Extinct family of reptiles
Younginidae is an extinctfamily ofdiapsid reptiles from theLate Permian andEarly Triassic . In aphylogenetic context, younginids are near the base of theclade Neodiapsida . Younginidae includes the speciesYoungina capensis South Africa andThadeosaurus colcanapi Madagascar .Heleosuchus griesbachi
Younginidae was traditionally assigned toEosuchia , an order containing an assemblage of basal diapsids now thought to represent anevolutionary grade rather than a true clade. In 1945paleontologist Alfred Romer reclassified Younginidae within a new group,Younginiformes , grouping it with the familiesTangasauridae andProlacertidae . Romer considered Younginidae to include many genera that are no longer classified as younginids:Paliguana Palaegama Saurosternon lepidosauromorphs ,Galesphyrus Heleosuchus incertae sedis Heleophilus millerettid , andHeleosaurus varanopid synapsid.[ 1] [ 2] et al. place younginids close toSauria , the clade including the still-livingarchosauromorph andlepidosauromorph reptiles, while the younginiform family Tangasauridae takes a more basal position in Neodiapsida.[ 3] cladogram from that analysis:[ 3]
See also
Possible sauropsids Other taxa
