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Eocene lizard from Germany reveals amphisbaenian origins

唐唐添加于 2011-5-22 04:24 | 3109 次阅读 | 0 个评论

作者
Müller J, Hipsley CA, Head JJ, Kardjilov N, Hilger A, Wuttke M, Reisz RR
摘要
Amphisbaenia is a speciose clade of fossorial lizards characterized by a snake-like body and a strongly reinforced skull adapted for head-first burrowing1, 2. The evolutionary origins of amphisbaenians are controversial, with molecular data uniting them with lacertids3, 4, a clade of Old World terrestrial lizards, whereas morphology supports a grouping with snakes and other limbless squamates5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Reports of fossil stem amphisbaenians10 have been falsified11, and no fossils have previously tested these competing phylogenetic hypotheses or shed light on ancestral amphisbaenian ecology. Here we report the discovery of a new lacertid-like lizard from the Eocene Messel locality of Germany that provides the first morphological evidence for lacertid–amphisbaenian monophyly on the basis of a reinforced, akinetic skull roof and braincase, supporting the view that body elongation and limblessness in amphisbaenians and snakes evolved independently. Morphometric analysis of body shape and ecology in squamates indicates that the postcranial anatomy of the new taxon is most consistent with opportunistically burrowing habits, which in combination with cranial reinforcement indicates that head-first burrowing evolved before body elongation and may have been a crucial first step in the evolution of amphisbaenian fossoriality.
详细资料
- 文献种类: Journal Article
- 期刊名称: Nature
- 期刊缩写: Nature
- 期卷页: 2011年第473卷第7347期 364-367页
- ISBN: 0028-0836
学科领域农业科学 » 畜牧兽医科学
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