Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 23, 2026

Bavarisaurus

Bavarisaurus is an extinct genus of basal squamate found in the Altmühltal Formation near Bavaria, Germany. It is the only genus in the family Bavarisauridae.

Last revised
Jun 23, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
303 w
Citations
11
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Bavarisaurus
Temporal range: Late Jurassic,
Life reconstruction
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: †Bavarisauridae
Genus: †Bavarisaurus
Hoffstetter, 1953
Species:
†B. macrodactylus
Binomial name
†Bavarisaurus macrodactylus
Synonyms
  • "Bavariasaurus" (sic)
  • Homoeosaurus macrodactylus Wagner, 1852

Bavarisaurus ('Bavarian lizard') is an extinct genus of basal squamate found in the Altmühltal Formation near Bavaria, Germany.1 It is the only genus in the family Bavarisauridae.

Discovery and naming

The holotype is BSPHM 1873 III,2 and part of the holotype is now lost.1 It was initially identified as a species of Homoeosaurus as H. macrodactylus by Wagner (1852).3 A second partial specimen was tentatively assigned to B. macrospondylus by Ostrom (1978),4 and Evans (1994) also identified fragmentary skull material belonging to Bavarisaurus.5

A fossil skeleton found in the stomach region of a Compsognathus, a small theropod dinosaur,6 was originally assigned to the genus by Ostrom (1978),4 but was renamed to Schoenesmahl by Conrad (2018).7

Classification

It is the only genus in the Bavarisauridae family.47

References

References

  1. Bavarisaurus at Fossilworks.org
  2. Hoffstetter, R. (1953). Les sauriens anté-cretacées. - Bull. Mus. nat. Hist. natur., 25:345-352, 1 Abb.
  3. Wagner, J. A. (1852). Neu-aufgefundene Saurier-Überreste aus den lithographischen Schiefern und dem obern Jurakalke. München: Verl. d. Akad. S. [661] - 710, Bl. XVII - XX
  4. Ostrom J. (1978). The osteology of Compsognathus longipes Wagner. Zitteliana 4: 78–118.
  5. Evans, S. E. (1994-06-10). "The Solnhofen (Jurassic: Tithonian) lizard genus Bavarisaurus. New skull material and a reinterpretation". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 192 (1): 37–52. doi:10.1127/njgpa/192/1994/37. ISSN 0077-7749.
  6. Nopcsa, F. (1903). "Neues ueber Compsognathus". Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie. 16: 476–494.
  7. Conrad, J.L. (2018). "A new lizard (Squamata) was the last meal of Compsognathus (Theropoda: Dinosauria) and is a holotype in a holotype". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 183 (3): 584–634. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx055.

Media related to Bavarisaurus at Wikimedia Commons