Lariosaurus

Lariosaurus is an extinct genus of nothosaurid from the Middle Triassic (late Anisian to late Ladinian stage) of central and western Europe and China. With a complete specimen of L. xingyiensis measuring 70.5 cm (2.3 ft) long and L. hongguoensis possibly measuring up to 80 cm (2.6 ft) long, it was one of the smallest known nothosaurs. First discovered at Perledo on the Lake Como in 1830, it was named in 1847 by Curioni, its name meaning "Lizard from Larius", the ancient name of the lake. This makes it one of the earliest studied reptiles from the Alps. It is known from an almost complete skeleton holotype and several other fairly complete fossils. The nothosaur Eupodosaurus, initially classified as a stegosaurian dinosaur, is now considered synonymous with Lariosaurus. In 1998 Rieppel synonymised Lariosaurus, Silvestrosaurus and Ceresiosaurus, but this is disputed by many authors and they are usually considered close relatives.