Cryptolacerta

{{Short description|Extinct genus of lizards}} {{Italic title}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Eocene, {{fossilrange|47}} | name = ''Cryptolacerta'' | image = Cryptolacerta.png | image_caption = | taxon = Cryptolacerta | authority = Müller ''et al.'', 2011 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * †''C. hassiaca'' <small>Müller ''et al.'', 2011 (type)</small> }}

'''''Cryptolacerta''''' (Ancient Greek and Latin for "Hidden lizard" – κρυπτς or ''crypto'' meaning "hidden" and ''lacerta'' meaning "lizard") is an extinct genus of lacertoid lizard which lived during the Eocene epoch (Lutetian stage, about 47 million years ago) in what is now Germany. It is known from a nearly complete and articulated skeleton including the skull, which was found in the Messel Pit locality of Germany. ''Cryptolacerta'' was named by Johannes Müller, Christy A. Hipsley, Jason J. Head, Nikolay Kardjilov, André Hilger, Michael Wuttke and Robert R. Reisz in 2011 and the type species is ''Cryptolacerta hassiaca''. Cladistic analysis conducted by Müller ''et al.'' suggests that ''Cryptolacerta'' is a sister taxon to Amphisbaenia.<ref name=Crypolacerta>{{cite journal |last=Müller |first=Johannes |author2=Christy A. Hipsley |author3=Jason J. Head |author4=Nikolay Kardjilov |author5=André Hilger |author6=Michael Wuttke |author7=Robert R. Reisz |year=2011 |title=Eocene lizard from Germany reveals amphisbaenian origins |journal=Nature |volume=473 |issue= 7347|pages=364–367 |doi=10.1038/nature09919 |pmid=21593869|bibcode=2011Natur.473..364M |s2cid=205224382 }}</ref> However, later studies questioned its closeness to that group, and suggested that the similarities could be convergent due to both groups having a similar burrowing lifestyle, and it may be more closely related to Lacertidae instead.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tałanda |first=Mateusz |date=January 2016 |title=Cretaceous roots of the amphisbaenian lizards |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/zsc.12138 |journal=Zoologica Scripta |language=en |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1111/zsc.12138|s2cid=85570915 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Lacertoidea Category:Eocene lizards Category:Fossil taxa described in 2011 Category:Fossils of Germany Category:Prehistoric reptile genera