Autarchoglossa

Autarchoglossa is a clade (evolutionary grouping) of squamates that includes skinks, anguimorphs, snakes, and relatives.^[1] Autarchoglossa is supported as a monophyletic grouping (i.e. a valid clade) by morphological features in living and extinct lizards and snakes. Some phylogenetic analyses based on molecular features such as DNA sequences in living squamates do not support Autarchoglossa.

The recent proposal of the Toxicofera clade places Iguania within Autarchoglossa, which is not supported by morphological analyses. Placing Iguania within Autarchoglossa may lead to confusion as Autarchoglossa means "free-tongued", and iguanians do not have this feature. To circumvent this, it has been proposed that Autarchoglossa be renamed to Unidentata (single egg-tooth, a feature both groups share) and be redefined to include Iguania.^[2]

The following are families classified within Autarchoglossa (excluding Iguania):^[3]

• Anguidae Gray, 1825 – alligator lizards, anguids, galliwasps, glass lizards
• Anniellidae Nopcsa 1928 – legless lizards
• Cordylidae Mertens, 1937 – girdle-tailed lizards
• Gerrhosauridae Fitzinger, 1843 - plated lizards
• Gymnophthalmidae Merrem, 1820 - spectacled lizards
• Helodermatidae Gray, 1837 – beaded lizards
• Lacertidae Gray, 1825 – wall lizards, Old World racerunners
• Lanthanotidae Steindachner, 1877 – earless monitors
• Scincidae Gray, 1825 – skinks
• Teiidae Gray, 1827 – tegus, junglerunners, ground lizards, New World racerunners, whiptails
• Varanidae Hardwicke & Gray, 1827 – monitors
• Xantusiidae Baird, 1858 – night lizards
• Xenosauridae Cope, 1866 - knob-scaled lizards