Akkedops
| Akkedops Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Holotype skull in lateral (side) (a–b) and occipital (braincase) (c–d) views | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Neodiapsida |
| Genus: | †Akkedops Mooney, Scott & Reisz, 2025 |
| Species: | †A. bremneri
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| Binomial name | |
| †Akkedops bremneri Mooney, Scott & Reisz, 2025
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Akkedops is an extinct genus of early neodiapsid reptiles known from the Late Permian of South Africa. The genus contains a single species, A. bremneri, described based on several skulls and skeletons.
Discovery and naming
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The Akkedops holotype specimen, SAM-PK-K6205, was discovered by D.T. Bremner in the 1980s in outcrops of the Beaufort Group (Karoo Supergroup) in South Africa. The specimen consists of a single, nearly complete skull with associated postcranial fragments. The specimen is somewhat crushed and distorted.[1]
In 2025, Mooney, Scott & Reisz described Akkedops bremneri as a new genus and species of early reptiles based on these fossil remains. The generic name, Akkedops, combines the Afrikaans word akkedis, meaning "lizard", with the Greek suffix opsis, meaning appearance, in reference to the superficially lizard-like morphology of the preserved material. The specific name, bremneri, honors the discoverer of the holotype specimen.[1]
Mooney, Scott & Reisz also referred two other specimens to Akkedops based on similarities in their anatomy and discovery locality: BP/1/2614, an additional nearly complete but crushed skull, and SAM-PK-K7710, an aggregation of around seven partial individuals originally described as juveniles of the related Youngina.[1][2]
Classification
[edit]To test the relationships of Akkedops, Mooney, Scott & Reisz (2025) scored this taxon in the data matrix of Buffa et al. (2024).[3] This phylogenetic analysis placed Akkedops as the sister taxon to Sauria within the Neodiapsida, diverging after Youngina. These results are displayed in the cladogram below:[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Mooney, Ethan Dean; Scott, Diane; Reisz, Robert Raphael (2025-02-26). "A new stem saurian reptile from the late Permian of South Africa and insights into saurian evolution". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144 (1). doi:10.1186/s13358-025-00351-y. ISSN 1664-2376.
- ^ Smith, Roger M. H.; Evans, Susan E. (1996). "New material of Youngina: evidence of juvenile aggregation in Permian diapsid reptiles". Palaeontology. 39: 289–303.
- ^ Buffa, Valentin; Frey, Eberhard; Steyer, J-Sébastien; Laurin, Michel (2024-05-11). "'Birds' of two feathers: Avicranium renestoi and the paraphyly of bird-headed reptiles (Diapsida: 'Avicephala')". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 202 (4): zlae050. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae050. ISSN 0024-4082.
