Sphenodontidae is a family within the reptile group Rhynchocephalia, comprising taxa most closely related to the living tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus). Historically the taxa included within Sphenodontidae have varied greatly between analyses, and the group has lacked a …

The Sphenodontia is a diverse group of reptile. It includes only one living genus, the tuatara (Sphenodon). An alternative name for the order is the Rhynchocephalia. They are an offshoot from the evolutionary line leading to the lizards and snakes. They had many families during the late Triassic and Jurassic periods but then declined.

Rhynchocephalia (/ ˌrɪŋkoʊsɪˈfeɪliə /; lit. 'beak-heads') is an order of lizard-like reptiles that includes only one living species, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) of New Zealand. Despite its current lack of diversity, during the Mesozoic rhynchocephalians were a speciose group with high morphological and ecological diversity.

is an order of lizard-like reptiles that includes only two living species of tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus and Sphenodon guntheri), which only inhabit parts of New Zealand.

Though the tuatara is the only species of sphenodontid alive today, the group was rather diverse in the Mesozoic Era. All sphenodontids belong to the Lepidosauria, a group of diapsids that includes snakes, lizards, and mosasaurs. Sphenodontids first …

The Rhynchocephalia, or Sphenodontia, are the sister group of the hugely successful Squamata. The diversity of these poor relations to the snakes and lizards has always been somewhat limited.

Currently, there are only two species of Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus and the extremely rare Sphenodon guntheri). These are the only remaining members of the genus Sphenodon. All others are extinct. In scientific terms, we have to be careful using …

Sphenodontidae is a family within the reptile group Rhynchocephalia. Most members of this family are only known from fossils but there is one living member, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) from New Zealand.

Sphenodontians were a successful group of rhynchocephalian reptiles that dominated the fossil record of Lepidosauria during the Triassic and Jurassic. Although evidence of extinction is seen at the end of the Laurasian Early Cretaceous, they appeared to remain numerically abundant in South America until the end of the period.

Mar 3, 2022 · Here, we present a new sphenodontian species from the Early Jurassic of North America (Arizona, USA) represented by a nearly complete articulated skeleton and dozens of upper and lower jaws...