Night of the New Papers

["Jerry D. Harris" <jharris@dixie.edu>]

Seemed apropos for a couple new lepidosaur papers:

First, that seriously gorgeous little iguanian from the Gobi finally gets a 
name and description (_Saichangurvel_) and reveals the existence of a clade 
of Asian iguanians (Gobiguania):

Conrad, J.L., and Norell, M.A. 2007. A complete Late Cretaceous iguanian 
(Squamata, Reptilia) from the Gobi and identification of a new iguanian 
clade. American Museum Novitates 3584:1-47. doi: 
10.1206/0003-0082(2007)3584[1:ACLCIS]2.0.CO;2.

ABSTRACT: Iguania is a diverse clade with an incompletely known fossil 
record. Here, we describe and name the earliest iguanian known from a 
complete skeleton. The specimen (IGM 3/858) comes from Ukhaa Tolgod (Upper 
Cretaceous of Mongolia) and offers important insights into the evolutionary 
history of iguanian osteology. The new taxon is diagnosed by a combination 
of character states, including the presence of a frontoparietal fontanelle, 
absence of an enlarged nuchal fossa, and unflared tooth crowns. We performed 
a cladistic analysis including 54 taxa scored for 202 informative 
morphological characters. A strict consensus of 46 shortest recovered trees 
reveals that the new taxon is a basal member of a previously unidentified 
clade of Cretaceous iguanians, probably endemic to the Gobi. This clade of 
Gobi iguanians is nested within a monophyletic Pleurodonta (non-acrodontan 
iguanians).


Then another Late Cretaceous sphenodontian pops up in Argentina:


Apesteguía, S., and Rougier, G.W. 2007. A late Campanian sphenodontid 
maxilla from northern Patagonia. American Museum Novitates 3581:1-11. doi: 
10.1206/0003-0082(2007)3581[1:ALCSMF]2.0.CO;2.

ABSTRACT: At the end of the Early Cretaceous the once abundant 
sphenodontians vanished from the Laurasian record and were thought to have 
become virtually extinct, with the sole exception of Sphenodon, the living 
tuatara. Recent findings of large and abundant eilenodontine sphenodontids 
in the Early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) and fragmentary material 
from other lineages from Late Campanian outcrops of Patagonia, Argentina, 
have demonstrated that sphenodontids constituted an important component of 
the Late Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems in South America and possibly 
Gondwana. Although eilenodontine and possibly sapheosaurine sphenodontids 
are present in the Late Cretaceous of Gondwana, they were only part of an 
unknown southern radiation. We report here on a new sphenodontid, 
Lamarquesaurus cabazai, n. gen. et sp., which is represented by an 
incomplete right maxilla that represents a previously unknown 
non-eilenodontine lineage and illustrates the diversity and role of 
sphenodontians in the tetrapod communities of the Late Mesozoic of South 
America.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry D. Harris
Director of Paleontology
Dixie State College
Science Building
225 South 700 East
St. George, UT  84770   USA
Phone: (435) 652-7758
Fax: (435) 656-4022
E-mail: jharris@dixie.edu
and     dinogami@gmail.com
http://cactus.dixie.edu/jharris/

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