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EDMONTON — Scientists say they have identified the world’s oldest lizard fossil — a discovery that sheds light on the evolution of lizards and snakes.

The fossil, which is 240 million years old, is called Megachirella wachtleri and is believed to be the most ancient ancestor of scaled reptiles known as squamates. The conclusion is based on an analysis of data from both living and extinct reptiles.

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The research by scientists in Alberta — as well as in Australia, Italy and the United States — was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

“It’s a fossil lizard that we found to be the oldest-known lizard on the planet,” said Tiago Simoes, a PhD student in the University of Alberta’s biological sciences department and the study’s lead author.

The specimen is 75 million years older than thought when it was first described in 1993, he said.

SimÃµes said it fills a gap in understanding the evolution of lizards and snakes.