Comparative studies of supraocular lepidosis in Squamata (Reptilia) and its relationships with an evolutionary taxonomy

former observations on characteristic patterns of supraocular scutellation in different specific or supraspecific taxa of squamata are extended and analyzed in this general critical review. a relationship between a defined morphological supraocular lepidosis in a particular taxon and its evolutionary position in a classificatory system, such as the cladograms obtained by estes et al. (1988), was tested and confirmed. supraocular scales of squamata are not morphological elements at random, but can be assumed as morphological scale characters, useful in systematic comparative examinations and able to strengthen some discussed new systematic assessments, such as the family status of leiosauridae and its subfamilias in pleurodont iguanians, proposed by frost et al. (2001), as well as in several other cases.