Diablophis
| Diablophis Temporal range: Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian),
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Family: | †Parviraptoridae |
| Genus: | †Diablophis Caldwell et al., 2015 |
| Type species | |
| †Diablophis gilmorei (Evans, 1996)
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| Synonyms | |
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Species synonymy
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Diablophis (lit. 'devil snake') is an extinct genus of reptiles belonging to the enigmatic family Parviraptoridae, known from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. The type and only species, D. gilmorei was once thought to be a species of Parviraptor,[1] but is was classified as its own genus in 2015. At this point, the taxon was regarded as a member of the stem snake lineage. Diablophis is known from multiple specimens, the holotype being LACM 4684/140572, which consists of a broken right mandible, broken right maxilla and broken axis vertebrae. A number of other specimens have also been attributed to Diablophis, including LACM 4684/140572 and LACM 5572/120732 (the specimens previously attributed to Parviraptor), and LACM 4684/120472.[2]
In 2025, Benson and colleagues described a new parviraptorid, Breugnathair, known from much more complete remains. While these authors did not rule out snake affinities for parviraptorids, they proposed other possible placements for the clade, including as stem squamates (in which case they would have convergently evolved their snake-like anatomy) or as early toxicoferans outside of Ophidia.[3]
Phylogeny
[edit]Diablophis has been recovered as a stem snake, though this placement is disputed. The cladogram from Caldwell et al. (2015) is replicated below.[2]
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References
[edit]- ^ Evans, S.E. (1996). "Parviraptor (Squamata: Anguimorpha) and other lizards from the Morrison Formation at Fruita, Colorado". The Continental Jurassic. 60: 243–248.
- ^ a b Caldwell, M.W.; Nydam, R.L.; Palci, A; Apesteguía, S (2015). "The oldest known snakes from the Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous provide insights on snake evolution". Nature Communications. 6: 5996. doi:10.1038/ncomms6996. hdl:11336/37995.
- ^ Benson, Roger B. J.; Walsh, Stig A.; Griffiths, Elizabeth F.; Kulik, Zoe T.; Botha, Jennifer; Fernandez, Vincent; Head, Jason J.; Evans, Susan E. (October 1, 2025). "Mosaic anatomy in an early fossil squamate". Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09566-y. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 12629976.