Carusioidea

Carusioidea; Temporal range: Late Cretaceous - present
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Infraorder:	Neoanguimorpha
Clade:	Carusioidea; Gao and Norell, 1998
Subgroups
	†Carusia; Xenosauridae

Carusioidea is a clade (evolutionary grouping) of lizards that includes the family Xenosauridae (knob-scaled lizards) from Central America and the extinct genus Carusia from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. It was named in 1998 after a sister-group relationship was found between Carusia and Xenosauridae. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Carusioidea is the most basal clade within Anguimorpha. Features that help define Carusioidea include closely spaced orbits or eye sockets separated by fused frontal bones, a connection between the jugal and squamosal bones below the supratemporal arch, and a covering of bony osteoderms over the skull roof. Below is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic relationships of carusioids from Gao and Norell (1998):[1]

Squamata (lizards)

Iguania

Scincomorpha

Gekkota

Anguimorpha

Carusioidea

†Carusia

Xenosauridae

	Shinisaurus*

	Xenosaurus

	Anguidae

	Varanoidea

*Shinisaurus is no longer considered a xenosaurid but rather a varanoid lizard[2]

References

Gao, K.; Norell, M. (1998). "Taxonomic revision of Carusia (Reptilia, Squamata) from the late Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert and phylogenetic relationships of anguimorphan lizards". American Museum Novitates (3230): 1–55. hdl:2246/3367.
Bhullar, B. A. S. (2011). "The Power and Utility of Morphological Characters in Systematics: A Fully Resolved Phylogeny of Xenosaurus and Its Fossil Relatives (Squamata: Anguimorpha)". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 160 (3): 65–181. doi:10.3099/0027-4100-160.3.65. S2CID 86328454.

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[GN98-1] Gao, K.; Norell, M. (1998). "Taxonomic revision of Carusia (Reptilia, Squamata) from the late Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert and phylogenetic relationships of anguimorphan lizards". American Museum Novitates (3230): 1–55. hdl:2246/3367.

[BBS11-2] Bhullar, B. A. S. (2011). "The Power and Utility of Morphological Characters in Systematics: A Fully Resolved Phylogeny of Xenosaurus and Its Fossil Relatives (Squamata: Anguimorpha)". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 160 (3): 65–181. doi:10.3099/0027-4100-160.3.65. S2CID 86328454.