Temporal range: Middle Triassic-Holocene ~240–0 Ma
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The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), the only living rhynchocephalian
Fossil of Vadasaurus, a rhynchocephalian from the Late Jurassic of Germany
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Reptilia
Superorder:
Lepidosauria
Order:
Rhynchocephalia Günther 1867
Type species
Sphenodon punctatus
Gray, 1842
Subgroups
See text
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. The oldest record of the group is dated to the Middle Triassic around 238 to 240 million years ago, and they had achieved global distribution by the Early Jurassic.[1] Most rhynchocephalians belong to the group Sphenodontia ('wedge-teeth'). Their closest living relatives are lizards and snakes in the order Squamata, with the two orders being grouped together in the superorder Lepidosauria.
Once representing the worlds dominant group of small reptiles, many of the niches occupied by lizards today were held by rhynchocephalians during the Triassic and Jurassic. Rhynchocephalians underwent a great decline during the Cretaceous, and they had disappeared almost entirely by the beginning of the Cenozoic. While the modern tuatara is primarily insectivorous and carnivorous, the diversity of the group also included the herbivorous eilenodontines, and there were other rhynchocephalians with specialised ecologies like the durophagous sapheosaurs. There were even successful groups of aquatic sphenodontians, such as the pleurosaurs.[2]
^Jones ME, Anderson CL, Hipsley CA, Müller J, Evans SE, Schoch RR (September 2013). "Integration of molecules and new fossils supports a Triassic origin for Lepidosauria (lizards, snakes, and tuatara)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 13 (1): 208. Bibcode:2013BMCEE..13..208J. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-208. PMC 4016551. PMID 24063680.
^Reynoso VH (2000). "An unusual aquatic sphenodontian (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Tlayua Formation (Albian), central Mexico". Journal of Paleontology. 74 (1): 133–148. Bibcode:2000JPal...74..133R. doi:10.1017/s0022336000031310. S2CID 232346834.
Rhynchocephalia (/ˌrɪŋkoʊsɪˈfeɪliə/; lit. 'beak-heads') is an order of lizard-like reptiles that includes only one living species, the tuatara (Sphenodon...
resemblance to lizards, it is part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name tuatara is derived from the Māori language and means "peaks...
members of the order Rhynchocephalia. The only surviving member of the Rhynchocephalia is the tuatara. Squamata and Rhynchocephalia form the subclass Lepidosauria...
subclass or superorder of reptiles, containing the orders Squamata and Rhynchocephalia. Squamata includes lizards and snakes. Squamata contains over 9,000...
suggested to represent a late surviving lepidosauromorph outside both Rhynchocephalia and Squamata, though some studies have recovered it as a stem-squamate...
Michael J.; Ruta, Marcello (May 2017). "Macroevolutionary patterns in Rhynchocephalia: Is the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) a living fossil?". Palaeontology...
Sphenodontidae is a family within the reptile group Rhynchocephalia, comprising taxa most closely related to the living tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)...
it is excluded from Neosphenodontia. Position of Clevosaurus within Rhynchocephalia, after DeMar et al. 2022. Sues, H. D.; Reisz, R. (1995). "First record...
Containing the Orders Ornithosauria, Crocodilia, Dinosauria, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia, and Proterosauria. British Museum (Natural History):London, 1-309...
Rhynchocephalia reported from the Allen Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Lamarquesaurus L. cabazai Cerro...
(turtles), Crocodilia (crocodilians), Squamata (lizards and snakes), and Rhynchocephalia (the tuatara). As of May 2023, about 12,000 living species of reptiles...
together in the morphospace of sphenodontians and early lepidosaurs. Rhynchocephalia Indeterminate Airhead West Silty Facies Uncertain Fragments Rhynchocephalians...
Thomas L.; Benton, Michael J. (2017). "Macroevolutionary patterns in Rhynchocephalia: is the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) a living fossil?". Palaeontology...
America by the early Late Cretaceous. The cause of the decline of Rhynchocephalia remains unclear, but has often been suggested to be due to competition...
two subdivisions, Squamata, which contains lizards and snakes, and Rhynchocephalia, the only extant species of which is the tuatara. Lepidosauromorphs...
(2011). "Hard tissue anatomy of the cranial joints in Sphenodon (Rhynchocephalia): sutures, kinesis, and skull mechanics". Palaeontologia Electronica...
allied with Kallimodon and Sapheosaurus. Although the structure of Rhynchocephalia as a whole is changeable depending on the methodology used in the analysis...
includes Squamata and Rhynchocephalia. It is a monophyletic group and therefore contains all descendants of a common ancestor. Rhynchocephalia is an order of...
shape in Sphenodon and its fossil relatives (Diapsida: Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia)". In Koppe T, Meyer G, Alt KW, (eds). Interdisciplinary Dental Morphology...
'lizard') is an extinct genus of aquatic reptiles belonging to the order Rhynchocephalia. Pleurosaurus fossils have primarily been discovered in the Solnhofen...
(August 2008). "Skull shape and feeding strategy in Sphendon and other Rhynchocephalia (Diapsida: Lepidosauria)". Journal of Morphology. 269 (8): 945–966...
Ohrspähre der Lacertilia und Rhynchocephalia (dissertation), 1898 – The middle and outer ear-sphere of Lacertilia and Rhynchocephalia. Die Gorgoniden der Siboga-Expedition...
Containing the Orders Ornithosauria, Crocodilia, Dinosauria, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia and Pterosauria. Taylor and Francis. pp. 2–37. Bennett, S.C. (1996)...
usually dumped in favour of a new, more restrictive name (for example, Rhynchocephalia), or abandoned altogether (for example, Simia).[citation needed] A...
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