Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

Journal of Paleontology

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by RIEPPEL, O. Articles by GRANDE, L. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

THE ANATOMY OF THE FOSSIL VARANID LIZARD SANIWA ENSIDENS LEIDY, 1870, BASED ON A NEWLY DISCOVERED COMPLETE SKELETON

¹ Department of Geology, The Field Museum, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496, orieppel{at}fieldmuseum.org, lgrande{at}fieldmuseum.org

The skeleton of a newly discovered, exceptionally preserved specimen of Saniwa ensidens is described in detail. The fossil consists of a complete articulated skeleton exposed in dorsal view. It adds important additional information to our knowledge of the anatomy of this fossil varanoid taxon, including a detailed description of the dermatocranium in dorsal view, complete vertebral counts, and a detailed account of the appendicular skeleton. Cartilage preservation allows the identification of treacheal rings, sternum, inscriptional ribs, epicoracoid and suprascapula. Patches of skin are preserved on dermal skull bones, and scattered scales surround the entire skeleton. Incomplete ossification of carpal and tarsal elements, as well as of epiphyses, indicate that the specimen is not fully mature.