Rhynchocephalians (Diapsida : Lepidosauria) from the Jurassic Kota Formation of India

Despite their rarity today, rhynchocephalians formed a diverse Early Mesozo ic clade with a comparatively good fossil record. They had a Pangaean distr ibution in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, although the Gondwanan rec ord remains more limited than the Laurasian one. We report here on new sphe nodontian material from the Jurassic Kota Formation of peninsular India. Tw o taxa are represented, and both are attributed to new genera. One is a rel atively derived sphenodontian with a premaxillary morphology similar to tha t of the Late Triassic/ Early Jurassic genus Clevosaurus. The other is some what more primitive in its morphology, although clearly a crown-group sphen odontian. In addition, three dentary fragments and a partial maxilla signal the presence of a primitive pleurodont lepidosauromorph similar to the bas al rhynchocephalians Gephyrosaurus and Diphydontosaurus from Britain. (C) 2 001 The Linnean Society of London.