= Squamata
{c}
<Squamata> is the reptile lineage containing <lizards>, <snakes> and <amphisbaenians>. It belongs within <lepidosaurs>, whose other living branch is represented by the <tuatara>. <Snakes> are nested among lineages commonly called <lizards>, so excluding <snakes> does not leave a complete evolutionary branch.
The relationships require evidence beyond superficial similarity: elongated, limbless bodies can arise in different lineages. A 2015 analysis combined hundreds of anatomical characters with dozens of <genes> from living and <fossil> groups to compare competing arrangements.<Integrated Analyses Resolve Conflicts over Squamate Reptile Phylogeny and Reveal Unexpected Placements for Fossil Taxa by Tod W. Reeder and others>[Abstract: integrated morphology and molecular data]{ref} This makes <Squamata> a useful example of how <phylogenetics> tests anatomical interpretations against molecular evidence while retaining <fossils> that have no recoverable sequence data.
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