Teiformata

Teiformata is a clade of squamate reptiles within Lacertoidea that comprises the New World lizard families Gymnophthalmidae and Teiidae. The name was introduced in a molecular phylogenetic classification of squamates by Vidal and Hedges.

Taxonomy and systematics

Vidal and Hedges placed Teiformata within their higher-level grouping Laterata, alongside Lacertiformata and Amphisbaenia. In that scheme, Lacertiformata and Amphisbaenia were recovered together as Lacertibaenia, distinct from Teiformata within Laterata.

Phylogeny

Large-scale molecular phylogenies have supported a lacertoidean clade containing Gymnophthalmidae and Teiidae. Within the same lacertoidean context, a separate clade uniting Lacertidae and Amphisbaenia has also been recovered, highlighting a major split among sampled lacertoidean lineages in these analyses.

Distribution

Because both constituent families are New World groups, Teiformata is primarily an American clade in terms of the present-day distribution of its living members.