The messelosaurine Geiseltaliellus (Patreon)

I've been adding to the squamate section of The Big Book while on train journeys (the only time I get to work on the book, argh). Messelosaurines are a group of European Paleogene iguanians, generally regarded these days as stem-members of the basilisk family Corytophanidae. This a reconstruction of Geiseltaliellus maarius from the middle Eocene of Messel. Some of the specimens are so well preserved that skin is known (including from the ventral surfaces of the digits) and some inferences can be made about colouration. In 2017, Krister Smith published a nice paper describing these details, and they're incorporated into my reconstruction here. Data on the scalation from the limbs, side of the body and tail were published in this study: here's a screengrab...

A midline bony crest on the skull roof suggests that a soft crest of some form was present, and that it was larger in ostensible males - I went for something taller and more casque-like than Smith did. Note that the tail is weird in having a criss-crossing scalation pattern, not the transverse bands more typical of lizards.

Many more squamates yet to come. Thanks for support as always!