Tetrapodophis

Tetrapodophis (Greek meaning "four-footed snake") is an extinct genus of lizard from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) aged Crato Formation of Brazil. It has an elongated snake-like body, with four disproportionately short limbs.

Tetrapodophis has been considered by some authors to be one of the oldest members of Ophidia; the taxonomic group which includes snakes and some of their closest extinct relatives. However, this classification has been disputed by some other authors, who identify Tetrapodophis as a dolichosaurid. The exact phylogenetic placement of Dolichosauridae is also disputed. Dolichosaurids could be related to Ophidia, which would mean that Tetrapodophis is indeed related to snakes, albeit more distantly than previously thought. Alternatively, dolichosaurids could be more closely related to mosasaurs.