Youngina
Sign in to saveYoungina (named after John Young (1823–1900)) is an extinct genus of small, lizard-like stem-group reptile from the Late Permian Beaufort Group (Cistecephalus–Daptocephalus assemblage zones) of the Karoo Supergroup of South Africa. Youngina has been the subject of considerable scientific attention due to its basal position within Neodiapsida (having diverged before the last common ancestor of all living reptiles) and its well-preserved skulls, with Youngina seen as providing insight into the plesiomorphic (ancestral) morphology of the last common ancestor of living reptiles.
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- History
- Description
- Taxonomy and phylogeny
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Youngina (named after John Young (1823–1900)) is an extinct genus of small, lizard-like stem-group reptile from the Late Permian Beaufort Group (Cistecephalus–Daptocephalus assemblage zones) of the Karoo Supergroup of South Africa. Youngina has been the subject of considerable scientific attention due to its basal position within Neodiapsida (having diverged before the last common ancestor of all living reptiles) and its well-preserved skulls, with Youngina seen as providing insight into the plesiomorphic (ancestral) morphology of the last common ancestor of living reptiles.
== History == The holotype, a skull and associated vertebrae, was discovered by Robert Broom near Nieu-Bethesda, Cape Colony (now South Africa) and he published his brief description of Youngina capensis in 1914. Another well-preserved skull was described by Olsen (1936).