Opluridae Moody, 1983

Conrad, J. L., 2008, Phylogeny And Systematics Of Squamata (Reptilia) Based On Morphology, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2008 (310), pp. 1-182 : 74

Opluridae Moody, 1983

(figs. 55A, 56A)

DIAGNOSIS: Oplurids (here represented by two specimens of Oplurus quadrumcinctus , O. cyclurus , and Chalarodon madagascariensis ) are united in this analysis by five unambiguous character states. These are 47(0) presence of an angulated jugal, 60(1) a dorsoventrally inflated frontal, 263(0) absence of a posterior coracoid emargination, 332(1) ‘‘varanid’’ style ulnar nerve position, and 333(1) absence of a peroneal nerve.

COMMENTS: I refrain from defining Opluridae here, but it should be used to include Oplurus madagascariensis minimally in the future. The diagnosis above describes the taxa included in this analysis. A recent phylogenetic analysis (Conrad et al., 2007) suggest that Oplurus is the sister taxon to tropidurids (sensu Frost and Etheridge, 1989) and that Chalarodon is the sister-taxon to a clade containing the fossil taxa Igua and Polrussia . Titus and Frost (1996) recovered oplurid monophyly as does the current study, but this problem warrants further investigation.

Crotaphytidae + Iguanidae + Polychrotiformes + Hoplocercidae + Chamaeleontiformes (figs. 55A, 56A)

DIAGNOSIS: This clade may be diagnosed by three unambiguous synapomorphies. These are 9(1) dermal sculpturing on the prefrontal, 29(0) steeply inclined anterior margin of the maxillary nasal process, and 90(1) presence of a postorbital tuberosity.

Chamaeleontiformes + Hoplocercidae + Polychrotiformes (figs. 55A, 56A)

DIAGNOSIS: This clade is supported by five unambiguous synapomorphies: 21(1) nasals that are in contact for less than half their length in dorsal view, 52(0) jugal lying mostly medial (rather than dorsal) to the maxilla, 104(0) no contact between the septomaxilla and the osseous nasal cavity roof, 123(1) pyriform recess narrow (see the character description above), and 263(0) absence of a posterior coracoid emargination.