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You have to keep in mind that (even more so than other science) cladograms are NOT written in stone, they are HIGHLY variable and heavily dependent on what characters one is using and how much significance one gives those characters. I'm sure I could find other cladograms that would show different relationships entirely. I remember a number of years ago someone questioned the validity of the turtle skull being assumed as ancestral, so by just changing the character weight of that they calculated new cladograms that completely changed where in the evolutionary lineage they would supposedly arise.

Either way, skinks and teids are not closely related. I think you have more relatedness to a squirrel monkey than skinks and teids do.

[QUOTE="Roadkill, post: 134126, member: 3844"] You have to keep in mind that (even more so than other science) cladograms are NOT written in stone, they are HIGHLY variable and heavily dependent on what characters one is using and how much significance one gives those characters. I'm sure I could find other cladograms that would show different relationships entirely. I remember a number of years ago someone questioned the validity of the turtle skull being assumed as ancestral, so by just changing the character weight of that they calculated new cladograms that completely changed where in the evolutionary lineage they would supposedly arise. Either way, skinks and teids are not closely related. I think you have more relatedness to a squirrel monkey than skinks and teids do. [/QUOTE]

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