Lacertidae, Bonaparte, 1831

Delfino, Massimo, Bailon, Salvador & Pitruzzella, Gaetano, 2011, The Late Pliocene amphibians and reptiles from “ Capo Mannu D 1 Local Fauna ” (Mandriola, Sardinia, Italy), Geodiversitas 33 (2), pp. 357-382 : 368

Lacertidae indet. ( Fig. 4D )

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Fragmentary left dentary: 1.

DESCRIPTION

A small left dentary (total length of the fragment is about 3 mm) is preserved as a section corresponding to at least 14 tooth positions, still hosting nine pleurodont teeth. Both the anterior and the posterior ends of the dentary are missing. The teeth are cylindrical with bicuspidate or tricuspidate apexes (the largest cusp is the median one). The base of the teeth can show a variably sized reabsorption pit. The Meckel’s canal is particularly wide along the entire length of the preserved sector of the dentary.

DISCUSSION

This small fragmentary dentary clearly shows the typical characters of Lacertidae (as the pleurodont bicuspidate or tricuspidate teeth, and the widely open Meckel’s canal; see Bailon 1991). Because of the weakly spaced teeth, it is likely that the dentary belongs to an adult of an undetermined small sized lacertid lizard and not to a juvenile of a medium sized form (as the above described Lacerta gr. L. viridis ).

Figures

FIG. 4. — Fossil remains of reptiles from Capo Mannu D1 Local Fauna (Sardinia): A, B, Gekkonidae indet., trunk vertebra (DSTC 6012), dorsal and right lateral views; C, Lacerta gr. L. viridis, right maxilla (DSTC 6013), medial view; D, Lacertidae indet., fragmentary left dentary (DSTC 6014), medial view. Scale bars: 2 mm.