Eocene lizard from Germany reveals amphisbaenian origins

Johannes Müller (), Christy A. Hipsley, Jason J. Head, Nikolay Kardjilov, André Hilger, Michael Wuttke and Robert R. Reisz
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Johannes Müller: Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Christy A. Hipsley: Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Jason J. Head: University of Toronto, Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road North, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada
Nikolay Kardjilov: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
André Hilger: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
Michael Wuttke: Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe RLP, Direktion Landesarchäologie, Referat Erdgeschichte, Große Langgasse 29, 55116 Mainz, Germany
Robert R. Reisz: University of Toronto, Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road North, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada

Nature, 2011, vol. 473, issue 7347, 364-367

Abstract: Two ways to get legless The evolutionary origins of the Amphisbaenia, a group of legless lizards adapted for burrowing, are controversial. Molecular evidence has placed them within lacertid lizards, whereas morphological evidence tends to unite them with snakes, with inheritance of the limbless, elongate body from a common ancestor. The discovery of a fossil limbed lizard from the famous Eocene Messel shales in Germany should settle the question. The new form seems to combine features of lacertids with those of amphisbaenians, supporting the first hypothesis and suggesting that limblessness in amphisbaenians evolved independently from that in snakes.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature09919

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