Acrodonta (lizard)
| Acrodonta Temporal range: Early Cretaceous- present,
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|---|---|
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| Common chameleon, Chamaeleo chamaeleon | |
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| Common agama, Agama agama | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Infraorder: | Acrodonta Cope, 1864 |
| Subclades | |
Acrodonta are a subclade of iguanian squamates a consisting almost entirely of Old world taxa. Extant representation include the families Chamaeleonidae (chameleons) and Agamidae (dragon lizards), with at least over 500 species described. A fossil genus, Gueragama and Bharatagama, was found in Brazil. Making it the only known American representative of the group.[1]
The group is eponymously named from their acrodont dentition, whereby the teeth are consolidated with the summit of the alveolar ridge of the jaw without sockets.[2] There are, however, other animals that have acrodont dentition such as tuataras.[3]
Systematics
[edit | edit source]Usually acrodonts are divided into two families Chamaeleonidae and Agamidae, there are a few studies that suggest chameleons are nested within Agamidae.[4][5] In order to maintain the familial status of Chamaeleonidae some authors suggested placing the clades Uromastycinae and Leiolepidinae in a third family Leiolepididae.[4][5] However a majority of papers concerning acrodont phylogenetics support the traditional dichotomy of the group.[6][7][8][9]
Below is the phylogeny of the acrodont lineages after Pyron et al. (2013):[8]
| Acrodonta |
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The extinct Arretosauridae (Paleogene iguanians from Central Asia) are also sometimes classified in Acrodonta. However, other studies instead suggest it to be a sister group to the Crotaphytidae in Pleurodonta.[10][11][12]
References
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