Anguimorpha

Reconstruction of Coniophis, copyright N. Tamura.

Belongs within: Lepidosauria.
Contains: Anguidae, Amphisbaenia, Serpentes, Varanidae.

The Anguimorpha are a clade of lizards including the glass lizards, monitors, snakes and related taxa. As shown below, phylogenetic analysis of the squamates by Longrich et al. (2012b) also included the Amphisbaenia within this clade but this is almost certainly an artefact of the analysis drawing legless taxa together. Supporting characters of the Anguimorpha include the ability to retract the foretongue. Members include the beaded lizards Heloderma, strikingly coloured venomous lizards from southern North America.

Synapomorphies (from Rieppel 1988): Foretongue retractible within hindtongue at a transverse zone of invagination; inferior labial glands differentiated; type 2 fundic glands present; genital tubercle lateral or ventral to sinus genitalis.

<==Anguimorpha [Anguinomorpha, Anguoidea, Varanoidea]
    |  i. s.: Carolinidae B93
    |           |--Carusia intermedia (Borsuk-Bialynicka 1985) B93
    |           `--Shinisauroides latipalatum Borsuk-Bialynicka 1985 B93
    |         Dorsetisaurus [Dorsetisauridae] B93
    |           |--D. hebetidens Hoffstetter 1967 B93
    |           `--D. purbeckensis Hoffstetter 1967 [incl. Introrsisaurus pollicidens Seiffert 1973] B93
    |--Xenosauridae LBG12b
    |    |--Xenosaurus LBG12b
    |    |    |--X. grandis LBG12b
    |    |    `--X. platyceps LBG12b
    |    |--Restes LBG12b
    |    `--Exostinus Cope 1873 SH96
    |         |--*E. serratus Cope 1873 SH96
    |         `--E. lancensis Gilmore 1928 B93
    `--+--Anguidae LBG12b
       `--+--+--Sineoamphisbaena Wu, Brinkman et al. 1993 LBG12b, D07
          |  |    `--S. hexatubularis D07
          |  `--+--Anniella [Anniellidae] LBG12b
          |     |    `--A. pulchra LBG12b
          |     `--+--+--Cryptolacerta Müller, Hipsley et al. 2011 MH11
          |        |  |    `--*C. hassiaca Müller, Hipsley et al. 2011 MH11
          |        |  `--Amphisbaenia LBG12b
          |        `--Ophidia LBG12b
          |             |  i. s.: Rottophis atavus (von Meyer 1860) S05
          |             |         Cheilophis LBG12b
          |             |         Sanjuanophis LBG12b
          |             |--+--Serpentes LBG12a
          |             |  `--Najash Apesteguía & Zaher 2006 LBG12a, AZ06
          |             |       `--*N. rionegrina Apesteguía & Zaher 2006 AZ06
          |             `--Coniophis Marsh 1892 [Coniophidae] LBG12a
          |                  |--C. carinatus McGrew et al. 1959 LBG12a
          |                  |--C. cosgriffi Armstrong-Ziegler 1978 LBG12a
          |                  |--C. dabiebus Rage & Werner 1999 LBG12a
          |                  |--C. platycarinatus McGrew et al. 1959 LBG12a
          |                  `--C. precedens Marsh 1892 LBG12a
          `--+--Shinisaurus LBG12b [Shinisauridae MH11]
             |    `--S. crocodilurus LBG12b
             `--Platynota LBG12b
                  |  i. s.: Labrodioctes LBG12b
                  |         Provaranosaurus acutus LBG12b
                  |         Primaderma Nydam 2000 AS09, D07
                  |           `--P. nessovi D07
                  |--Litakis gilmorei Estes 1964 LBG12b, B93
                  |--Colpodontosaurus cracens LBG12b
                  `--+--Cemeterius Longrich, Bhullar & Gauthier 2012 LBG12b
                     |    `--*C. monstrosus Longrich, Bhullar & Gauthier 2012 LBG12b
                     `--+--Palaeosaniwa canadensis LBG12b
                        |--Paraderma bogerti Estes 1964 LBG12b, B93
                        |--Necrosauridae G88
                        |    |--Parasaniwa wyomingensis LBG12b
                        |    |--Parviderma inexacta Borsuk-Bialynicka 1984 B93
                        |    `--Necrosaurus eucarinatus (Kuhn 1940) B93
                        |--Gobiderma pulchrum LBG12b
                        `--+--Estesia LBG12b
                           `--+--Aiolosaurus oriens LBG12b
                              `--+--Helodermatidae MH11
                                 |    |--Eurheloderma SH96
                                 |    |--Lowesaurus Pregill, Gauthier & Greene 1986 SH96
                                 |    |    `--*L. matthewi (Gilmore 1928) [=Heloderma matthewi] SH96
                                 |    `--Heloderma LBG12b
                                 |         |--H. horridum LBG12a
                                 |         `--H. suspectum MH11
                                 `--+--+--Saniwa Leidy 1870 LBG12b, SH96
                                    |  |    |--*S. ensidens Leidy 1870 SH96
                                    |  |    `--S. feisti MH11
                                    |  `--Varanidae LBG12b
                                    `--Lanthanotus [Lanthanotidae] LBG12b
                                         `--L. borneensis LBG12a

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[AS09] Alfaro, M. E., F. Santini, C. Brock, H. Alamillo, A. Dornburg, D. L. Rabosky, G. Carnevale & L. J. Harmon. 2009. Nine exceptional radiations plus high turnover explain species diversity in jawed vertebrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 106 (32): 13410–13414.

[AZ06] Apesteguía, S. & H. Zaher. 2006. A Cretaceous terrestrial snake with robust hindlimbs and a sacrum. Nature 440: 1037–1040.

[B93] Benton, M. J. 1993. Reptilia. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 681–715. Chapman & Hall: London.

[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.

[G88] Gray, J. 1988. Evolution of the freshwater ecosystem: the fossil record. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 62: 1–214.

[LBG12a] Longrich, N. R., B.-A. S. Bhullar & J. A. Gauthier. 2012. A transitional snake from the Late Cretaceous period of North America. Nature 488: 205–208.

[LBG12b] Longrich, N. R., B.-A. S. Bhullar & J. A. Gauthier. 2012b. Mass extinction of lizards and snakes at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 109 (52): 21396–21401.

[MH11] Müller, J., C. A. Hipsley, J. J. Head, N. Kardjilov, A. Hilger, M. Wuttke & R. R. Reisz. 2011. Eocene lizard from Germany reveals amphisbaenian origins. Nature 473: 364–367.

[S05] Scanlon, J. D. 2005. Cranial morphology of the Plio-Pleistocene giant madtsoiid snake Wonambi naracoortensis. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50: 139–180.

[SH96] Sullivan, R. M., & J. A. Holman. 1996. Squamata. In: Prothero, D. R., & R. J. Emry (eds) The Terrestrial Eocene–Oligocene Transition in North America pp. 354–372. Cambridge University Press.

Last updated: 30 January 2022.