PBDB Taxon

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Rhynchocephalia (rhynchocephalian)

Reptilia - Rhynchocephalia

Taxonomy

Rhynchocephalia was named by Günther (1867). It is extant. It was considered monophyletic by Jones et al. (2013).

It was reranked as the subclass Rhynchocephala by Perrier (1928); it was reranked as the suborder Rhynchocephalia by Lortet (1892) and Villa et al. (2021).

It was assigned to Squamata by Günther (1867); to Sauria by Lortet (1892); to Eoditremata by Hay (1930); to Diaptosauria by Osborn (1903), Osborn (1904) and Roxo (1937); to Neosauromorpha by Huene (1954); to Lepidosauria by Olson (1966); to Lepidosauria by Haughton and Brink (1954) and Haubold (1974); to Reptilia by Cope (1871), Cope (1875), Günther (1886), Zittel (1890), Woodward (1898), Hay (1902), Perrier (1928), Swinton (1934), Kuhn (1946), Kuhn (1964) and Frank and Ramus (1996); to Lepidosauria by Kuhn (1966) and Jones et al. (2013); to Diapsida by Osborn (1903) and Skinner et al. (2020); and to Lepidosauria by Gardiner (1982), Simon and Kellner (2003), Apesteguía (2005), Sues and Schoch (2021) and Villa et al. (2021).

Subtaxa

Clarazisauria, Colobops, Eifelosaurus, Gephyrosauridae, Gephyrosaurus, Hamatopus, Pachystropheidae, Sauranodontes, Sphenodontiformes, Tholodontidae, Vadasaurus

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
1928	Rhynchocephala Perrier p. 3118
1930	Rhynchocephalia Hay p. 130
1934	Rhynchocephalia Swinton p. 47
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
1974	Rhynchocephalia Haubold p. 35
1982	Rhynchocephalia Gardiner p. 228
1996	Rhynchocephalia Frank and Ramus
2003	Rhynchocephalia Simon and Kellner p. 1
2005	Rhynchocephalia Apesteguía
2013	Rhynchocephalia Jones et al.
2020	Rhynchocephalia Skinner et al.
2021	Rhynchocephalia Sues and Schoch
2021	Rhynchocephalia Villa et al.

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967

Rank	Name	Author
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()
—	Eosuchia	()
—	Neodiapsida
—	Sauria	Gauthier 1984
—	Lepidosauromorpha	(Benton 1983)
superorder	Lepidosauria	()
order	Rhynchocephalia
order	Rhynchocephalia

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Or. Rhynchocephalia Günther 1867 [rhynchocephalian]

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Subor. †Clarazisauria Hoffstetter 1955

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Invalid names: Claraziidae Peyer 1936 [empty]

G. †Colobops Pritchard et al. 2018

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†Colobops noviportensis Pritchard et al. 2018

G. †Eifelosaurus Jaekel 1904

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†Eifelosaurus triadicus Jaekel 1904

Fm. †Gephyrosauridae Evans 1980

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G. †Deltadectes Whiteside et al. 2017

†Deltadectes elvetica Whiteside et al. 2017

G. †Gephyrosaurus Evans 1980

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†Gephyrosaurus bridensis Evans 1980

†Gephyrosaurus evansae Whiteside and Duffin 2017

G. †Hamatopus Lilienstern 1939

G. †Vadasaurus Bever and Norell 2017

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†Vadasaurus herzogi Bever and Norell 2017

Invalid names: Pachystropheidae Kuhn 1961 [empty], Sauranodontes Lortet 1892 [empty], Sphenodontiformes Hay 1930 [empty], Tholodontidae Kuhn [empty]

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
H. F. Osborn 1903	Maxillaries and premaxillaries with teeth (excepting Sauranodon). Vertebrae perforate or imperforate. Sacrals 2. Caudals with "splitting point." Hypocentra present or absent. Interclavicle T-shaped. Large puboischiadic (thyroid) foramina. Ilium narrow. Entepi- and ectepicondylar foramina variable. Proximal tarsalia incliding 3 elements (tibiale, intermedium, fibulare) partly coalesced. Distal tarsalia no texceeding 4.