Hongshanxi, a new Jurassic lizard from China

[Halichoeres]

Meet the holotype of Hongshanxi xiei, a small (55 mm from snout to pelvis) lizard from the Jurassic of Liaoning province.



The authors run the specimen through two sets of phylogenetic analyses, one informed by the molecular phylogeny of living lizards, and one not so informed, and find that they give very different answers, which probably means morphological analyses of squamate relationships need to use a new or different set of character data. And, as always, we need more fossils.

Open access in Geodiversitas: http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/g2019v41a16.pdf