A new agamid lizard in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar

Wagner, Philipp; Stanley, Edward L.; Daza, Juan D.; Bauer, Aaron M.

doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104813

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…With 374 single-copy orthologous groups identified across the genomes of L. sacra and 49 other species ( Table S6 ), we constructed a maximum-likelihood tree, including time calibrations based on fossil records or inferred divergence time ( Figure 3 ) [ 18 ]. Congruent with previous studies, Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis indicated that divergence between Lepidosauria (snakes and lizards) and Archosauromorpha (turtles, crocodilians, and birds) occurred around 270.0 million years ago (Mya) during the Permian period [ 7 ], and the emergence of the common ancestor of Agamidae, to which Laudakia and Pogona belong, was no earlier than the Late Cretaceous ( Figure 3 ) [ 19 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Genome of Laudakia sacra Provides New Insights into High-Altitude Adaptation of Ectotherms

Yan

Zhang

et al. 2022

IJMS

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Anan’s rock agama (Laudakia sacra) is a lizard species endemic to the harsh high-altitude environment of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, a region characterized by low oxygen tension and high ultraviolet (UV) radiation. To better understand the genetic mechanisms underlying highland adaptation of ectotherms, we assembled a 1.80-Gb L. sacra genome, which contained 284 contigs with an N50 of 20.19 Mb and a BUSCO score of 93.54%. Comparative genomic analysis indicated that mutations in certain genes, including HIF1A, TIE2, and NFAT family members and genes in the respiratory chain, may be common adaptations to hypoxia among high-altitude animals. Compared with lowland reptiles, MLIP showed a convergent mutation in L. sacra and the Tibetan hot-spring snake (Thermophis baileyi), which may affect their hypoxia adaptation. In L. sacra, several genes related to cardiovascular remodeling, erythropoiesis, oxidative phosphorylation, and DNA repair may also be tailored for adaptation to UV radiation and hypoxia. Of note, ERCC6 and MSH2, two genes associated with adaptation to UV radiation in T. baileyi, exhibited L. sacra-specific mutations that may affect peptide function. Thus, this study provides new insights into the potential mechanisms underpinning high-altitude adaptation in ectotherms and reveals certain genetic generalities for animals’ survival on the plateau.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Genome of Laudakia sacra Provides New Insights into High-Altitude Adaptation of Ectotherms

Yan

Zhang

et al. 2022

IJMS

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“…However, as far as we could observe and without a taxonomic description, the morphotypes in pieces GRS-Ref-28627, GRS-Ref-28631, and GRS-Ref-060905 are the same or highly similar to those in layers 10 and 12 above described. Empidoidea and Phoridae, around the fossils of agamid lizards 41 , are observed in the pieces GRS-Ref-28631 (Fig. 5 ) and GRS-Ref-060905 (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Necrophagy by insects in Oculudentavis and other lizard body fossils preserved in Cretaceous amber

Solórzano-Kraemer

Peñalver

Herbert

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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When a vertebrate carcass begins its decay in terrestrial environments, a succession of different necrophagous arthropod species, mainly insects, are attracted. Trophic aspects of the Mesozoic environments are of great comparative interest, to understand similarities and differences with extant counterparts. Here, we comprehensively study several exceptional Cretaceous amber pieces, in order to determine the early necrophagy by insects (flies in our case) on lizard specimens, ca. 99 Ma old. To obtain well-supported palaeoecological data from our amber assemblages, special attention has been paid in the analysis of the taphonomy, succession (stratigraphy), and content of the different amber layers, originally resin flows. In this respect, we revisited the concept of syninclusion, establishing two categories to make the palaeoecological inferences more accurate: eusyninclusions and parasyninclusions. We observe that resin acted as a “necrophagous trap”. The lack of dipteran larvae and the presence of phorid flies indicates decay was in an early stage when the process was recorded. Similar patterns to those in our Cretaceous cases have been observed in Miocene ambers and actualistic experiments using sticky traps, which also act as “necrophagous traps”; for example, we observed that flies were indicative of the early necrophagous stage, but also ants. In contrast, the absence of ants in our Late Cretaceous cases confirms the rareness of ants during the Cretaceous and suggests that early ants lacked this trophic strategy, possibly related to their sociability and recruitment foraging strategies, which developed later in the dimensions we know them today. This situation potentially made necrophagy by insects less efficient in the Mesozoic.

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“… 13 ). Protodraco monocoli Wagner et al 16 is an isolated limb, but differs from Retinosaurus in having finer scalation. Allowing for immaturity, Retinosaurus also differs from other roughly contemporaneous fossil squamates known from Europe, Asia, and the Americas in the following combination of characters: depressed (box-shaped) skull; nasal process of unpaired premaxilla long, almost reaching frontals; anterior width of nasals exceeds nasofrontal joint width; elongate frontal plate only weakly emarginated by orbits (contra Eichstaettisaurus Kuhn 34 , Liushusaurus Evans and Wang 35 , Meyasaurus Vidal 36 , Huehuecuetzpalli Reynoso 37 ); anteriorly well-developed subolfactory processes that extend toward the ventral midline; interdigitated fronto-parietal suture (as in Yabeinosaurus Endo and Shikama 38 , Sakurasaurus Evans and Manabe 39 , but contra Huehuecuetzpalli , Tepexisaurus and extant xantusiids), with parietal tabs underlying frontals; paired parietals lacking ventral fossa for supraoccipital processus ascendens (contra Yabeinosaurus, Sakurasaurus, Kuroyuriella Evans and Matsumoto 40 , Hoyalacerta Evans and Barbadillo 41 , Dorsetisaurus Hoffstetter 42 , Purbicella Evans et al .…”

Section: Systematic Palaeontologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the skeletons of these lizards are often delicate and the global gekkotan fossil record is relatively poor, making the Myanmar amber deposits particularly significant for this clade 11 , 12 . Other lineages—including iguanians—may also be represented from these deposits 12 , 16 , 17 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new Early Cretaceous lizard in Myanmar amber with exceptionally preserved integument

Čerňanský

Stanley

Daza

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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We here report on a well-preserved juvenile lizard specimen in Albian amber (ca. 110 mya) from the Hkamti site (Myanmar). This new taxon is represented by an articulated skull and the anterior portion of the trunk, including the pectoral girdle and forelimbs. The scleral ossicles and eyelid are also visible, and the specimen exhibits pristine detail of the integument (of both head and body). In a combined molecular and morphological analysis, it was consistently recovered as a scincoid lizard (Scinciformata), as sister to Tepexisaurus + Xantusiidae. However, the phylogenetic position of the new taxon should be interpreted with caution as the holotype is an immature individual. We explored the possibility of miscoding ontogenetically variable characters by running alternative analyses in which these characters were scored as missing data for our taxon. With the exception of one tree, in which it was sister to Amphisbaenia, the specimen was recovered as a Pan-xantusiid. Moreover, we cannot rule out the possibility that it represents a separate lineage of uncertain phylogenetic position, as it is the case for many Jurassic and Cretaceous taxa. Nonetheless, this fossil offers a rare opportunity to glimpse the external appearance of one group of lizards during the Early Cretaceous.

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A new agamid lizard in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

Genome of Laudakia sacra Provides New Insights into High-Altitude Adaptation of Ectotherms

Genome of Laudakia sacra Provides New Insights into High-Altitude Adaptation of Ectotherms

Necrophagy by insects in Oculudentavis and other lizard body fossils preserved in Cretaceous amber

A new Early Cretaceous lizard in Myanmar amber with exceptionally preserved integument

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