| Deccansaurus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Infraorder: | Scincomorpha |
| Clade: | Cordyliformes |
| Genus: | †Deccansaurus Yadavet al, 2023 |
| Species: | †D. paleoindicus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Deccansaurus paleoindicus Yadav, Bajpai, Maurya & Čerňanský, 2023 | |
Deccansaurus ("Deccan Traps lizard") is anextinctgenus ofscincomorphan (potentially a stem-cordyliform)lizard from the latestCretaceous or earliestPaleocene ofIndia. A singlespecies is known,D. paleoindicus, represented byjaws and someosteoderm fragments from theIntertrappean Beds of theDhar district inMadhya Pradesh.[1]
The morphology ofDeccansaurus suggests that it was a distant relative of modernskinks. In addition, it shares close similarities with members of the cladeCordyliformes (represented in the modern day byCordylidae andGerrhosauridae from mainlandAfrica andMadagascar), which would potentially mark the first occurrence of this group from theIndian subcontinent, which at the time was anisland continent that had split from Madagascar several million years prior. An extinct cordyliform,Konkasaurus, is also known from the latest Cretaceous of Madagascar and shares many features withDeccansaurus, indicating close similarities between the faunas of India and Madagascar at the time and their shared ancestries.[1][2][3]