Editing Lizard (section)

===Fossil history===
[[File:DalinghesaurusLongidigitus-PaleozoologicalMuseumOfChina-May23-08 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Fossil lizard ''[[Dalinghosaurus|Dalinghosaurus longidigitus]]'', [[Early Cretaceous]], China]]

The closest living relatives of lizards are [[rhynchocephalia]]ns, a once diverse order of reptiles, of which is there is now only one living species, the [[tuatara]] of New Zealand. Some reptiles from the Early and Middle [[Triassic]], like ''[[Sophineta]]'' and ''[[Megachirella]]'', are suggested to be [[stem-group]] squamates, more closely related to modern lizards than rhynchocephalians, however, their position is disputed, with some studies recovering them as less closely related to squamates than rhynchocephalians are.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tałanda |first1=Mateusz |last2=Fernandez |first2=Vincent |last3=Panciroli |first3=Elsa |last4=Evans |first4=Susan E. |last5=Benson |first5=Roger J. |date=2022-11-03 |title=Synchrotron tomography of a stem lizard elucidates early squamate anatomy |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05332-6 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=611 |issue=7934 |pages=99–104 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-05332-6 |pmid=36289329 |bibcode=2022Natur.611...99T |s2cid=253160713 |issn=0028-0836 |access-date=2022-12-31 |archive-date=2023-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231228173131/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05332-6 |url-status=live }}</ref> The oldest undisputed lizards date to the Middle Jurassic, from remains found In Europe, Asia and North Africa.<ref>{{Citation |last=Evans |first=Susan E. |title=The Origin and Early Diversification of Squamates |date=2022-08-11 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781108938891%23CN-bp-2/type/book_part |work=The Origin and Early Evolutionary History of Snakes |pages=7–25 |editor-last=Gower |editor-first=David J. |access-date=2024-01-10 |edition=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108938891.004 |isbn=978-1-108-93889-1 |editor2-last=Zaher |editor2-first=Hussam|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Lizard morphological and ecological diversity substantially increased over the course of the [[Cretaceous]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Herrera-Flores |first1=Jorge A. |last2=Stubbs |first2=Thomas L. |last3=Benton |first3=Michael J. |date=March 2021 |title=Ecomorphological diversification of squamates in the Cretaceous |journal=Royal Society Open Science |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=rsos.201961, 201961 |doi=10.1098/rsos.201961 |issn=2054-5703 |pmc=8074880 |pmid=33959350|bibcode=2021RSOS....801961H }}</ref> In the [[Paleogene|Palaeogene]], lizard body sizes in North America peaked during the middle of the period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=ElShafie |first=Sara J. |date=5 January 2024 |editor-last=Meloro |editor-first=Carlo |title=Body size estimation from isolated fossil bones reveals deep time evolutionary trends in North American lizards |journal=[[PLOS ONE]] |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=e0296318 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0296318 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=10769094 |pmid=38180961 |bibcode=2024PLoSO..1996318E }}</ref>

[[Mosasaurs]] likely evolved from an extinct group of aquatic lizards<ref>{{cite AV media |last= Dash |first= Sean |title= Prehistoric Monsters Revealed |location= United States |publisher= Workaholic Productions / History Channel |date= 2008 |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEEhm4rzxEg | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127070909/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEEhm4rzxEg| archive-date=2016-01-27|access-date= December 18, 2015}}</ref> known as [[Aigialosauridae|aigialosaur]]s in the [[Early Cretaceous]]. [[Dolichosauridae]] is a family of [[Late Cretaceous]] aquatic varanoid lizards closely related to the mosasaurs.<ref name=Primitivus>{{Cite journal|author1=Ilaria Paparella |author2=Alessandro Palci |author3=Umberto Nicosia |author4=Michael W. Caldwell |year=2018 |title=A new fossil marine lizard with soft tissues from the Late Cretaceous of southern Italy |journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=172411 |doi=10.1098/rsos.172411 |pmid=30110414 |pmc=6030324 |bibcode=2018RSOS....572411P }}</ref><ref name="moremosa">{{Cite journal|date=1999-01-01|title=Squamate phylogeny and the relationships of snakes and mosasauroids|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=125|issue=1|pages=115–147|doi=10.1006/zjls.1997.0144|issn=0024-4082|last1=Caldwell|first1=M.|doi-access=free}}</ref>