A new clevosaurid (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia) from the Upper Triassic of India

A new clevosaurid rhynchocephalian is described from the Upper Triassic Tiki Formation of the Rewa Gondwana Basin of India. The material is based on several partial craniomandibular elements containing acrodont and fully ankylosed tooth implantations and on the basis of multiple diagnostic features is assigned to a new taxon, Clevosaurus nicholasi. Phylogenetic analysis nests the Tiki rhynchocephalian within the clade Clevosauridae, where it is recovered as an early-diverging taxon basal to the other clevosaurs except for a clade comprising C. convallis + Sigmala sigmala. The autapomorphic characters of Clevosaurus nicholasi include a very robust dentary with an obliquely angled narrow lip of the secondary bone at the symphysis, anteriorly bifurcated Meckelian canal, a sub-dental shelf on the dentary, acrodont marginal anterior teeth, and absence of or smooth lateral and medial wear facets on the marginal dentary and maxillary teeth, respectively. The Late Triassic rhynchocephalian record of the Gondwana is relatively sparse in comparison with that of the Laurasian regions, and the new clevosaur represents the first Late Triassic record from India. Based on the paleobiogeographic distribution, a possible Gondwanan origin for Clevosauridae is hypothesized.