Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Researchers confirm that Bristol reptile is the oldest modern lizard

A storeroom specimen that changed the origins of modern lizards by millions of years has had its identity confirmed.

In 2022, researchers at the University of Bristol described Cryptovaranoides microlanius as the oldest crown squamate, lizard-snake group. However, this discovery was challenged, and Cryptovaranoides was interpreted as an archosauromorph. Now, the Bristol team has put forth great details of every criticism made and asserted that the challenging theory is void. This discovery shifts the origin of Squamata, back to at least 205 million years old, making it the oldest modern-type lizard on record.

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