Body growth is typically thought to be indeterminate in ectothermic vertebrates. Indeed, until recently, this growth pattern was considered to be ubiquitous in ectotherms. Our recent observations of a complete growth plate cartilage (GPC) resorption, a reliable indicator of arrested skeletal growth, in many species of lizards clearly reject the ubiquity of indeterminate growth in reptiles and raise the question about the ancestral state of the growth pattern. Using X-ray micro-computed tomography (µCT), here we examined GPCs of long bones in three basally branching clades of squamate reptiles, namely in Gekkota, Scincoidea and Lacertoidea. A complete loss of GPC, indicating skeletal growth arrest, was the predominant finding. Using a dataset of 164 species representing all major clades of lizards and the tuataras, we traced the evolution of determinate growth on the phylogenetic tree of Lepidosauria. The reconstruction of character states suggests that determinate growth is ancestral for the squamate reptiles (Squamata) and remains common in the majority of lizard lineages, while extended (potentially indeterminate) adult growth evolved several times within squamates. Although traditionally associated with endotherms, determinate growth is coupled with ectothermy in this lineage. These findings combined with existing literature suggest that determinate growth predominates in both extant and extinct amniotes.

Department of Anatomy 3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague 100 00 Czech Republic

Department of Biosciences University of Salzburg Hellbrunnerstrasse 34 Salzburg 5020 Austria

Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague 12844 Czech Republic

Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics Czech Technical University Prague Prague 110 00 Czech Republic

Specialized Laboratory of Experimental Imaging 3rd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University Institute of Technical and Applied Physics and Faculty of Bioengineering Prague 100 00 Czech Republic

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Catch-up growth and overweight adults in the offspring of young gecko mothers resembling low birth weight infants

The first description of dermal armour in snakes

Development of male-larger sexual size dimorphism in a lizard: IGF1 peak long after sexual maturity overlaps with pronounced growth in males

Sex-specific growth arrest in a lizard

Determinate growth is predominant and likely ancestral in squamate reptiles

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