Lacertidae

Lacertidae View in CoL View at ENA ( Figs 30 View Figure 30 , 31A–E View Figure 31 )

Similarly to gekkotans (see: Villa et al., 2018a), lacertids have an ossified braincase that is roughly as long as wide and either slightly or not distinctly dorsoventrally compressed. They display a wide and subcircular foramen magnum and a condyle that is composed equally by the three bones that concur in its formation. In contrast with geckos, the U-shaped notch on the occipital condyle is wider and shallower, or even absent, in lacertids, the lateral opening of the recessus scalae tympani is wide and suboval, its medial opening is usually subcircular or anteroposteriorly elongated and the perilymphatic foramen is wide. Semicircular canals are moderately narrow in medium and large-sized species, but they are wider in small-sized taxa.