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

publication ID

0003-0090

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/BF23879D-D12A-FFC3-FF39-AFC04D3AD3FD

treatment provided by

Felipe (2021-08-29 16:49:20, last updated by Plazi 2023-11-05 15:42:29)

scientific name

Lowesaurus matthewi
status

 

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.

Bogert, C. M., and R. M. Del Campo. 1956. The Gila monster and its allies: the relationships, habits, and behavior of the lizards of the family Helodermatidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 109 (1): 1 - 238.

Estes, R. 1983. Sauria terrestria, Amphisbaenia. New York: Gustav Fischer Verlag, 249 pp.

Gilmore, C. W. 1928. Fossil lizards of North America. Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences 22: 1 - 197.

Pianka, E. R. 1967. On lizard species diversity: North American flatland deserts. Ecology 48: 333 - 351.

Pregill, G. K., J. A. Gauthier, and H. W. Greene. 1986. The evolution of helodermatid squamates, with description of a new taxon and an overview of Varanoidea. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 21: 167 - 202.

Yatkola, D. A. 1976. Fossil Heloderma (Reptilia, Helodermatidae). University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Occasional Papers 51: 1 - 14.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Genus

Lowesaurus