Younginiformes

Younginiformes is a potential group of diapsid reptiles known from the Permian–Triassic of Africa. It has been used as a replacement for the more problematically-defined "Eosuchia". Younginiforms were historically suggested to be lepidosauromorphs, but are now regarded as basal non-saurian neodiapsids. Some younginiforms like Hovasaurus and Acerosodontosaurus are thought to have had an amphibious lifestyle, while others like Kenyasaurus, Thadeosaurus, and younginids were probably terrestrial.

== Classification == Eosuchia is generally seen as comprising two families, Tangasauridae and Younginidae. The monophyly of the group—whether tangasaurids and younginids form a clade rather than distinct branches—is disputed. A 2009 study found them to be an unresolved polytomy at the base of Neodiapsida. In their 2011 description of Orovenator, Reisz et al. recovered the group as paraphyletic. These results are displayed in Topology A below. A 2022 study by Simões et al. recovered the Younginiformes as a monophyletic group of basal neodiapsid reptiles, also including Claudiosaurus and Saurosternon as part of the group. These results are displayed in Topology B below.