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1 March 2017 The Last European Varanid: Demise and Extinction of Monitor Lizards (Squamata, Varanidae) from Europe
Georgios L. Georgalis, Andrea Villa, Massimo Delfino
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Abstract

Remains of a varanid lizard from the middle Pleistocene of the Tourkobounia 5 locality near Athens, Greece are described. The new material comprises cranial elements only (one maxilla, one dentary, and one tooth) and is attributed to Varanus, the genus to which all European Neogene varanid occurrences have been assigned. Previously, the youngest undisputed varanid from Europe had been recovered from upper Pliocene sediments. The new Greek fossils therefore constitute the youngest records of this clade from the continent. Despite being fragmentary, this new material enhances our understanding of the cranial anatomy of the last European monitor lizards and is clearly not referable to the extant Varanus griseus or Varanus niloticus, the only species that could be taken into consideration on a present-day geographic basis. However, these fossils could represent a survivor of the monitor lizards of Asian origin that inhabited Europe during the Neogene.

© by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Georgios L. Georgalis, Andrea Villa, and Massimo Delfino "The Last European Varanid: Demise and Extinction of Monitor Lizards (Squamata, Varanidae) from Europe," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37(2), (1 March 2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2017.1301946
Received: 27 September 2016; Accepted: 11 January 2017; Published: 1 March 2017
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