A new polyglyphanodontine lizard (Squamata: Borioteiioidea) from the Late Cretaceous Iharkْt locality (Santonian, Hungary)

In recent years the Late Cretaceous (Santonian) terrestrial vertebrate locality at Iharkْt (western Hungary) has yielded well-preserved remains of lizard taxa besides the remains of fishes, amphibians, turtles, crocodiles, pterosaurs and dinosaurs. Previously the polyglyphanodontine lizard Bicuspidon aff. hatzegiensis has been reported from Iharkْt. However, recent excavations at this site produced more lacertilian remains including new polyglyphanodontine material, namely a maxilla and two dentaries which suggest the presence of a new genus in the Iharkْt fauna. This previously unknown lizard (described here as Distortodon rhomboideus n. g. n. sp.) is distinct from other polyglyphanodontines such as Bicuspidon, Paraglyphanodon, Polyglyphanodon, Dicothodon and Peneteius. It differs from these genera mainly in having the lingual cusp situated more distally compared to the labial one on its bicuspid teeth located in the distal part of the tooth row, thus the crowns having a unique rhomboidal shape in occlusal view. Distortodon rhomboideus further strengthens the dominance of borioteiioid lizards in the Iharkْt fauna. The growing presence of borioteiioids in European localities supports previous theories which suggest some paleobiogeographic connections between the western Tethyan archipelago and North America in the Late Cretaceous.