Open AccessEarly Cretaceous lizards from Las Hoyas, Spain
Author(s) -
EVANS SUSAN E.,
BARBADILLO JAVIER
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1997.tb00134.x
Subject(s) - biology , cretaceous , taxon , paleontology , holotype , synonym (taxonomy) , genus , zoology
The Lower Cretaceous lithographic limestone locality of Las Hoyas (Cuenca Province, Spain) has yielded a rich terrestrial and freshwater assemblage including early angiosperms, insects, birds, crocodiles, a dinosaur, amphibians and lizards. The Las Hoyas lizards are represented by three distinct taxa, of which one, Meyasaurus Vidal 1915, has been described from other Spanish localities of similar age. The Las Hoyas specimens provide the first complete examples of Meyasaurus , permitting both a detailed morphological description and a comprehensive analysis of phylogenetic position. Meyasaurus is shown to be a lacertoid scincomorph related to teiioids. Furthermore, in providing an association between the skull and postcranium, the Las Hoyas specimens of Meyasaurus show that the Montsec genus IUrdaesaurus Hoffstetter 1966 is a junior synonym of Meyasaurus Vidal 1915.