The first Gondwanan borioteiioid lizard and the mid-Cretaceous dispersal event between North America and Africa
Résumé
Borioteiioidea are an enigmatic group of Cretaceous lizards widely distributed in northern continents (Laurasia). Here, wedescribe the first borioteiioid lizard from Gondwana, represented by a new species of the polyglyphanodontine genusBicuspidon, B. hogreli sp. nov., from the Cenomanian Kem Kem beds of Morocco. The discovery of Bicuspidon hogreli sp.nov., which is one of the oldest known member of Polyglyphanodontini, challenges previous assumptions on the center of originand dispersal of the group. In addition, the known distribution of Bicuspidon (Cenomanian of Utah and Morocco, and Santonian–Maastrichtian of eastern Europe) suggests a complex palaeobiogeographical history for the genus. The existence of a terrestrialdispersal route persisting during the whole Early Cretaceous between North America and Africa is hypothesized to explain somesimilarities observed between the Cenomanian squamate assemblages of these two continents. Alternatively, dispersal betweenthe two landmasses may have occurred by transatlantic rafting. During the Cenomanian–Santonian interval, Bicuspidon colonizedthe European archipelago probably from North Africa, like many BEurogondwanan^ taxa.