Evidence of Egg Diversity in Squamate Evolution from Cretaceous Anguimorph Embryos

0455914 - FGÚ 2016 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Fernandez, V. - Buffetaut, E. - Suteethorn, V. - Rage, J. C. - Tafforeau, P. - Kundrát, Martin
Evidence of Egg Diversity in Squamate Evolution from Cretaceous Anguimorph Embryos.
PLoS ONE. Roč. 10, č. 7 (2015), e0128610. ISSN 1932-6203. E-ISSN 1932-6203
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP302/12/1207
Institutional support: RVO:67985823
Keywords : squamates * egg * fossils * cretaceous
Subject RIV: EA - Cell Biology
Impact factor: 3.057, year: 2015

Lizards are remarkable amongst amniotes, for they display a unique mosaic of reproduction modes ranging from egg-laying to live-bearing. Within this patchwork, geckoes are believed to represent the only group to ever have produced fully calcified rigid-shelled eggs, contrasting with the ubiquitous parchment shelled-eggs observed in other lineages. However, this hypothesis relies only on observations of modern taxa and fossilised gecko-like eggshells which have never been found in association with any embryonic or parental remains. We report here the first attested fossil eggs of lizards from the Early Cretaceous of Thailand, combining hard eggshells with exquisitely preserved embryos of anguimoph (e.g. Komodo dragons, mosasaurs). These fossils shed light on an apparently rare reproduction strategy of squamates, demonstrate that the evolution of rigid-shelled eggs are not an exclusive specialization of geckoes, and suggest a high plasticity in the reproductive organs mineralizing eggshells
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0256513