Priscagamidae

{{Short description|Extinct family of lizards}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| taxon = Priscagamidae

| fossil_range = Late Cretaceous-Eocene, {{fossil range|83.6|48.6}}

| authority = Borsuk-Białynicka and Moody, 1984

| synonyms = Priscagaminae Borsuk-Bialynicka and Moody 1984

| subdivision_ranks = Genera

| subdivision =

{{extinct}}Heterodontagama

{{extinct}}Mimeosaurus

{{extinct}}Phrynosomimus

?{{extinct}}Pleurodontagama

{{extinct}}Priscagama

}}

Priscagamidae is an extinct family of iguanian lizards known from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia and China and the Eocene of India, spanning a range from 83.6 to 48.6 million years ago. Probably the earliest priscagamids on indeterminate genera were found in Aptian-Albian sediments in "Hobur", Mongolia.{{cite journal|author=V. Alifanov|date=1993|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284759799|title=Some peculiarities of the Cretaceous and Palaeogene lizard faunas of the Mongolian People's Republic|journal= Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte|volume=3|issue=9–13}} It includes the genera Heterodontagama, Mimeosaurus, Phrynosomimus, Priscagama, and possibly Pleurodontagama.{{cite journal |last=Gao |first=K. |author2=and Norell, M. |year=2000 |title=Taxonomic composition and systematics of late Cretaceous lizard assemblages from Ukhaa Tolgod and adjacent localities, Mongolian Gobi Desert |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=249 |pages=1–117 |hdl=2246/1596 |doi=10.1206/0003-0090(2000)249<0001:TCASOL>2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=129367764 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/5350258 }} The first fossils of priscagamids were found in the Djadochta and Khermeen Tsav formations of Mongolia.{{cite journal |last=Borsuk-Białynicka |first=M. |author2=Moody, S.M. |year=1984 |title=Priscagaminae, a new subfamily of the Agamidae (Sauria) from the Late Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=29 |issue=1–2 |pages=51–81 |url=https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app29-051.html}} More recently they have been found in the Cambay Formation in India, leading to the naming of Heterodontagama in 2013.{{cite journal |last=Rana |first=R.S. |author2=Augé, M. |author3=Folie, A. |author4=Rose, K.D. |author5=Kumar, K. |author6=Singh, L. |author7=Sahni, A. |author8=Smith, T. |year=2013 |title=High diversity of acrodontan lizards in the Early Eocene Vastan lignite mine of India |journal=Geologica Belgica |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=290–301 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259305420}} Priscagamidae was originally described as a subfamily of Agamidae called Priscagaminae in 1984, but it was reclassified as a distinct family in 1989.{{cite journal |last=Alifanov |first=V.R. |year=1989 |title=New priscagamids (Lacertilia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia and their systematic position among Iguania |journal=Paleontological Journal |volume=4 |pages=68–80}} Most phylogenetic analyses (analyses of evolutionary relationships) still find a close relationship between Priscagamidae and Agamidae (both have been grouped under a clade called Chamaeleontiformes{{Cite journal | last1 = Daza | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Abdala | first2 = V. | last3 = Arias | first3 = J. S. | last4 = García-López | first4 = D. | last5 = Ortiz | first5 = P. | title = Cladistic analysis of Iguania and a fossil lizard from the Late Pliocene of northwestern Argentina | doi = 10.1670/10-112 | journal = Journal of Herpetology | volume = 46 | pages = 104–119 | year = 2012 | s2cid = 85405843 | hdl = 11336/61054 | hdl-access = free }}), although a 2015 study found it to be basal to all other iguanian clades, warranting its removal from Iguania and placement in a larger clade called Iguanomorpha.{{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0127900|pmid=26131767|pmc=4489568|title=A new Eocene casquehead lizard (Reptilia, Corytophanidae) from North America|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=10|issue=7|pages=e0127900|year=2015|last1=Conrad|first1=Jack L.|bibcode=2015PLoSO..1027900C|doi-access=free}}