the Kinematics of Locomotion in a Limb‐Reduced Skink, Ablepharus kitaibelii (Squamata: Scincidae)
- A new species of Diploderma (Reptilia, Squamata, Agamidae) from eastern Xizang, China
- Garamaudo bauciensis, a new freshwater Mosasauridae (Reptilia, Squamata) from the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) of Provence, southeastern France
BibTeX
@article{dongliping2026morphology,
title = {{Morphology of Funiusaurus luanchuanensis (Squamata, Polyglyphanodontia) based on new material}},
author = {DONG Li-Ping, LI Jie, CHANG Fei, HAN Ye, LIU Di, WANG Yuan},
journal = {古脊椎动物学报 (中英文版)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.260814},
url = {https://doi.org/10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.260814},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Morphology of Funiusaurus luanchuanensis (Squamata, Polyglyphanodontia) based on new material
AU - DONG Li-Ping, LI Jie, CHANG Fei, HAN Ye, LIU Di, WANG Yuan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - 古脊椎动物学报 (中英文版)
DO - 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.260814
UR - https://doi.org/10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.260814
AB - Polyglyphanodontia is a successful clade of squamates thriving during the Late Cretaceous. They were widely distributed in Asia, North America and possibly some other regions, and are highly diverse in taxonomy, morphology and ecology. Although the clade is better known to have many large herbivores, quite a few small insectivorous species were described from all the main localities where polyglyphanodontian fossils were found. Funiusaurus luanchuanensis from the Upper Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Henan Province, China is one of them. Previously, it was described based only on a nearly complete but relatively fragmentary skull which therefore provided limited morphological information. Herein we add a great amount of anatomical data of this species based on high-resolution computerized tomography data of a new completely preserved skull and several other cranial and postcranial specimens, especially of the palate, braincase, vertebral column and limbs. The new data of Funiusaurus will help to build a more comprehensive phylogenetic data matrix of Polyglyphanodontia in the future, and further clarify the evolutionary history of body size or diet shift within the clade.
SN - 2096-9899
ER -