[ring-koh-suh-feyl-yuhn, -fey-lee-uhn]/ ˌrɪŋ koʊ səˈfeɪl jən, -ˈfeɪ li ən /
adjective
belonging or pertaining to the Rhynchocephalia, an order of lizardlike reptiles that are extinct except for the tuatara.
noun
a rhynchocephalian reptile.
rhynchocephalian
British
/ ˌrɪŋkəʊsɪˈfælɪən /
adjective
of, relating to, or belonging to the Rhyncocephalia , an order of lizard-like reptiles common in the Mesozoic era but today represented only by the tuatara
Any of various mostly extinct lizardlike reptiles of the order Rhynchocephalia, whose only living representative is the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus and S. guntheri). Rhynchocephalians have several primitive skeletal features, including two temporal arches on each side of the skull rather than one, and teeth attached to the edge of the jaw rather than set in sockets. Most rhynchocephalians died out by the end of the Jurassic Period.
1865–70; < New Latin Rhynchocephali ( a ) name of the order (< Greek rhýncho ( s ) snout + New Latin -cephalia; see cephal-, -ia) + -an
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And unlike its cousins, the specific rhynchocephalian lineage that led to today’s tuatara had “exceptionally low rates of evolution,” notes Harvard University herpetologist Tiago Simões, who was not involved in the new study.
