Diversification of the African legless skinks in the subfamily Acontinae (Family Scincidae)

Zhao, Zhongning; Conradie, Werner; Pietersen, Darren William; Jordaan, Adriaan; Nicolau, Gary Kyle; Edwards, Shelley; Riekert, Stephanus; Heideman, Neil

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107747

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Hedges 23 and Hedges and Conn 24 subdivided skinks (termed by them Scincomorpha) among three superfamilies (Lygosomoidea, Scincoidea, and Acontoidea) and nine families, one of them being the family Scincidae (the sole family within the superfamily Scincoidea). The content and arrangement of these families have been called into question by subsequent, large-scale phylogenetic analyses 16 , 25 , 26 . Most other classifications have included all extant skinks in the Scincidae and apply Scincoidea to a group including both skinks and other extant or fossil taxa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compound osteoderms preserved in amber reveal the oldest known skink

Daza,

Stanley,

Heinicke

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Scincidae is one of the most species-rich and cosmopolitan clades of squamate reptiles. Abundant disarticulated fossil material has also been attributed to this group, however, no complete pre-Cenozoic crown-scincid specimens have been found. A specimen in Burmite (99 MYA) is the first fossil that can be unambiguously referred to this clade. Our analyses place it as nested within extant skinks, supported by the presence of compound osteoderms formed by articulated small ostedermites. The specimen has a combination of dorsal and ventral compound osteoderms and overlapping cycloid scales that is limited to skinks. We propose that this type of osteoderm evolved as a response to an increased overlap of scales, and to reduced stiffness of the dermal armour. Compound osteoderms could be a key innovation that facilitated diversification in this megadiverse family.

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