An amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.

The evolution of blanid amphisbaenians (Mediterranean worm lizards) is mainly inferred based on molecular studies, despite their fossils are common in Cenozoic European localities. This is because the fossil record exclusively consists in isolated elements of limited taxonomic value. We describe the...

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Autores principales:	Arnau Bolet, Massimo Delfino, Josep Fortuny, Sergio Almécija, Josep M Robles, David M Alba
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9abf451dc8624c47bf7687897fb2123f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9abf451dc8624c47bf7687897fb2123f2021-11-18T08:17:11ZAn amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0098082https://doaj.org/article/9abf451dc8624c47bf7687897fb2123f2014-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24896828/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203The evolution of blanid amphisbaenians (Mediterranean worm lizards) is mainly inferred based on molecular studies, despite their fossils are common in Cenozoic European localities. This is because the fossil record exclusively consists in isolated elements of limited taxonomic value. We describe the only known fossil amphisbaenian skull from Europe - attributed to Blanus mendezi sp. nov. (Amphisbaenia, Blanidae) - which represents the most informative fossil blanid material ever described. This specimen, from the Middle Miocene of Abocador de Can Mata (11.6 Ma, MN7+8) in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Catalonia, NE Iberian Peninsula), unambiguously asserts the presence of Blanus in the Miocene of Europe. This reinforces the referral to this genus of the previously-known, much more incomplete and poorly-diagnostic material from other localities of the European Neogene. Our analysis - integrating the available molecular, paleontological and biogeographic data - suggests that the new species postdates the divergence between the two main (Eastern and Western Mediterranean) extant clades of blanids, and probably precedes the split between the Iberian and North-Western African subclades. This supports previous paleobiogeographic scenarios for blanid evolution and provides a significant minimum divergence time for calibrating molecular analyses of blanid phylogeny.Arnau BoletMassimo DelfinoJosep FortunySergio AlmécijaJosep M RoblesDavid M AlbaPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 6, p e98082 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Arnau Bolet Massimo Delfino Josep Fortuny Sergio Almécija Josep M Robles David M Alba An amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.
description	The evolution of blanid amphisbaenians (Mediterranean worm lizards) is mainly inferred based on molecular studies, despite their fossils are common in Cenozoic European localities. This is because the fossil record exclusively consists in isolated elements of limited taxonomic value. We describe the only known fossil amphisbaenian skull from Europe - attributed to Blanus mendezi sp. nov. (Amphisbaenia, Blanidae) - which represents the most informative fossil blanid material ever described. This specimen, from the Middle Miocene of Abocador de Can Mata (11.6 Ma, MN7+8) in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Catalonia, NE Iberian Peninsula), unambiguously asserts the presence of Blanus in the Miocene of Europe. This reinforces the referral to this genus of the previously-known, much more incomplete and poorly-diagnostic material from other localities of the European Neogene. Our analysis - integrating the available molecular, paleontological and biogeographic data - suggests that the new species postdates the divergence between the two main (Eastern and Western Mediterranean) extant clades of blanids, and probably precedes the split between the Iberian and North-Western African subclades. This supports previous paleobiogeographic scenarios for blanid evolution and provides a significant minimum divergence time for calibrating molecular analyses of blanid phylogeny.
format	article
author	Arnau Bolet Massimo Delfino Josep Fortuny Sergio Almécija Josep M Robles David M Alba
author_facet	Arnau Bolet Massimo Delfino Josep Fortuny Sergio Almécija Josep M Robles David M Alba
author_sort	Arnau Bolet
title	An amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.
title_short	An amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.
title_full	An amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.
title_fullStr	An amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.
title_full_unstemmed	An amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.
title_sort	amphisbaenian skull from the european miocene and the evolution of mediterranean worm lizards.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/9abf451dc8624c47bf7687897fb2123f
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An amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.

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