Re: Fwd: Re: Dominant Mesozoic varanids?

[Jonathon Woolf <jwoolf@erinet.com>]

Larry Dunn wrote:
 
<snip>

> >I'm sure some smart Alec is going to say 'Mosasaurus'.
> 
> Not so smart, actually.  That response A) totally ignores the context of
> the question and B) skips over the fact that the mosasaur-varanid
> connection has been called into question lately.  I believe that
> mosasaurs are now thought to have been more closely related to snakes.

Yes and no.  Last I heard, mosasaurs are still considered to be
_descended_ from varanids.  However, on the evidence of the 'legged
snake' _Pachyrachis_, mosasaurs are thought to be ancestral or at least
a sister-group to snakes.  

-- Jon W.