Lowesaurus matthewi

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 : 122

Lowesaurus matthewi + Heloderma

(figs. 55E, 56D)

DIAGNOSIS: This unnamed clade is diagnosed by 62(1) midline contact of the frontal subolfactory processes and 309(1) presence of grooves separating the osteoderms on the maxilla.

COMMENTS: Lowesaurus matthewi was initially described as Heloderma matthewi ( Gilmore, 1928) and was, for many years, an unquestioned Heloderma species ( Bogert and Del Campo, 1956; Pianka, 1967; Yatkola, 1976; Estes, 1983). However, Pregill et al. (1986) showed that they could recover no support for a sister-group relationship between the matthewi species and extant Heloderma exclusive of Eurheloderma gallicum , and erected a new genus for the Oligocene species.