First definitive record of Mesozoic lizards from Madagascar

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Abstract
We report here the first unequivocal record of a pre-Late Pleistocene lizard from the island of Madagascar, based on a nearly complete lower jaw, elements of both the pectoral and pelvic girdles, several vertebrae and ribs, and numerous osteoderms of what is presumed to be a single individual. The specimen, recovered from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Anembalemba Member, Maevarano Formation, Mahajanga Basin, northwestern Madagascar, is identified as a scincoid scincomorph and, more specifically, a new genus and species of ?Cordylidae (Cordyliformes), based on a combination of gnathic, dental, and postcranial characters. The new taxon is the first identifiable lizard from the Late Cretaceous of the African continent (sensu lato). If the new taxon is correctly attributed to the Cordylidae, it constitutes a significant temporal and geographic range extension for the clade since cordylids have no definite representatives in the fossil record and extant forms are restricted to the sub-Saharan p...

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