Sphenodraco: not a rhynchocephalian in the LRT
Beccari et al 2025
reunited a plate and a counterplate of Sphenodraco (Fig 1). The two elements were curated in different museums. The specimen was earlier referred to Homoeosaurus maximiliani.
The post-crania is well preserved here (Fig 1) in Late Jurassic Solnhofen limestones. The skull is not so well preserved, so has not been scored in the large reptile tree (LRT, 2338 taxa) except for a few mandible characters.
Figure 1. The NHMUK specimen of Sphenodraco. Frame 2 is the original drawing with hand, foot and pelvis rotated for an easier understanding.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sphenodraco2025.588.gif?w=146″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sphenodraco2025.588.gif?w=497″ class=”size-full wp-image-93656″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sphenodraco2025.588.gif” alt=”Figure 1. The NHMUK specimen of Sphenodraco. Frame 2 is the original drawing with hand, foot and pelvis rotated for an easier understanding. ” width=”584″ height=”1204″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sphenodraco2025.588.gif?w=584&h=1204 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sphenodraco2025.588.gif?w=73&h=150 73w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sphenodraco2025.588.gif?w=146&h=300 146w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sphenodraco2025.588.gif 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. The NHMUK specimen of Sphenodraco. Frame 2 is the original drawing with hand, foot and pelvis rotated for an easier understanding.
Beccari et al wrote,
“This new taxon shows an exclusive combination of osteological features that differs from previously described rhynchocephalians.”
That is so because this paper suffers from taxon exclusion.
The authors, Beccari et al 2025, did not realize there was such a clade as the Protosquamata, the sister clade to the Rhynchocephalia and the ancestors to the Squamata in the LRT since 2011.
In Beccari et al
Sphenodraco nested between the rhynchocephalian Kallimodon and Homoeosaurus (several species).
Figure 2. Click to enlarge. Cleaned up reconstruction of the former Bavarisaurus (cololizard at present). Gray areas added based on sister taxa. This is a tritosaur. Note the large naris bounded ventrally by the maxilla. The ventral pelvis is shallower. I don’t understand the pterygoid morphology anteriorly. The upper and lower teeth don’t match. That’s a red flag, but it is the only data available.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bavarisaurus-recon5.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bavarisaurus-recon5.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-16775″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bavarisaurus-recon5.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Click to enlarge. Cleaned up reconstruction of the former Bavarisaurus (cololizard at present). Gray areas added based on sister taxa. This is a tritosaur. Note the large naris bounded ventrally by the maxilla. The ventral pelvis is shallower. I don’t understand the pterygoid morphology anteriorly. The upper and lower teeth don’t match. That’s a red flag, but it is the only data available.” width=”584″ height=”456″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bavarisaurus-recon5.jpg?w=584&h=456 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bavarisaurus-recon5.jpg?w=150&h=117 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bavarisaurus-recon5.jpg?w=300&h=234 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bavarisaurus-recon5.jpg?w=768&h=600 768w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bavarisaurus-recon5.jpg 800w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Click to enlarge. Cleaned up reconstruction of the former Bavarisaurus (cololizard at present). Gray areas added based on sister taxa. This is a tritosaur. Note the large naris bounded ventrally by the maxilla. The ventral pelvis is shallower. I don’t understand the pterygoid morphology anteriorly. The upper and lower teeth don’t match. That’s a red flag, but it is the only data available.
In the LRT
Sphenodraco nests with another long-tailed Late Jurassic Solnhofen protosquamate, Schoenesmahl (Fig 2, formerly Bavarisaurus) and Fraxinisaura, described from skull only material. Neither taxon was mentioned in the Beccari et al text.
The LRT is large in order to minimize taxon exclusion.
It gets worse…
Beccari et al reported, “This new taxon is here regarded as the first predominantly or even
strictly arboreal rhynchocephalian.”
Unfortunately, Sphenodraco is not a rhychocephalian.
Beccari et al are to be commended
for meticulously describing Sphenodraco. Their taxon list was not large enough and, like so many papers preceding this one, that shortcoming hobbled this paper’s conclusions and falsified the headline.
References
Beccari V et al (6 co-authors) 2025. An arboreal rhynchocephalian from the Late Jurassic of Germany, and the importance of the appendicular skeleton for ecomorphology in lepidosaursAn arboreal rhynchocephalian from the Late Jurassic of Germany, and the importance of the appendicular skeleton for ecomorphology in lepidosaurs. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2025, 204, zlaf073 https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf073
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/07/12/sphenodraco-not-a-rhynchocephalian-in-the-lrt/
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