Miocene skinks and geckos reveal long-term conservatism of New Zealand's lizard fauna | Zendy

Michael S. Y. Lee | Zendy; Mark N. Hutchinson | Zendy; Trevor H. Worthy | Zendy; Michael Archer | Zendy; Alan J. D. Tennyson | Zendy; Jennifer P. Worthy | Zendy; R. Paul Scofield | Zendy

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Miocene skinks and geckos reveal long-term conservatism of New Zealand's lizard fauna

Author(s) -

Michael S. Y. Lee,

Mark N. Hutchinson,

Trevor H. Worthy,

Michael Archer,

Alan J. D. Tennyson,

Jennifer P. Worthy,

R. Paul Scofield

Publication year - 2009

Publication title -

biology letters

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.596

H-Index - 110

eISSN - 1744-957X

pISSN - 1744-9561

DOI - 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0440

Subject(s) - fauna , lizard , biology , postcrania , squamata , paleontology , ecology , neogene , taxon , gecko , zoology , structural basin

The New Zealand (NZ) lizard fossil record is currently limited to late Quaternary remains of modern taxa. The St Bathans Fauna (early Miocene, southern South Island) extends this record to 19-16 million years ago (Myr ago). Skull and postcranial elements are similar to extant Oligosoma (Lygosominae) skinks and Hoplodactylus (Diplodactylinae) geckos. There is no evidence of other squamate groups. These fossils, along with coeval sphenodontines, demonstrate a long conservative history for the NZ lepidosaurian fauna, provide new molecular clock calibrations and contradict inferences of a very recent (less than 8 Myr ago) arrival of skinks in NZ.

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