From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Classification
Classification follows Wu (1994),[cite this quote] Evans et al. (2001),[cite this quote] and Apesteguia & Novas (2003)[1].
- Order RHYNCHOCEPHALIA / SPHENODONTIA
[edit] References
