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New Lizards from the Middle Eocene Mergen Formation, Mongolian Gobi Desert

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Zusammenfassung

Aus der mitteleozänen Mergen-Formation der Gobi/Mongolei werden neue Funde fossiler Echsen beschrieben. Ungefähr 30 isolierte, zahntragende Kiefer sind repräsentativ für mindestens sechs verschiedene Taxa. Darunter befinden sich drei neue Iguania im Sinne nonchamaeleontider Acrodonta, zwei scincomorphe Vertreter mit unsicherer phylogenetischer Stellung und ein Fragment eines recht großwüchsigen Anguimorphen, bei dem es sich um einen Vertreter der Platynota handeln könnte. Diese neuen Echsenfunde tragen zur verbesserten Kenntnis der großen paläogenen Faunenänderung bei, für deren Verständnis besonders die hinzukommenden Daten der fossilen Nonmammalier wichtig sind.

Abstract

New lizard fossils are described from the middle Eocene Mergen Formation, eastern Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Some 30 isolated tooth-bearing jaws represent at least six lizard taxa. These include three new iguanians that are nonchamaeleonid acrodontans; two scincomorphs having uncertain relationships within the group; and one large anguimorph that may represent a platynotan taxon. Discovery of these fossil lizards is important for accumulating nonmammalian vertebrate data, in attempting to understand a major faunal change that took place in relation to the drastic uplifting of the Mongolian Plateau in Palaeogene time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 10024, New York, New York, USA

    Gao Keqin

  2. Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Geological Institute, Peace Street 63, Ulaanbaatar-51, Mongolia

    Demberelyin Dashzeveg

Authors
  1. Gao Keqin
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  2. Demberelyin Dashzeveg
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Keqin, G., Dashzeveg, D. New Lizards from the Middle Eocene Mergen Formation, Mongolian Gobi Desert. Paläontol Z 73, 327–335 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988044

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988044

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