Unusual Soft-Tissue Preservation of a Crocodile Lizard (Squamata, Shinisauria) From the Green River Formation (Eocene) and Shinisaur Relationships

We describe an unusual squamate fossil from the Green River Formation (Uintan, Eocene) from the Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado, USA. The new specimen, USNM PAL 540708, is a small fossil squamate skin lacking skeletal elements. It is preserved as a part and counterpart in fine‐grained limestone. Recovery of a fossil organism's skin (not a shed, but a true skin) is unusual and is most often accompanied by bone preservation. Phylogenetic analysis...