Named By: | M. Venczel & V. A. Codrea in 2015 |
Time Period: | Late Cretaceous (early Maastrichtian) |
Location: | Romania - Sanpetru Formation |
Size: | Roughly estimated to have been about 80 centimetres long |
Diet: | Insectivore |
Fossil(s): | Single skull |
Classification: | | Chordata | Reptilia | Squamata | Teiidae | |
Barbatteius is an extinct genus of teiid lizard represented by the type species Barbatteius vremiri from the Late Cretaceous of Romania. B. vremiri was named in 2015 on the basis of a well preserved skull from the Hateg Basin and differs from other teiids in having more prominent osteoderms covering the skull roof. It is also large for a teiid, with an estimated total body length of 80 centimetres (31 in). Barbatteius lived on Hateg Island during the early Maastrichtian stage and was part of an isolated island fauna. However, its close affinities with teiids from Gondwana and its co-occurrence with paramacellodid and borioteiioid lizards from Euramerica suggests that Hateg Island was colonized by lizards multiple times from many different areas of the world.