Gobiguania is an extinct

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

iguania Iguania is an infraorder of squamate reptiles that includes iguanas, chameleons, agamids, and New World lizards like anoles and phrynosomatids. Using morphological features as a guide to evolutionary relationships, the Iguania are believed t ...

n lizards from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

. All known gobiguanians are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...

of Mongolia. Gobiguania was given a

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

definition by Jack Conrad and

Mark Norell Mark Allen Norell (born July 26, 1957) is an American paleontologist, acknowledged as one of the most important living vertebrate paleontologists. He is currently the chairman of paleontology and a research associate at the American Museum of Na ...

in 2007 as all taxa more closely related to ''

Anchaurosaurus gilmorei ''Anchaurosaurus'' (meaning "morning lizard" in Latin) is an extinct genus of iguanian lizard from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China. It belongs to an extinct clade of iguanians called Gobiguania that was endemic to the Gobi Desert dur ...

'' than to '' Iguana iguana'' (the green iguana), '' Crotaphytus collaris'' (the common collared lizard), or ''

Agama agama The common agama, red-headed rock agama or rainbow agama (''Agama agama'') is a species of lizard from the family Agamidae found in most of sub-Saharan Africa. To clear up historical confusion based on Linnaeus and other authors, Wagner, et al ...

'' (the common agama). According to Conrad and Norell's phylogenetic analysis, Gobiguania includes ''Anchaurosaurus'' as well as several other Late Cretaceous lizards such as '' Ctenomastax'', ''

Temujinia Gobiguania is an extinct clade of iguanian lizards from the Late Cretaceous. All known gobiguanians are endemic to the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Gobiguania was given a phylogenetic definition by Jack Conrad and Mark Norell in 2007 as all taxa mor ...

'', ''

Saichangurvel ''Saichangurvel'' (meaning "beautiful lizard" in Mongolian) is an extinct genus of iguanian lizards from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. It is a member of a clade called Gobiguania, an exclusively Late Cretaceous group of iguanian lizards that ...

'', and '' Zapsosaurus''. A phylogenetic analysis published in 2012 indicated that three other lizard genera — ''

Igua ''Igua'' is an extinct genus of iguanian lizards belonging to a group called Gobiguania that was endemic to the Gobi Desert during the Late Cretaceous. The type species ''Igua minuta'' was named in 1991 on the basis of a skull from the Barun Goyo ...

'', ''

Isodontosaurus ''Isodontosaurus'' is an extinct genus of iguanian lizard from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia and China. The type species is ''Isodontosaurus gracilis''. ''Isodontosaurus'' is part of an extinct group of Late Cretaceous iguanians called Gobiguan ...

'', and ''

Polrussia ''Polrussia'' is an extinct genus of iguanian lizards dating to the Late Cretaceous epoch, found in what is now Mongolia. It belongs to a group of extinct iguanians called Gobiguania that was endemic to the Gobi Desert during the Late Cretaceous. ...

'', all from Mongolia and all from the Late Cretaceous — are also gobiguanians. Below is a

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

from the analysis:

References

Cretaceous lizards Late Cretaceous reptiles of Asia Fossils of Mongolia Gobi Desert Late Cretaceous first appearances Late Cretaceous extinctions Fossil taxa described in 2007 {{paleo-lizard-stub