Editing Xenosauridae

{{Short description|Family of lizards}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Aptian|Holocene}}
| image = Xenosaurus platyceps WLF-368-4X, Municipio Victoria; 12 July 2004.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Xenosaurus platyceps]]''
| taxon = Xenosauridae
| authority = [[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1886
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = * {{extinct}}''[[Exostinus]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Restes]]''
* ''[[Xenosaurus]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Xenostius]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Blutwurstia]]''
}}
'''Xenosauridae''' is a family of [[anguimorph]] [[lizard]]s whose only living representative is the [[genus]] ''[[Xenosaurus]]'', which is native to Central America. Xenosauridae also includes the extinct genera ''[[Exostinus]]'' and ''[[Restes]]''. Also known as '''knob-scaled lizards''', they have rounded, bumpy scales and [[osteoderm]]s. Most living species prefer humid, rocky habitats, although they are widespread within their native regions, with some inhabiting semi-arid scrub environments. They are carnivorous or insectivorous, and give birth to live young.<ref name=EoR>{{cite book |editor1=Cogger, H.G. |editor2=Zweifel, R.G.|author= Bauer, Aaron M.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|pages= 159–160|isbn= 0-12-178560-2}}</ref>

''[[Shinisaurus]]'', the Chinese crocodile lizard, was once also regarded as a member of Xenosauridae, but most recent studies of the evolutionary relationships of anguimorphs consider ''Shinisaurus'' to be more closely related to [[monitor lizard]]s and [[helodermatid]]s than to ''Xenosaurus''.<ref name=BBS11>{{Cite journal | last1 = Bhullar | first1 = B. A. S. | title = The Power and Utility of Morphological Characters in Systematics: A Fully Resolved Phylogeny of Xenosaurus and Its Fossil Relatives (Squamata: Anguimorpha) | doi = 10.3099/0027-4100-160.3.65 | journal = Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology | volume = 160 | issue = 3 | pages = 65–181| year = 2011 | s2cid = 86328454 }}</ref> Xenosauridae is part of a larger [[clade]] or evolutionary grouping called [[Carusioidea]], which, in addition to xenosaurids, includes the extinct genus ''[[Carusia]]''.<ref name=CAMN11>{{Cite journal | last1 = Conrad | first1 = J. L. | last2 = Ast | first2 = J. C. | last3 = Montanari | first3 = S. | last4 = Norell | first4 = M. A. | title = A combined evidence phylogenetic analysis of Anguimorpha (Reptilia: Squamata) | doi = 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2010.00330.x | journal = Cladistics | volume = 27 | issue = 3 | pages = 230–277 | year = 2011 | s2cid = 84301257 | doi-access = free | pmid = 34875778 }}</ref>

The oldest xenosaurids are known from the Cretaceous, including the Late Cretaceous of North America<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parks |first=Riley |last2=Harrington |first2=Sean M. |last3=Thomson |first3=Robert C. |date=2022-09-26 |title=Divergence Dating and Biogeography of Xenosauridae Including Fossils as Terminal Taxa |url=https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10377015 |journal=Journal of Herpetology |volume=56 |issue=3 |doi=10.1670/21-068 |issn=0022-1511}}</ref> and Early Cretaceous of Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Alifanov |first=V. R. |date=March 2019 |title=Lizards of the Families Dorsetisauridae and Xenosauridae (Anguimorpha) from the Aptian–Albian of Mongolia |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1134/S0031030119020023 |journal=Paleontological Journal |language=en |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=183–193 |doi=10.1134/S0031030119020023 |issn=0031-0301|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.jcvi.org/reptiles/families/xenosauridae.php xenosauridae]
{{Squamata families}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q13416819}}

[[Category:Xenosauridae| ]]
[[Category:Lizard families]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope]]
[[Category:Extant Barremian first appearances]]


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