NEW MATERIAL OF THE ENIGMATIC SCANDENSIA, AN EARLY CRETACEOUS LIZARD FROM THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

The Early Cretaceous Spanish locality of Las Hoyas has yielded some of the best articulated lizard fossils outside China. Five distinct taxa are known, of which the most unusual is Scandensia ciervensis Evans and Barbadillo, named on the basis of a single immature specimen. Here, we describe a second specimen that, although headless, provides new and important information, including the presence of osteoderms. The mantis and pes of Scandensia are distinctive. The new specimen adds to our understanding of the pes and shows that it had an unusually robust fourth metatarsal and distinct arching of the long penultimate phalanges. The latter trait, in particular, supports the interpretation of a scansorial lifestyle for this taxon. Phylogenetic analysis places Scandensia in a more crownward position than originally proposed, as a scleroglossan or stem scleroglossan.