An ancient species related to reptiles, lizards and the modern day tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) of New Zealand is causing scientists to reexamine what makes a lizard a lizard. “The new fossil shows almost none of what we expected,” said Dan Marke, who led the project as part of his studies for the MSc in Paleobiology at Bristol. “It has no teeth on the palate, and no sign of any hinging. The skull of this animal is only 1.5cm in length, with the teeth barely visible. The scientists say the entire fossil fits in the palm of a human hand and with the newly acquired scanning data, the detail of the fossil became very clear.