Scyllacerta creanae (Jenkins et al 2026, SAM-PK-K7710a, Late Permian, South Africa) was originally classified as the oldest known member of the stem-reptile family Younginidae and the oldest neodiapsid. Adding taxa in the LRT modifies these preliminary findings. The authors did not realize a diapsid skull architecture evolved more than once by convergence and that the clade Reptilia extended back to the last common ancestor, Silvanerpeton, from the Early Cretaceous (Viséan).

Akkedops bremneri (Mooney, Scott and Reisz, SAM-PK-K6205, Late Permian, South Africa) described as a new early reptile from South Africa. The authors included the SAM-PK-K77710a specimen (above), claiming that the cranial anatomy of all three specimens is indistinguishable.  The taxa are similar enough to nest together, but the straight rostral margin of Scyllacerta is distinct from the convex rostral margin of Akkedops. Likewise these authors did not realize a diapsid skull architecture evolved more than once by convergence and that the clade Reptilia extended back to Silvanerpeton.

Youngina capensis? BPI 375 is a large-eyed, short-snouted Youngina species that appears to preserve an antorbital fenestra with a shallow fossa, but this could be due to crushing. Other bones, such as the nasal and preorbital are split, but the hole in BPI 375 is exactly where the antorbital fenestra would eventually develop and it is surrounded by a shallow fossa.

Youngina? (number and citation to come) is a larger small skull with a large orbit and a clear antorbital fenestra. The premaxilla is missing. This skull is similar to, but larger than the BPI 375 specimen (below).

The genus Youngina was once considered basal to both lepidosaurs and archosaurs. That was not validated when more taxa were added to the LRT as lepidosaurs were recovered with a completely different origin dating back to the last common ancestor of all reptiles, Silvanerpeton.

Broom R 1914. A new thecodont reptile. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1914:1072-1077.

Gardner NM, Holliday CM and O'Keefe FR 2010. The braincase of Youngina capensis (Reptilia, Diapsida): New insights from high-resolution CT scanning of the holotype. Paleonotologica Electronica 13(3).

Gow CE 1975. The morphology and relationships of Youngina capensis Broom and Prolacerta broomi Parrington. Palaeontologia Africana, 18:89-131.

Olsen EC 1936. Notes on the skull of Youngina capensis Broom. Journal of Geology, 44 (4): 523-533.

Jenkins X (10 co-authors) 2026. The origin of the tympanic fossa in reptiles revealed by a late Permian neodiapsid. Palaeontology. 69 (1) e70041: 1–15.

Mooney, Ethan Dean; Scott, Diane; Reisz, Robert Raphael 2025. A new stem saurian reptile from the late Permian of South Africa and insights into saurian evolution. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144 (1): 10.

wiki/Scyllacerta
wiki/Akkedops
wiki/Youngina
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