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Sphenodontia

 
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Sphenodontia
 
 
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Sphenodontia is an order of lizard-like
Lepidosauria

The Lepidosauria are reptiles with overlapping scales. They include the tuataras, lizards, snakes and amphisbaenians. Lepidosaurians are the most successful of modern reptiles....
 reptiles that includes only one living genus, the tuatara
Tuatara

The tuatara is a reptile endemism to New Zealand which, though it resembles most lizards, is actually part of a distinct lineage, order Sphenodontia....
 (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
Mesozoic

The Mesozoic Era is one of three Geologic time scale of the Phanerozoic eon . The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the 'Mesozoic' was 'Secondary' ....
 Era.

nodontia, once a wastebin taxon containing a diverse array of unrelated reptiles (notably the rhynchosaur
Rhynchosaur

Rhynchosaurs were a group of unusual Triassic diapsid reptiles related to the Archosauria. They were herbivores, and at times abundant , with stocky bodies and a powerful beak....
s), today consists of three families: the possibly paraphyletic Gephyrosauridae, the Pleurosauridae, and the Sphenodontidae.






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Sphenodontia is an order of lizard-like
Lepidosauria

The Lepidosauria are reptiles with overlapping scales. They include the tuataras, lizards, snakes and amphisbaenians. Lepidosaurians are the most successful of modern reptiles....
 reptiles that includes only one living genus, the tuatara
Tuatara

The tuatara is a reptile endemism to New Zealand which, though it resembles most lizards, is actually part of a distinct lineage, order Sphenodontia....
 (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
Mesozoic

The Mesozoic Era is one of three Geologic time scale of the Phanerozoic eon . The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the 'Mesozoic' was 'Secondary' ....
 Era.

Taxonomy

Sphenodontia, once a wastebin taxon containing a diverse array of unrelated reptiles (notably the rhynchosaur
Rhynchosaur

Rhynchosaurs were a group of unusual Triassic diapsid reptiles related to the Archosauria. They were herbivores, and at times abundant , with stocky bodies and a powerful beak....
s), 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), Evans et al. (2001), and Apesteguia & Novas (2003).

  • Order RHYNCHOCEPHALIA / SPHENODONTIA
    • Family Gephyrosauridae
      • Gephyrosaurus
      • Diphydontosaurus
    • Family Pleurosauridae
      Pleurosauridae

      Pleurosauridae is a family of extinct marine diapsid reptiles belonging to the Order Sphenodontia.Fossils from this family have been discovered in Bavaria, Germany from the Toarcian and Tithonian ....
      • Palaeopleurosaurus
        Palaeopleurosaurus

        Palaeopleurosaurus is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile belonging to the Order Sphenodontia.Palaeoleurosaurus fossils were discovered in Bavaria, Germany from Toarcian deposits....
      • Pleurosaurus
        Pleurosaurus

        Pleurosaurus is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile belonging to the order Sphenodontia.Pleurosaurus fossils were discovered in the Solnhofen limestone formation of Bavaria, Germany....
    • Family Sphenodontidae
      • Colognathus
      • Godavarisaurus
      • Kawasphenodon
      • Lamarquesaurus
      • Leptosaurus
      • Pelecymela
      • Piocormus
      • Sigmala
      • Theretairus
      • Tingitana
      • Rebbanasaurus
      • Planocephalosaurus
        Planocephalosaurus

        Planocephalosaurus is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile belonging to the Order Sphenodontia. It was about 20 cm long.Planocephalosaurus was one of the first sphenodonts and bore a strong resemblance to the extant tuatara....
      • Polysphenodon
      • Brachyrhinodon
        Brachyrhinodon

        Brachyrhinodon is an extinct genus of sphenodontian from the Triassic....
      • Clevosaurus
        Clevosaurus

        Clevosaurus is an extinct genus of Sphenodontia from the Triassic and the Jurassic periods of Nova Scotia , and Yunnan . Clevosaurus was extremely like the modern tuatara in almost every way; They are different in only some features of the teeth and skull layout....
      • Subfamily Sphenodontinae
        • Homoeosaurus
        • Kallimodon
        • Sapheosaurus
        • Ankylosphenodon
        • Pamizinsaurus
        • Zapatadon
        • Tribe Sphenodontini
          • Cynosphenodon
            Cynosphenodon

            Cynosphenodon is an extinct genus of the family Sphenodontidae from the Middle Jurassic. Growth patterns in the teeth of Cynosphenodon suggest its close relationship with the modern tuatara....
          • Sphenodon (tuatara
            Tuatara

            The tuatara is a reptile endemism to New Zealand which, though it resembles most lizards, is actually part of a distinct lineage, order Sphenodontia....
            )
        • (unranked) Opisthodontia
          • Opisthias
          • Tribe Eilenodontini
            • Toxolophosaurus
            • Priosphenodon
            • Eilenodon