[ring-koh-suh-feyl-yuh
n, -fey-lee-uhn] 
| 1. | belonging or pertaining to the Rhynchocephalia, an order of lizardlike reptiles that are extinct except for the tuatara. |
| 2. | a rhynchocephalian reptile. |
| rhyn·cho·ce·pha·lian (rĭng'kō-sə-fāl'yən) adj. Of or belonging to the Rhynchocephalia, an order of mostly extinct lizardlike reptiles that includes the tuatara. n. A rhynchocephalian reptile. [From New Latin Rhynchocephalia, order name : Greek rhunkhos, beak + Greek kephalē, head; see cephalic.] |
| rhynchocephalian (rĭng'kō-sə-fāl'yən) Pronunciation Key
Any of various mostly extinct lizardlike reptiles of the order Rhynchocephalia, whose only living representative is the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus and S. guntheri). Rhynchocephalians have several primitive skeletal features, including two temporal arches on each side of the skull rather than one, and teeth attached to the edge of the jaw rather than set in sockets. Most rhynchocephalians died out by the end of the Jurassic Period. |