Ardeosauridae

Conrad, Jack 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, pp. 584-634 : 620

Ardeosauridae

I offer a revised systematic definition for Ardeosauridae : all taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with A. brevipes than with Ba. macrodactylus , G. gecko , L. viridis , Sci. scincus , An. fragilis or Bo. constrictor . As used here, Ardeosauridae includes three specimens usually referred to as Ardeosaurus , including the cast of the holotype of A. brevipes (NHM PR 38006), the specimen referred to it described in Mateer (1982; PMU.R58) and the specimen considered in Estes (1983) to be A. cf. digitatellus (SNSB-BSPG 1923 I 501). Note that the latter specimen is nearer to the A. brevipes than it is to the holotype of ‘ Ardeosaurus ’ digitatellus , which is more closely related to scleroglossans and eichstaettisaurids. Ardeosauridae , here, also includes P. bavarica and S. dyspepsia .

The present analysis recovers three unambiguous ardeosaurid synapomorphies.

1. A well-developed posteroventral process is present on the jugal (character 48, state 0).

2. There is no lateral flange of the parietal at the frontoparietal suture (character 72, state 0).

3. The humerus possesses a hook-like and postglenoid process (character 407, state 1).