Yabeinosaurus

Yabeinosaurus is an extinct genus of lizard from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Group of northeastern China.

The type species Yabeinosaurus tenuis is known from many well-preserved skeletons belonging to both juvenile and adult individuals.

For about 60 years Yabeinosaurus was known only from juvenile specimens, leading scientists to believe that it was a small lizard with weakly developed bones.

[3] long were first described in 2005, showing that Yabeinosaurus was a relatively large lizard when fully grown.

Recent phylogenetic analyses indicate that Yabeinosaurus is not closely related to geckos but rather a very basal ("primitive") lizard close to the split between Iguania and Scleroglossa, one of the earliest divergences in the evolutionary history of lizards.

IVPP V18005, a specimen preserved with over 15 embryos inside it, Paleozoological Museum of China
Fossil of Yabeinosaurus in the Beijing Museum of Natural History