Sphenodontia

Taxobox
name = Sphenodonts
fossil_range = Late Triassic - Recent
status =


image_width = 200px
image_caption = "Sphenodon"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Sphenodontia
ordo_authority = Williston, 1925
subdivision_ranks = Families
subdivision =
* Gephyrosauridae
* Pleurosauridae
* Sphenodontidae

Sphenodontia is an order of lizard-like reptiles that includes only one living genus, the tuatara ("Sphenodon"). Despite its current lack of diversity, the Sphenodontia at one time included a wide array of genera in several families, and represents a lineage stretching back to the Mesozoic Era.

Taxonomy

Sphenodontia, once a wastebin taxon containing a diverse array of unrelated reptiles (notably the rhynchosaurs), today consists of three families: the possibly paraphyletic Gephyrosauridae, the Pleurosauridae, and the Sphenodontidae. Sphenodontidae is the family which contains all modern tuatara, as well as a number of extinct subfamilies.

Classification

Classification follows Wu (1994),citequote Evans "et al." (2001),citequote and Apesteguia & Novas (2003) [ [http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Reptilia/Lepidosauromorpha/Sphenodontida.htm Mikko's Phylogeny Archive ] ] .

* Order RHYNCHOCEPHALIA / SPHENODONTIA
** Family Gephyrosauridae
*** "Gephyrosaurus"
*** "Diphydontosaurus"
** Family Pleurosauridae
*** "Palaeopleurosaurus"
*** "Pleurosaurus"
** Family Sphenodontidae
*** "Colognathus"
*** "Godavarisaurus"
*** "Kawasphenodon"
*** "Lamarquesaurus"
*** "Leptosaurus"
*** "Pelecymela"
*** "Piocormus"
*** "Sigmala"
*** "Theretairus"
*** "Tingitana"
*** "Rebbanasaurus"
*** "Planocephalosaurus"
*** "Polysphenodon"
*** "Brachyrhinodon"
*** "Clevosaurus"
*** Subfamily Sphenodontinae
**** "Homoeosaurus"
**** "Kallimodon"
**** "Sapheosaurus"
**** "Ankylosphenodon"
**** "Pamizinsaurus"
**** "Zapatadon"
**** Tribe Sphenodontini
***** "Cynosphenodon"
***** "Sphenodon" (tuatara)
**** (unranked) Opisthodontia
***** "Opisthias"
***** Tribe Eilenodontini
****** "Toxolophosaurus"
****** "Priosphenodon"
****** "Eilenodon"

References