Miocene skinks and geckos reveal long-term conservatism of New Zealand's lizard fauna |
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| Authors: | Michael S. Y. Lee Mark N. Hutchinson Trevor H. Worthy Michael Archer Alan J. D. Tennyson Jennifer P. Worthy R. Paul Scofield |
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| Affiliation: | 1.School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia;2.The South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide 5000, Australia;3.School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, New South Wales 2052, Australia;4.Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand;5.Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch 8001, New Zealand |
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| Abstract: | The New Zealand (NZ) lizard fossil record is currently limited to late Quaternary remains of modern taxa. The St Bathans Fauna (early Miocene, southern South Island) extends this record to 19–16 million years ago (Myr ago). Skull and postcranial elements are similar to extant Oligosoma (Lygosominae) skinks and Hoplodactylus (Diplodactylinae) geckos. There is no evidence of other squamate groups. These fossils, along with coeval sphenodontines, demonstrate a long conservative history for the NZ lepidosaurian fauna, provide new molecular clock calibrations and contradict inferences of a very recent (less than 8 Myr ago) arrival of skinks in NZ. |
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| Keywords: | Reptilia palaeontology biogeography Gondwana Squamata Miocene |
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