Anguis fragilis

Conrad, J. L., 2008, Phylogeny And Systematics Of Squamata (Reptilia) Based On Morphology, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2008 (310), pp. 1-182 : 116

Anguis fragilis + Anniella pulchra

(figs. 54D, 55D)

DIAGNOSIS: This unnamed clade is supported by 14(0) single-lobed incisive process, 23(1) frontal forms a single anterior wedge, 39(0) absence of a prefrontal-jugal contact, 82(0) presence of a transverse posterior margin of the parietal between the supratemporal processes, 88(1) elongate supratemporal, 115(1) absence of palatine teeth, 175(1) absence of a clear posterior mylohyoid foramen, 183(2) dentary contributing to dorsal and anterior margin of the anterior inferior alveolar foramen, 189(1) splenial not extending anterior to the midpoint of the dentary tooth row, 211(1) marginal teeth widely separated, 233(0) absence of precondylar constriction in the vertebrae, and 304(0) absence of a lateral fold in the body squamation.

COMMENTS: As described by Gao and Norell (1998), the placement of Anniella ( A. pulchra included here) has been problematic. However, the present analysis duplicates the findings of Gao and Norell (1998) adding support for the hypothesis that Anguis and Anniella are sister taxa.