Pontosaurus

Name: Pontosaurus.
Phonetic: Pon-toe-sore-us.
Named By: Gorjanovic-Kramberger‭ ‬-‭ ‬1892.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Squamata,‭ ‬Anguimorpha,‭ ‬Pythonomorpha.
Species: P.‭ ‬lesinensis (type‭)‬,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬kornhuberi.
Diet: Piscivore/Carnivore.
Size: 1‭ ‬meter long.
Known locations: Croatia and Lebanon.
Time period: Cenomanian/Turonian‭? ‬of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: At least‭ ‬2‭ ‬individuals.

       Pontosaurus was a semi aquatic lizard with an extremely elongated body that features a laterally compressed tail around twice the length of the body.‭ ‬Pontosaurus is so snake-like that it is considered to represent the form of reptiles that were ancestral to snakes,‭ ‬though was probably not the ancestor due to its late appearance in the fossil record.‭ ‬Additionally semi aquatic lizards similar to Pontosaurus are thought to have given rise to the mosasaurs of the late Cretaceous.
       Pontosaurus was originally named as Hydrosaurus,‭ ‬but this had already been used to name a genus of agamid lizard.

Further reading
- A new species of Pontosaurus (Squamata, Pythonomorpha) from the Upper Cretaceous of Lebanon and a phylogenetic analysis of Pythonomorpha. - Memorie della Societa Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano 34:1-42. - M. W. Caldwell - 2006.

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