A giant armoured skink from Australia expands lizard morphospace and the scope of the Pleistocene extinctions

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dc.contributor.authorThorn, K.M.
dc.contributor.authorFusco, D.A.
dc.contributor.authorHutchinson, M.N.
dc.contributor.authorGardner, M.G.
dc.contributor.authorClayton, J.L.
dc.contributor.authorPrideaux, G.J.
dc.contributor.authorLee, M.S.Y.
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description.abstractThere are more species of lizards and snakes (squamates) alive today than any other order of land vertebrates, yet their fossil record has been poorly documented compared with other groups. Here, we describe a gigantic Pleistocene skink from Australia based on extensive material that includes much of the skull and postcranial skeleton, and spans ontogenetic stages from neonate to adult. <i>Tiliqua frangens</i> substantially expands the known ecomorphological diversity of squamates. At approximately 2.4 kg, it was more than double the mass of any living skink, with an exceptionally broad, deep skull, squat limbs and heavy, ornamented body armour. It probably filled the armoured herbivore niche that land tortoises (testudinids), absent from Australia, occupy on other continents. <i>Tiliqua frangens</i> and other giant Plio-Pleistocene skinks suggest that small-bodied groups that dominate vertebrate biodiversity might have lost their largest and often most morphologically extreme representatives in the Late Pleistocene, expanding the scope of these extinctions.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityKailah M. Thorn, Diana A. Fusco, Mark N. Hutchinson, Michael G. Gardner, Jessica L. Clayton, Gavin J. Prideaux, and Michael S. Y. Lee
dc.identifier.citationProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2023; 290(2000):1-6
dc.identifier.doi10.1098/rspb.2023.0704
dc.identifier.issn0962-8452
dc.identifier.issn1471-2954
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/139152
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherThe Royal Society Publishing
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150100264
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP200102880
dc.rights© 2023 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0704
dc.subjectPleistocene; megafauna; Australia; Tiliqua; reptile; extinction
dc.subject.meshExtremities
dc.subject.meshSkull
dc.subject.meshAnimals
dc.subject.meshHumans
dc.subject.meshLizards
dc.subject.meshBiodiversity
dc.subject.meshAdult
dc.subject.meshInfant, Newborn
dc.subject.meshAustralia
dc.titleA giant armoured skink from Australia expands lizard morphospace and the scope of the Pleistocene extinctions
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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