Are modern cryptic species detectable in the fossil record? A case study on agamid lizards

Comparisons of extant and extinct biodiversity are often dependent on objective morphology-based identifications of fossils and assume a well-established and comparable taxonomy for both fossil and modern taxa. However, since many modern (cryptic) species are delimitated mainly via external morphology and/or molecular data, it is often unclear to what degree fossilized (osteological) remains allow classification to a similar level. When intraspecific morphological variation in extant taxa is poorly known, the definition of extinct species as well as the referral of fossils to extant species can be heavily biased, particularly if fossils are represented by incomplete isolated skeletal elements. This problem is especially pronounced in squamates (lizards and snakes) owing to a lack of osteological comparative knowledge for many lower taxonomic groups, concomitant with a recent increase of molecular studies revealing great cryptic diversity. Here, we apply a quantitative approach using 3D..., , , # Electronic supplement \"Are Modern Cryptic Species Detectable in the Fossil Record? A Case Study on Agamid Lizards\"

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mkkwh717w](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mkkwh717w)

## Description of the data and file structure

This supplementary dataset contains data crucial for understanding the results and discussion of our study. It includes specimen metadata and surface models of the included agamid specimens, as well as results of all analyses. In addition we provide custom R code to repeat certain analyses.

### Files and variables

#### File: File\_S1\_-\_Metadata\_for\_the\_included\_specimens.xlsx

**Description:** Metadata for the included specimens. The table further contains explanations of institutional abbreviations, abbreviations and the cited papers.

##### **Table Columns**

* spec_ID: this column contains a specimen specific ID including an abbreviation of the taxonomic name (the first three letters of genus and species name) as well as institutio...