Conrad, Jack L.Norell, Mark.Mongolian-American Museum Paleontological Project.Mongolyn Shinzhlėkh Ukhaany Akademi.2007-09-182007-09-182007http://hdl.handle.net/2246/587747 p. : ill. (1 col.), map ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 31-35).Iguania is a diverse clade with an incompletely known fossil record. Here, we describe and name the earliest iguanian known from a complete skeleton. The specimen (IGM 3/858) comes from Ukhaa Tolgod (Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia) and offers important insights into the evolutionary history of iguanian osteology. The new taxon is diagnosed by a combination of character states, including the presence of a frontoparietal fontanelle, absence of an enlarged nuchal fossa, and unflared tooth crowns. We performed a cladistic analysis including 54 taxa scored for 202 informative morphological characters. A strict consensus of 46 shortest recovered trees reveals that the new taxon is a basal member of a previously unidentified clade of Cretaceous iguanians, probably endemic to the Gobi. This clade of Gobi iguanians is nested within a monophyletic Pleurodonta (non-acrodontan iguanians).7406758 bytesapplication/pdfen-USQL1 .A436 no.3584, 2007Saichangurvel davidsoni.Gobiguania.Iguanas, Fossil -- Mongolia -- Ukhaa Tolgod.Lizards, Fossil -- Mongolia -- Ukhaa Tolgod.Reptiles, Fossil -- Mongolia -- Ukhaa Tolgod.Paleontology -- Cretaceous -- Mongolia -- Ukhaa Tolgod.Paleontology -- Mongolia -- Ukhaa Tolgod.Iguanas -- Phylogeny.Lizards -- Phylogeny.text