Lapitiguana

{{Short description|Extinct genus of lizards}}

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{{speciesbox

| fossil_range = Holocene{{fossilrange|.011|.003|}}

| image = Lapitiguana impensa.JPG

| image_caption =Natunaornis and Lapitiguana

| genus = Lapitiguana

| parent_authority =

| species = impensa

| authority = Pregill & Worthy, 2003

}}

Lapitiguana impensa is an extinct giant (1.5 m long) iguanid from Fiji.{{Cite journal

| last = Pregill | first = G. K. |author2=Worthy, T. H.

| title = A New Iguanid Lizard (Squamata, Iguanidae) from the Late Quaternary of Fiji, Southwest Pacific

| journal = Herpetologica | volume = 59 | issue = 1 | pages = 57–67

| publisher = The Herpetologists' League | date = March 2003 | url = https://www.academia.edu/601893| doi = 10.1655/0018-0831(2003)059[0057:ANILSI]2.0.CO;2 }} It probably became extinct following the human colonization of Fiji 3000 years ago.

All extant Fijian iguanas are in the genus Brachylophus, together with an extinct species from Tonga. The closest living relatives of the Polynesian iguanas are found in the Americas.{{Cite journal | last = Keogh | first = J. Scott |author2=Edwards, Danielle L. |author3=Fisher, Robert N. |author4=Harlow, Peter S.

| title = Molecular and morphological analysis of the critically endangered Fijian iguanas reveals cryptic diversity and a complex biogeographic history

| journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B | volume = 363 | issue = 1508 | pages = 3413–3426

| publisher = Royal Society | date = 2008-10-27

| doi = 10.1098/rstb.2008.0120

| pmid=18782726 | pmc=2607380}}{{cite journal|author1=Noonan, B.P. |author2=Sites, J.W. Jr.|date= 2009-11-24|title=Tracing the origins of iguanid lizards and boine snakes of the Pacific|publisher=University of Chicago Press|pages=61–72|doi=10.1086/648607|volume=175 |pmid=19929634 |issue=1 |journal=The American Naturalist|s2cid=5882832}}

See also

{{Portal|Paleontology}}

References

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