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Čerňanský A, Stanley EL, Daza JD, Bolet A, Arias JS, Bauer AM, Vidal-García M, Bevitt JJ, Peretti AM, Aung NN, Evans SE. A new Early Cretaceous lizard in Myanmar amber with exceptionally preserved integument. Sci Rep 2022; 12:1660. [PMID: 35102237 PMCID: PMC8803969 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05735-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
We here report on a well-preserved juvenile lizard specimen in Albian amber (ca. 110 mya) from the Hkamti site (Myanmar). This new taxon is represented by an articulated skull and the anterior portion of the trunk, including the pectoral girdle and forelimbs. The scleral ossicles and eyelid are also visible, and the specimen exhibits pristine detail of the integument (of both head and body). In a combined molecular and morphological analysis, it was consistently recovered as a scincoid lizard (Scinciformata), as sister to Tepexisaurus + Xantusiidae. However, the phylogenetic position of the new taxon should be interpreted with caution as the holotype is an immature individual. We explored the possibility of miscoding ontogenetically variable characters by running alternative analyses in which these characters were scored as missing data for our taxon. With the exception of one tree, in which it was sister to Amphisbaenia, the specimen was recovered as a Pan-xantusiid. Moreover, we cannot rule out the possibility that it represents a separate lineage of uncertain phylogenetic position, as it is the case for many Jurassic and Cretaceous taxa. Nonetheless, this fossil offers a rare opportunity to glimpse the external appearance of one group of lizards during the Early Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrej Čerňanský
- Department of Ecology, Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, 84215, Bratislava, Slovakia.
| | - Edward L Stanley
- Department of Natural History, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Juan D Daza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
| | - Arnau Bolet
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - J Salvador Arias
- Unidad Ejecutora Lillo (CONICET, Fundación Miguel Lillo), San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Aaron M Bauer
- Department of Biology and Center for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Stewardship, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA
| | - Marta Vidal-García
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - Joseph J Bevitt
- Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Sydney, Australia
| | - Adolf M Peretti
- GRS Gemresearch Swisslab AG, Baumschulweg 13, 6045, Meggen, Switzerland
- Peretti Museum Foundation, Baumschulweg 13, 6045, Meggen, Switzerland
| | - Nyi Nyi Aung
- Peretti Museum Foundation, Baumschulweg 13, 6045, Meggen, Switzerland
- Myanmar Geosciences Society, c/o Department of Geology, University of Yangon, 11041, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - Susan E Evans
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, UK
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Ascarrunz E, Sánchez-Villagra MR. The macroevolutionary and developmental evolution of the turtle carapacial scutes. VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.3897/vz.72.e76256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The scutes of the carapace of extant turtles exhibit common elements in a narrow range of topographical arrangements. The typical arrangement has remained constant since its origin in the clade Mesochelydia (Early Jurassic), after a period of apparent greater diversity in the Triassic. This contribution is a review of the development and evolutionary history of the scute patterns of the carapace, seen through the lens of recent developmental models. This yields insights on pattern variations in the fossil record. We reinterpret the “supracaudal” scute and propose that Proganochelys had five vertebral scutes. We discuss the relationship between supramarginal scutes and Turing processes, and we show how a simple change during embryogenesis could account for origin of the configuration of the caudal region of the carapace in mesochelydians. We also discuss the nature of the decrease in number of scutes over the course of evolution, and whether macroevolutionary trends can be discerned. We argue that turtles with complete loss of scutes (e.g., softshells) follow clade-specific macroevolutionary regimes, which are distinct from the majority of other turtles. Finally, we draw a parallel between the variation of scute patterns on the carapace of turtles and the scale patterns in the pileus region (roof of the head) of squamates. The size and numbers of scales in the pileus region can evolve over a wide range, but we recognized tentative evidence of convergence towards a typical configuration when the scales become larger and fewer. Thus, typical patterns could be a more general property of similar systems of integumentary appendages.
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Lara-Tufiño JD, de Oca ANM. A New Species of Night Lizard of the Genus Lepidophyma (Xantusiidae) from Southern Mexico. HERPETOLOGICA 2021. [DOI: 10.1655/herpetologica-d-21-00019.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- José Daniel Lara-Tufiño
- Laboratorio de Herpetología, Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P. 04510, CDMX, México
| | - Adrián Nieto-Montes de Oca
- Laboratorio de Herpetología, Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P. 04510, CDMX, México
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A New Species ofLepidophyma(Squamata: Xantusiidae) from the Pacific Lowlands of Guerrero, Mexico. J HERPETOL 2018. [DOI: 10.1670/17-061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Noonan BP, Pramuk JB, Bezy RL, Sinclair EA, Queiroz KD, Sites JW. Phylogenetic relationships within the lizard clade Xantusiidae: Using trees and divergence times to address evolutionary questions at multiple levels. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2013; 69:109-22. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2013.05.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2012] [Revised: 05/15/2013] [Accepted: 05/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Smith KT, Gauthier JA. Early Eocene Lizards of the Wasatch Formation near Bitter Creek, Wyoming: Diversity and Paleoenvironment during an Interval of Global Warming. BULLETIN OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2013. [DOI: 10.3374/014.054.0205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Gauthier JA, Kearney M, Maisano JA, Rieppel O, Behlke AD. Assembling the Squamate Tree of Life: Perspectives from the Phenotype and the Fossil Record. BULLETIN OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2012. [DOI: 10.3374/014.053.0101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 352] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Zug GR, Gotte SW, Jacobs JF. Pythons in Burma: Short-tailed python (Reptilia: Squamata). P BIOL SOC WASH 2011. [DOI: 10.2988/10-34.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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Smith KT. The Evolution of Mid-Latitude Faunas During the Eocene: Late Eocene Lizards of the Medicine Pole Hills Reconsidered. BULLETIN OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2011. [DOI: 10.3374/014.052.0101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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