5.3 Sphenodon (the tuatara)

This is the skeleton of Sphenodon, the only extant member of the once diverse sphenodontids (members of the Rhynchocephalia). This group is believed to be the sister-group of the Squamata (lizards, snakes and amphisbaenids), together forming the Lepidosauria.

Note the structure of the skull, especially the temporal openings and temporal bars.

« Previous | Next »

Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike 3.0 License

'Vertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution' has been released as an open educational resource (OER) on a Creative Commons 'Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike' license. This means that once downloaded, content can be modified and improved to complement a particular course. This requires, however, that improvements are recycled back into the OER community. All content present at the time of download must be accordingly credited and, in turn, novel content must be appropriately licensed. For more information, please refer to the license deed by clicking on the link above.