are lizards dinosaurs

Introduction

The relationship between lizards and dinosaurs is a topic of interest in paleontology, particularly in understanding their evolutionary connections and distinctions. This synthesis aims to clarify whether lizards can be considered dinosaurs based on current research findings.

Key Insights

Evolutionary Distinction:
- Lizards and dinosaurs are distinct groups within the reptile clade. Lizards belong to the order Squamata, while dinosaurs are part of the clade Dinosauria.
Bipedalism in Dinosaurs:
- Bipedalism is a trait that evolved in the ancestors of dinosaurs, providing them with enhanced mobility and predatory advantages. Modern lizards exhibit facultative bipedalism, which offers an analog for the early stages of dinosaur bipedalism evolution.
Behavioral and Physiological Adaptations:
- Some herbivorous dinosaurs, such as hadrosaurian dinosaurs, show behavioral parallels with herbivorous lizards, including communal nesting and site fidelity. However, these similarities do not imply that lizards are dinosaurs but rather that they share some convergent evolutionary traits.

Conclusion

Lizards are not dinosaurs. They are distinct evolutionary groups within the reptile clade, with lizards belonging to Squamata and dinosaurs to Dinosauria. While there are some behavioral and physiological similarities, these do not make lizards dinosaurs.

Are lizards dinosaurs

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

The functional origin of dinosaur bipedalism: Cumulative evidence from bipedally inclined reptiles and disinclined mammals.

Dinosaur bipedalism evolved for enhanced cursoriality, with modern lizards serving as analogs for the first stages of evolution.

Possible physiological and behavioral adaptations of herbivorous dinosaurs

Hadrosaurian dinosaurs may have shared adaptations with herbivorous iguanine lizards, such as communal nesting and site fidelity, to prevent egg drowning and facilitate fecal ingestion by young, potentially enhancing their herbivory.

The first lizard fossil (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Mesozoic of South Korea

Asprosaurus bibongriensis is the first large-sized Mesozoic lizard fossil from South Korea, with close similarities to modern monstersaurs and dietary preferences similar to those of the living genus.

Reptiles of the mind: The fascination of dinosaurs

Dinosaurs have a special place in our imaginations, and their absence has led to a reassessment of the evolutionary history of life on Earth.

A new polyglyphanodontine lizard (Squamata: Borioteiioidea) from the Late Cretaceous Iharkut locality (Santonian, Hungary)

Distortodon rhomboideus is a new polyglyphanodontine lizard from the Late Cretaceous Iharkut locality, suggesting connections between the western Tethyan archipelago and North America in the Late Cretaceous.

A large predatory lizard (Platynota, Squamata) from the Late Cretaceous of South China

Chianghsia nankangensis is a new species of large terrestrial predatory lizard from the Late Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation in southern China, indicating its association with the Platynota group and the extinct mosasaurs.

Thermoregulation in Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs may have been endotherms, but like terrestrial mammals, they likely moved at low speeds and reached maximum speeds in short bursts, allowing sophisticated cheetah-like predation in communities of ectothermic dinosaurs.

Paramacellodid lizard skulls from the Jurassic Morrison Formation at Dinosaur National Monument, Utah

The new skull material of Paramacellodus lizard from the Morrison Formation reveals its anatomy and placement as a sister taxon to Scincoidea (Cordyliformes + Scincidae) rather than Cordyliformes alone.

At the feet of the dinosaurs: the early history and radiation of lizards

Squamates evolved by the middle Triassic and diversified into major lineages before the end of this period, but the early squamate fossil record is extremely patchy, constraining palaeobiogeographic discussions and limiting our understanding of squamate skull kinesis.

Phylogeny, biogeography, and display evolution in the tree and brush lizard genus Urosaurus (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae).

This study establishes a robust molecular phylogeny for Urosaurus, revealing a single transition to a saxicolous lifestyle and complex throat color patterns.

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