Ankylopoda was a proposed clade that hypothetically contains turtles and lepidosaurs (tuatara, lizards and snakes) and their fossil relatives. This clade was historically supported based on microRNA analysis[1] as well as some cladistic analyses.[2] However, it was strongly contradicted by molecular evidence which supports Archelosauria (the grouping of turtles and archosaurs),[3] and other recent cladistic analyses have supported Archelosauria over Ankylopoda.[4]
| Ankylopods | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Proganochelys quenstedti | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Sauria |
| Clade: | Ankylopoda Lyson et al., 2012 |
| Extant subclades | |
Classification
The cladogram below follows the most likely result found by another analysis of turtle relationships, this one using only fossil evidence, published by Rainer Schoch and Hans-Dieter Sues in 2015. This study found Eunotosaurus to be an actual early stem-turtle, though other versions of the analysis found weak support for it as a parareptile.[5]
See also
- Archelosauria, an alternative clade that places turtles as sister taxon to archosaurs.