Editing Anguidae (section)

== Evolution ==

[[Image:Helodermoides tuberculatus.JPG|thumb|left|''[[Helodermoides]] tuberculatus'' fossil]]
Anguids have a relatively good fossil record and are relatively common as fossils in the [[Late Cretaceous]] and [[Paleogene]] of western North America. The oldest known anguid, with the most complete fossil record of any lizard, is ''[[Odaxosaurus]]'', a member of the extinct anguid subfamily [[Glyptosaurinae]], from the late [[Campanian]] of Canada, about 75 million years ago. ''Odaxosaurus'' and other Late Cretaceous anguids already exhibit many features found in living anguids, including chisel-like teeth and armor plates in the skin, suggesting a long evolutionary history for the group. Anguids were particularly diverse during the Paleocene and Eocene in North America; some species, such as those belonging to Glyptosaurinae,<ref name=":0" /> grew to large size and evolved a highly specialized crushing dentition. The long fossil record for the Anguidae in North America suggests that the group probably evolved in North America during the Cretaceous before dispersing to Europe in the Paleogene.
[[File:Anguidae Phylogeny PDF.pdf|thumb|482x482px|
This figure shows a former phylogeny of the anguid subfamilies based on maximum-likelihood analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wiens|first1=J. J.|last2=Slingluff|first2=J. L.|date=2001-11-11|title=How lizards turn into snakes: a phylogenetic analysis of body-form evolution in anguid lizards|journal=Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution|volume=55|issue=11|pages=2303–2318|issn=0014-3820|pmid=11794789|doi=10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00744.x|s2cid=2235211|doi-access=}}</ref> [[Diploglossinae]] and [[American legless lizard|Anniellinae]] are now considered distinct families.
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