Fig. 6 in Hypotheses on rostral shield evolution in fossorial lizards derived from the phylogenetic position of a new species of Paracontias (Squamata, Scincidae)

Fig. 6 Evolutionary origin of the rostral shield in Paracontias. Two hypotheses may explain genesis of the rostral shield; both involve the same first evolutionary step: fusion of the rostral with the supranasals and the postnasals. In the one step hypothesis, the rostral shield results from fusion of the first supralabial with the rostral scale. In the two step hypothesis, a rostral pseudo-shield constitutes an intermediate