Priscagama

Priscagama
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 84.9–70.6 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: †Priscagamidae
Genus: †Priscagama
Borsuk-Białynicka and Moody, 1984
Type species
†Priscagama gobiensis
Borsuk-Białynicka and Moody, 1984[1]

Priscagama (meaning "earliest Agama" in Latin) is an extinct genus of iguanian lizard from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia[1] and China.[2] It belongs to an extinct family of iguanians called Priscagamidae[3] (or subfamily Priscagaminae[2][4]). Several incomplete skulls have been found in the Barun Goyot and Djadochta formations, and were originally referred to the genus Mimeosaurus; the type species Priscagama gobiensis was named in 1984 when it was recognized that these skulls belonged to a distinct species.[1] Priscagama differs from most other priscagamids in having a more elongate, lightly built skull. It is very similar in appearance to another priscagamid called Pleurodontagama, as the two can only be distinguished by the shape of their teeth.[4]

  1. ^ a b c Borsuk-Białynicka, M.; and Moody, S.M. (1984). "Priscagaminae, a new subfamily of the Agamidae (Sauria) from the Late Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 29 (1–2): 51–81.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference fossilworks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference AVR89 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Gao, K.; and Norell, M. (2000). "Taxonomic composition and systematics of late Cretaceous lizard assemblages from Ukhaa Tolgod and adjacent localities, Mongolian Gobi Desert". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 249: 1–117. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2000)249<0001:TCASOL>2.0.CO;2. hdl:2246/1596. S2CID 129367764.