Neokotus, the earliest South American lizard

[Halichoeres]

New paper out yesterday describes Neokotus sanfranciscanus, the oldest South American record of a lizard by some 20 million years. It's from the Early Cretaceous, and whereas lizards as a whole are much older than that, the vast majority of older ones are from North America and Eurasia. The holotype includes parts of the skull as well as some vertebrae and limb elements.



Reconstruction by Jorge Blanco:


Paywalled by Nature but should be free to read here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-0926-0.epdf?sharing_token=nRSOY15WqIRc40EB9Cfeo9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NDutlEVQOJG3_4limKMjm7OeOF8i5qWJEbLzhNJbC7AJxynCd8MyBx4VTEQkjC_q_VRkHEig-Td2lH5GjJIe5M8G9Q6YWOzd8OlsTscyxXePSOZV8YAsSarPmhlb9huX8%3D