University of Alberta scientists discovered ancient lizard fossil in Brazil that sheds some light on lizard evolution by providing a missing link. The discovered fossil is of an acrodontan lizard dating back to 80 million years ago, and was found around one year ago in the city of Cruzeiro do Oeste in southern Brazil.

Before the discovery, scientists believed that acrodontan lizards, also known as Old World lizards, and iguanids, called New World lizards, were two different species. Nobody was clear whether they were linked to each other or not.

Almost all of the 1,700 species of iguanas are restricted to the New World. They are generally found from the southern United States to the tip of South America. But the case is not same for the closest relatives of the iguana, including chameleons and the bearded dragon as they are found in the Old World, like Europe.

Michael Caldwell, biological sciences professor at the University of Alberta, said, "What we've found now is the first piece of a puzzle that links all of the southern hemisphere continents in terms of this story of where did the New World iguanids come from". Caldwell, co-writer of a study regarding the fossil discovery, said that the discovered fossil proved that the two species are linked.

The study helped in explaining what role Pangea played in the evolution of distinct species of lizards across the world. Pangea was a supercontinent that lived around 250 million years ago.