Rhineurids Temporal range: Paleocene - Present,
| |
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Rhineura floridana | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Clade: | Amphisbaenia |
Family: | Rhineuridae Vanzolini, 1951 |
Genera | |
†Archaerhineura |
Rhineuridae is a family[1] of amphisbaenians (commonly called worm lizards) that includes one living genus and species, Rhineura floridana,[2] as well as many extinct species belonging to both Rhineura and several extinct genera. The living R. floridana is found only in Georgia and Florida,[3] but extinct species ranged across North America, some occurring as far west as Oregon. The family has a fossil record stretching back 60 million years to the Paleocene[4] and was most diverse in the continental interior during the Eocene and Oligocene.[5]