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Rhynchocephalia
| Description | Rhynchocephalia ("beak-heads") is an order of lizard-like reptiles that includes only one living species, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) of New Zealand, which in turn has two subspecies (Sphenodon punctatus punctatus and Sphenodon punctatus guntheri). Despite its current lack of diversity, the Rhynchocephalia at one time included a wide array of genera within multiple (now extinct) families, and represents a lineage stretching at least as far back as the Middle Triassic. Most rhynchocephalians belong to the group Sphenodontia ("wedge-teeth"), which are characterized by a hooked beak-like structure at the tip of the snout formed by enlarged premaxillary teeth. Many of the niches occupied by lizards today were held by sphenodontians during the Triassic and Jurassic, although lizard diversity began to overtake sphenodontian diversity in the Cretaceous. While the modern tuatara is primarily carnivorous, there were also sphenodontians with omnivorous (Opisthias), herbivorous (Eilenodontinae), and durophagous (Oenosaurus) lifestyles. There were even several successful groups of aquatic sphenodontians, such as pleurosaurs and the bizarre Ankylosphenodon. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhynchocephalia, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rank | order | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Rhynchocephalia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
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| Common Name | rhynchocephalian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific Name | Rhynchocephalia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
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| Status (PBDB) | extant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 132 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 10 (7.6%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 252 - 247 Ma Phanerozoic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | terrestrial (based on Diapsida) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taphonomy | phosphatic (based on Vertebrata) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | A. Günther. 1867. Contribution to the Anatomy of Hatteria (Rhynchocephalus, Owen) [Abstract]. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 15:460-462 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name(s) | Rhynchocephalian, Tuataras | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhynchocephalia |
External Images
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
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| Clarazisauria ✝ suborder | listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Sphenodontia suborder | listed (PBDB) | 225 | 251 Ma Early/Lower Triassic | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Claraziidae ✝ family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Clevosauridae ✝ family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 34 | 237 Ma Middle Triassic | 199 Ma Early Jurassic | |
| Gephyrosauridae ✝ family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 209 Ma Late/Upper Triassic | 209 Ma Late/Upper Triassic | |
| Homeosauridae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Pachystropheidae ✝ family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Pleurosauri family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Pleurosauridae ✝ family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 15 | 183 Ma Early Jurassic | 151 Ma Late Jurassic | |
| Sapheosauridae ✝ family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 157 Ma Jurassic | 156 Ma Jurassic | |
| Sauranodontes ✝ family | listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Sauranodontidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Sphenodontidae family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 52 | 251 Ma Early/Lower Triassic | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Tholodontidae ✝ family | listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Eifelosaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 247 Ma Early/Lower Triassic | 247 Ma Early/Lower Triassic | |
| Gephyrosaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 8 | 209 Ma Late/Upper Triassic | 201 Ma Early Jurassic | |
| Godavarisaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 183 Ma Early Jurassic | 183 Ma Early Jurassic | |
| Rebbanasaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 183 Ma Early Jurassic | 183 Ma Early Jurassic | |
| Rhynchocephalichnus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Sphenocondor ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 180 Ma Early Jurassic | 180 Ma Early Jurassic | |
| Vadasaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 156 Ma Jurassic | 156 Ma Jurassic | |
| Whitakersaurus genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 209 Ma Late/Upper Triassic | 209 Ma Late/Upper Triassic | |
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1867 | Rhynchocephalia Günther p. 462 |
| 1871 | Rhynchocephalia Cope p. 235 |
| 1875 | Rhynchocephalia Cope p. 15 |
| 1886 | Rhynchocephalia Günther p. 444 |
| 1890 | Rhynchocephalia Zittel p. 450 |
| 1892 | Rhynchocephalia Lortet p. 29 |
| 1898 | Rhynchocephalia Woodward p. 141 |
| 1902 | Rhynchocephalia Hay p. 459 |
| 1903 | Rhynchocephalia Osborn p. 276 |
| 1904 | Rhynchocephalia Osborn p. 112 |
| 1934 | Rhynchocephalia Swinton p. 47 |
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1937 | Rhynchocephalia Roxo p. 44 |
| 1946 | Rhynchocephalia Kuhn p. 62 |
| 1954 | Rhynchocephalia Haughton and Brink p. 4 |
| 1954 | Rhynchocephalia Huene p. 59 |
| 1964 | Rhynchocephalia Kuhn p. 312 |
| 1966 | Rhynchocephalia Kuhn p. 36 |
| 1966 | Rhynchocephalia Olson p. 301 |
| 1982 | Rhynchocephalia Gardiner p. 228 |
| 1996 | Rhynchocephalia Frank and Ramus |
| 2003 | Rhynchocephalia Simon and Kellner p. 1 |
| 2013 | Rhynchocephalia Jones et al. |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
