The first iguanian lizard from the Mesozoic of Africa

The fossil record shows that iguanian lizards were widely distributed during the Late Cretaceous. However, the biogeographic history and early evolution of one of its most diverse and peculiar clades (acrodontans) remain poorly known. Here, we present the first Mesozoic acrodontan from Africa, which also represents the oldest iguanian lizard from that continent. The new taxon comes from the Kem Kem Beds in Morocco (Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous) and is based on a partial lower jaw. The new taxon presents a number of features that are found only among acrodontan lizards and shares greatest similarities with uromastycines, specifically. In a combined evidence phylogenetic dataset comprehensive of all major acrodontan lineages using multiple tree inference methods (traditional and implied weighting maximum-parsimony, and Bayesian inference), we found support for the placement of the new species within uromastycines, along with Gueragama sulamericana (Late Cretaceous of Brazil). The new fossi...化石记录显示，鬣蜥类蜥蜴（iguanian lizards）在晚白垩世时期分布广泛。然而，其多样性与特殊性最为突出的演化支之一——顶齿蜥类（acrodontans）的生物地理历史与早期演化，目前仍所知甚少。在此，我们报道了非洲地区首例中生代顶齿蜥类化石，同时也是该大陆迄今发现的最古老鬣蜥类蜥蜴标本。该新分类单元产自摩洛哥凯姆凯姆地层（Kem Kem Beds），地质时代为晚白垩世森诺曼期（Cenomanian），依据一块部分下颌骨化石建立。该新类群具备多项仅见于顶齿蜥类蜥蜴的特征，且与棘蜥亚科（uromastycines）的亲缘关系最为密切。在涵盖所有主要顶齿蜥类支系的整合证据系统发育数据集中，我们采用多种系统发育树推断方法（传统最大简约法、加权最大简约法以及贝叶斯推断（Bayesian inference））开展分析，结果支持新物种与巴西晚白垩世的圭拉加玛蜥（Gueragama sulamericana）一同归入棘蜥亚科。本次发现的新化石...