Hyphalosaurus
| Hyphalosaurus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, | |
|---|---|
| Fossil specimen, on display at the National Museum of Natural Science | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Choristodera |
| Family: | †Hyphalosauridae |
| Genus: | †Hyphalosaurus Gao, Tang & Wang 1999 |
| Type species | |
| †Hyphalosaurus lingyuanensis Gao, Tang & Wang, 1999 | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Hyphalosaurus (meaning "submerged lizard") is a genus of freshwater aquatic reptiles, belonging to the extinct order Choristodera. They lived during the early Cretaceous period (late Barremian to early Aptian age), about 123-120 million years ago. The genus contains two species, H. lingyuanensis from the Yixian Formation and H. baitaigouensis from both the Yixian and Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning Province, China. They are among the best-known animals from the Jehol Biota, with thousands of fossil specimens representing all growth stages in scientific and private collections.