''Sapheosaurus'' was an extinct genus of Late Jurassic sphenodont. Its skull was longer and narrower than that of '' Homoeosaurus''. It was classified as a genus of sapheosaur by

Michael Benton Michael James Benton One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born 8 April 1956) is a British palaeontologist, and professor of vertebrate palaeontology in the School of Earth Sciences ...

in 1985. It reached a length of 70 cm from snout to tail. ''Sapheosaurus'' belongs to the clade Sapheosauridae, that also includes other taxa like ''

Kallimodon ''Kallimodon'' is a genus of sphenodont from the Late Jurassic of Bavaria, southern Germany. Systematics ''Kallimodon'' was originally described as a species of ''Homoeosaurus'' by Karl von Zittel in 1887. However, in 1963 it was renamed ''Kall ...

''. It is believed to be one of two aquatic sphenodont lineages, with Pleurosauridae being the other.Marc E. H. Jones, Skull shape and feeding strategy in Sphenodon and other Rhynchocephalia (Diapsida: Lepidosauria), Article in Journal of Morphology 269(8):945-66 · August 2008 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10634 · Source: PubMed Sapheosaurus laticeps Teylers

Species

''Sapheosaurus laticeps'' (also known as '' Piocormus'') differed from ''Sapheosaurus thiollierei'' by its smaller size and more vertebrae. ''S. thiollierei'' had 22 back and neck vertebrae, while ''S. laticeps'' had 26. Also, the two differ in relative limb length. ''S. laticeps'' lived in France and Germany.

References

Sphenodontia Extinct animals of Europe Prehistoric reptile genera {{paleo-reptile-stub