Sphenosaurus

Sphenosaurus; Temporal range: Permian
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Procolophonomorpha
Family:	Procolophonidae
Genus:	Sphenosaurus; von Meyer, 1847
Species
	S. sternbergii (Fitzinger, 1840 [originally Palaeosaurus sternbergii]) (type);

Sphenosaurus is a poorly known genus of procolophonid, a type of prehistoric reptile from the Permian. Originally assigned the name Palaeosaurus sternbergii, by German paleontologist Leopold Joseph Fitzinger in 1840, the generic name was already preoccupied by not one but two other reptiles assigned the name Palaeosaurus. In 1847, Hermann von Meyer recognized the original 1833 usage of Palaeosaurus and moved P. sternbergii to a new genus, Sphenosaurus.

References

The story of Palaeosaurus and Thecodontosaurus from The Bristol Dinosaur Project
A series of posts to the Dinosaur Mailing List by George Olshevsky, regarding the history of Palaeosaurus, including Sphenosaurus: 1 2 3 4

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