Acrodonta (lizard) explained

Acrodonta are a subclade of iguanian squamates consisting almost entirely of Old World taxa. Extant representation include the families Chamaeleonidae (chameleons) and Agamidae (dragon lizards), with at least over 500 species described. A fossil genus, Gueragama, was found in Brazil, making it the only known American representative of the group.^[1]

The group is eponymously named from their acrodont dentition, whereby the teeth are consolidated with the summit of the alveolar ridge of the jaw without sockets.^[2] There are, however, other animals that have acrodont dentition such as tuataras.^[3]

Systematics

Usually acrodonts are divided into two families Chamaeleonidae and Agamidae, there are a few studies that suggest chameleons are nested within Agamidae.^{[4] [5]} In order to maintain the familial status of Chamaeleonidae some authors suggested placing the clades Uromastycinae and Leiolepidinae in a third family Leiolepididae.^{[4] [5]} However a majority of papers concerning acrodont phylogenetics support the traditional dichotomy of the group.^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

Below is the phylogeny of the acrodont lineages after Pyron et al. (2013):^[8] The extinct Arretosauridae (Paleogene iguanians from Central Asia) are also sometimes classified in Acrodonta. However, other studies instead suggest it to be a sister group to the Crotaphytidae in Pleurodonta.^{[10] [11] [12]}

Notes and References

1. Simões . Tiago R. . Wilner . Everton . Caldwell . Michael W. . Weinschütz . Luiz C. . Kellner . Alexander W. A. . 26 August 2015 . A stem acrodontan lizard in the Cretaceous of Brazil revises early lizard evolution in Gondwana . . 6 . 8149 . 10.1038/ncomms9149 . 26306778 . 4560825. 2015NatCo...6.8149S .
2. Book: Plough . F.H. . C.M. . Janis . J.B. . Heiser . 2002 . Vertebrate Life . 6th . Prentice Hall . 0-13-041248-1.
3. Book: Edmund. A. G.. Dentition . C. . Gans . Biology of the Reptilia: Morphology A . 1969 . 9780122746017 . 1 . 117–200 . 16 August 2017 .
4. Phylogenetic Relationships of the Family Agamidae (Reptilia: Iguania) Inferred from Mitochondrial DNA Sequences. Zoological Science. 17. 4. 527–537. 2000 . Honda M, Ota H, Kobayashi M, Nabhitabhata J, Yong HS, Sengoku S, Hikida T . 10.2108/zsj.17.527. 2433/57223. free.
5. Jacques A. Gauthier . Maureen Kearney . Jessica Anderson Maisano . Olivier Rieppel . Adam D.B. Behlke . Assembling the Squamate Tree of Life: Perspectives from the Phenotype and the Fossil Record . Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History . 53 . 1 . 3–308 . 2012 . 10.3374/014.053.0101 . 86355757 .
6. PhD . Moody . S. M. . 1980 . Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeographical relationships of the genera in the family Agamidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia) . University of Michigan . Ann Arbor . 8017324 .
7. Frost . Darrel R. . Richard Etheridge . A phylogenetic analysis and taxonomy of iguanian lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) . University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publications . 81 . 1–65 . University of Kansas Museum of Natural History . 28 September 1989 . 5 January 2012.
8. Pyron . Burbrink . Wiens . 2013 . A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 13 . 1 . 93 . 10.1186/1471-2148-13-93 . 23627680 . 3682911 . 2013BMCEE..13...93P . free .
9. Zheng. Yuchi. Wiens. John J.. Combining phylogenomic and supermatrix approaches, and a time-calibrated phylogeny for squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) based on 52 genes and 4162 species . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 2016 . 94. Pt B. 537–547 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.10.009. 26475614.
10. Alifanov . V. R. . 2012-07-01 . Lizards of the family Arretosauridae Gilmore, 1943 (Iguanomorpha, Iguania) from the Paleogene of Mongolia . Paleontological Journal . en . 46 . 4 . 412–420 . 10.1134/S0031030112040028 . 2012PalJ...46..412A . 119087759 . 1555-6174.
11. Bolet . Arnau . Stubbs . Thomas L . Herrera-Flores . Jorge A . Benton . Michael J . 2022-05-03 . Zhu . Min . Perry . George H . Zhu . Min . The Jurassic rise of squamates as supported by lepidosaur disparity and evolutionary rates . eLife . 11 . e66511 . 10.7554/eLife.66511 . 35502582 . 2050-084X. 9064307 . free .
12. Vullo . Romain . Bailon . Salvador . Dauphin . Yannicke . Monchot . Hervé . Allain . Ronan . 2023-03-01 . A reappraisal of Jeddaherdan aleadonta (Squamata: Acrodonta), the purported oldest iguanian lizard from Africa . Cretaceous Research . 143 . 105412 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105412.