Amphisbaenians are a poorly understood clade of fossorial lizards. Because of their derived anatomy and relative scarcity, the systematics of the clade and its placement within squamates has long been controversial. Traditional approaches grouped species into four assemblages according to burrowing behavior and cranial morphology, resulting in the recognition of “shovel‐headed,” “round‐headed,” “keel‐headed,” and “spade‐headed” morphotypes. Recent phylogenetic analyses do not support the monophyly of the taxa that share those morphotypes. Detailed analyses of cranial osteology were previously accomplished using high‐resolution x‐ray computed tomography (HRXCT) for the “shovel‐headed”
The article reports on the first detailed vertebral and rib morphology of anguine taxon
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10456923
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Anatomical Record
- Volume:
- 302
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1932-8486
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 232-257
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract The limbless skink
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Uta stansburiana
