The Occurrence of Contogenys-Like Lizards in the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary of the Western Interior of the U.S.A.

Randall L. Nydam; Brandon M. Fitzpatrick

doi:10.1671/039.029.0331

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1 September 2009 The Occurrence of Contogenys-Like Lizards in the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary of the Western Interior of the U.S.A.

Randall L. Nydam, Brandon M. Fitzpatrick

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J. of Vertebrate Paleontology, 29(3):677-701 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1671/039.029.0331

Abstract

Based on diagnostic jaw and dental material from the Cenomanian—middle Paleocene of the western U.S.A., we erect a new fossil lizard taxon, Contogeniidae taxon nov., that contains the following species: Contogenys sloani Estes, 1969 (Maastrichtian—early Paleocene, Montana); Contogenys ekalakaensis sp. nov. (middle Paleocene, Montana); Palaeoscincosaurus middletoni Sullivan and Lucas, 1996 (early Paleocene, Colorado); Palaeoscincosaurus pharkidodon sp. nov. (Campanian, Utah); Utahgenys evansi gen. et sp. nov. (Turonian, Utah); and Utahgenys sp. indet. (Cenomanian, Utah). These taxa share unique characteristics of tooth and jaw morphologies (e.g., tooth crowns truncate and bearing longitudinal apical grooves; hypertrophied inferior alveolar canal). Phylogenetic analysis indicates that among squamates, Contogeniidae taxon nov. is most closely related to Xantusiidae.

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Randall L. Nydam and Brandon M. Fitzpatrick "The Occurrence of Contogenys-Like Lizards in the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary of the Western Interior of the U.S.A.," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(3), 677-701, (1 September 2009). https://doi.org/10.1671/039.029.0331

Received: 2 April 2008; Accepted: 1 October 2008; Published: 1 September 2009

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