Sphenodontia
Sphenodontia is an order of lizard-like reptiles that includes only one living genus, the tuatara (Sphenodon), and only two living species. 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.
Systematics
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.
Taxonomy
Classification follows Wu (1994),[1] Evans et al. (2001),[2] and Apesteguia & Novas (2003).[3][4]
- Order RHYNCHOCEPHALIA / SPHENODONTIA
Phylogeny
The following is a cladogram of Sphenodontia after Wu (1994),[5] Evans et al. (2001),[6] and Apesteguia & Novas (2003).[7][8]
References
- ^ Wu, X-C. 1994: Late Triassic-Early Jurassic sphenodontians from China and the phylogeny of the Sphenodontia. in Fraser, N. C. & Sues, H-D. 1994: In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. Cambridge University Press, New York. 1994
- ^ Evans, S. E., Prasad, G. V. R. & Manhas, B. K., 2001: Rhynchocephalians (Diapsida: Lepidosauria) from the Jurassic Kota Formation of India. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society: Vol. 133, #3, pp. 309-334
- ^ Apesteguia, S. & Novas, F. E., 2003: Large Cretaceous sphenodontian from Patagonia provides insight into lepidosaur evolution in Gondwana. Nature: Vol. 425, pp. 609-612
- ^ Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
- ^ Wu, X-C. 1994: Late Triassic-Early Jurassic sphenodontians from China and the phylogeny of the Sphenodontia. in Fraser, N. C. & Sues, H-D.. 1994: In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. Cambridge University Press, New York. 1994
- ^ Evans, S. E., Prasad, G. V. R. & Manhas, B. K., 2001: Rhynchocephalians (Diapsida: Lepidosauria) from the Jurassic Kota Formation of India. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society: Vol. 133, #3, pp. 309-334
- ^ Apesteguía S, Novas FE (2003) Large Cretaceous sphenodontian from Patagonia provides insight into lepidosaur evolution in Gondwana. Nature, 425:609–612
- ^ "Sphenodontida". http://www.helsinki.fi/~mhaaramo/metazoa/deuterostoma/chordata/reptilia/lepidosauromorpha/sphenodontida.html. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- Daugherty CH, Cree A, Hay JM, Thompson MB (1990). Neglected taxonomy and continuing extinctions of tuatara (Sphenodon). Nature 347, 177–179.
- Evans SE. 2003. At the feet of the dinosaurs: the early history and radiation of lizards. Biological Reviews, 78:513-551. DOI: 10.1017/S1464793103006134
- Jones MEH. 2008. Skull shape and feeding strategy in Sphenodon and other Rhynchocephalia (Diapsida: Lepidosauria). Journal of Morphology. 269: 945–966. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10634
- Jones MEH. 2009. Dentary tooth shape in Sphenodon and its fossil relatives (Diapsida: Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia). In Koppe T, Meyer G, Alt KW, eds. Interdisciplinary Dental Morphology, Frontiers of Oral Biology (vol 13). Greifswald, Germany; Karger. 9–15.
- Evans SE, Jones MEH (2010) The Origin, early history and diversification of lepidosauromorph reptiles. In Bandyopadhyay S. (ed.), New Aspects of Mesozoic Biodiversity, 27 Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 132, 27-44. DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10311-7_2,
External links