title: The first iguanian lizard from the Mesozoic of Africa.
abstract: 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 withGueragama sulamericana(Late Cretaceous of Brazil). The new fossil supports the previously hypothesized widespread geographical distribution of acrodontans in Gondwana during the Mesozoic. Additionally, it provides the first fossil evidence of uromastycines in the Cretaceous, and the ancestry of acrodontan iguanians in Africa.
authors.affiliation: CEBBAD (CONICET), Fundación de Historia Natural 'Félix de Azara' , Universidad Maimónides , Hidalgo 775, 7°p (1405), Buenos Aires , Argentina.
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0414-0524
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Apesteguía
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences , Sam Houston State University , 1900 Avenue I Lee Drain Building Suite 300, Huntsville, TX 77341-2116 , USA.
authors.forename: Juan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Daza
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences , University of Alberta , Edmonton, Alberta , Canada T6G2E9.
authors.forename: Tiago R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.affiliation: CR2P, Sorbonne Universités, UMR 7207 CNRS, CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle , Université Paris 6, CP 38, rue Cuvier, 75231, Paris cedex 05 , France.
authors.forename: Jean Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rage
keywords: Acrodonta; Cretaceous; Gondwana; Squamata; biogeography; phylogeny