LAUSR

&NA; Characterisation of squamate major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes has lagged behind other taxonomic groups. MHC genes encode cell‐surface glycoproteins that present self‐ and pathogen‐derived peptides to T cells and play a critical role in pathogen recognition. Here we characterise MHC class I transcripts for an agamid lizard (Ctenophorus decresii) and investigate the evolution of MHC class I in Iguanian lizards. An iterative assembly strategy was used to identify six full‐length C. decresii MHC class I transcripts, which were validated as likely to encode classical class I MHC molecules. Evidence for exon shuffling recombination was uncovered for C. decresii transcripts and Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of Iguanian MHC class I sequences revealed a pattern expected under a birth‐and‐death mode of evolution. This work provides a stepping stone towards further research on the agamid MHC class I region.