English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Background  Alligator lizards (Gerrhonotinae) are a well-known group of extant North American lizard. Although many fossils were previously referred to Gerrhonotinae, most of those fossils are isolated and fragmentary cranial elements that could not be placed in a precise phylogenetic context, and only a handful of known fossils are articulated skulls. The fossil record has provided limited information on the biogeography and phylogeny of Gerrhonotinae.    Results  We redescribe a nearly complete articulated fossil skull from the Pliocene sediments of the Anza-Borrego Desert in southern California, and refer the specimen to the alligator lizard genus  Elgaria . The fossil is a representative of a newly described species,  Elgaria peludoverde . We created a morphological matrix to assess the phylogeny of alligator lizards and facilitate identifications of fossil gerrhonotines. The matrix contains a considerably expanded taxonomic sample relative to previous morphological studies of gerrhonotines, and we sampled two specimens for many species to partially account for intraspecific variation. Specimen-based phylogenetic analyses of our dataset using Bayesian inference and parsimony inferred that  Elgaria peludoverde  is part of crown  Elgaria . The new species is potentially related to the extant species  Elgaria kingii  and  Elgaria paucicarinata , but that relationship was not strongly supported, probably because of extensive variation among  Elgaria . We explored several alternative biogeographic scenarios implied by the geographic and temporal occurrence of the new species and its potential phylogenetic placements.    Conclusions   Elgaria peludoverde  is the first described extinct species of  Elgaria  and provides new information on the biogeographic history and diversification of  Elgaria . Our research expands the understanding of phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of alligator lizards and strengthens the foundation of future investigations. The osteological data and phylogenetic matrix that we provided will be critical for future efforts to place fossil gerrhonotines. Despite limited intraspecific sampled sizes, we encountered substantial variation among gerrhonotines, demonstrating the value of exploring patterns of variation for morphological phylogenetics and for the phylogenetic placement of fossils. Future osteological investigations on the species we examined and on species we did not examine will continue to augment our knowledge of patterns of variation in alligator lizards and aid in phylogenetics and fossil placement.    Supplementary Information  The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12862-021-01912-8.

A new extinct species of alligator lizard (Squamata: Elgaria) and an expanded perspective on the osteology and phylogeny of Gerrhonotinae