Lepidosaur collection

Fossil skeleton of the mosasaur Platycarpus ictericus — Part of the fossil skeleton of the mosasaur *Platycarpus ictericus*. This 83- to 81-million-year-old specimen is from Kansas, USA

The Museum's lepidosaur collection contains the fossilised remains of lizards and snakes, including many specimens from Britain.

Collection strengths

Mesozoic collections

Our lepidosaur collection includes contains important type material of Early Cretaceous lizards from the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, UK, and Late Cretaceous mosasaurs from Europe, North America and New Zealand.

The collection also holds the gliding lizard Kuehneosaurus from Triassic fissure sites in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, UK.

Tertiary collections

Tertiary material includes two unique Lower Miocene amphisbaenids from Rusinga Island, Kenya:

Listromycter.
Lophocranion.

Since the 1980s we have acquired a large number of Eocene lizards and snakes through:

the donation of the Gardner Collection from Hordle in Hampshire, UK, in 1981
an extensive programme of staff collecting from Eocene and Oligocene localities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, UK.

Country of origin

Britain, Europe, North America, New Zealand, Kenya

A fossil specimen of Homoeosaurus maximiliani, a Sphenodontid lizard which dates back to the Triassic period. This specimen was discovered at the Kimeridgian Lithographic stone, Kelheim, Bavaria.
A cast of the type skeleton of Ardeosaurus brevipes a fossil reptile from the Lithographic Limestone, Kimmeridgian, Workerstzell, Bavaria, Germany. Dating back the Upper Jurassic period about 150 mya.