Akkedops: new name for the assembly of ‘juvenile Youngina’ + 2 new skulls
Mooney, Scott and Reisz 2025 described
a new genus, Akkedops bremneri (early Late Permian) based on a pair of new skulls (Fig 3) then matched previously described specimens (SAM-PK-K7710 Smith and Evans 1996,the nest of ‘juvenile Youngina‘ to this genus. The nest of specimens entered the LRT several years ago (Fig 1).
Figure 1. Akkedops (SAM PK 7710) in the LRT. Orange dots are taxa also present in the Mooney et al cladogram in figure 2.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedopslrt.jpg?w=166″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedopslrt.jpg?w=567″ class=”size-full wp-image-91935″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedopslrt.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Akkedops (SAM PK 7710) in the LRT. Orange dots are taxa also present in the Mooney et al cladogram in figure 2. ” width=”584″ height=”1055″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedopslrt.jpg?w=584&h=1055 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedopslrt.jpg?w=83&h=150 83w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedopslrt.jpg?w=166&h=300 166w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedopslrt.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Akkedops (SAM PK 7710) in this small subset of the LRT. Orange dots are taxa also present in the Mooney et al cladogram in figure 2. Other taxa listed above need to be added to the cherry-picked Mooney et al taxon list.
The authors wrote,
“Phylogenetic analysis recovers Akkedops bremneri as sister to Sauria, which is especially surprising considering its rather small size and slender, lizard-like morphology prior to the split between the apparently similar lepidosauromorphs and many of the comparatively robust archosauromorph saurians.”
The large reptile tree (LRT, 2336 taxa, subset Fig 1) falsifies this assessment. Simply by adding taxa much of the authors’ cladogram (Fig 2) is reshuffled in the LRT. The LRT is much larger than the Mooney et al cladogram in order to minimize taxon exclusion, still the number one problem in paleontology.
Figure 2. The Mooney et al cladogram includes far fewer taxa than the LRT and shuffles Lepidosauromorpha within and without Archosauromorpha. Adding taxa resolves this issue.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops.cladogram588.jpg?w=272″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops.cladogram588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-91939″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops.cladogram588.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. The Mooney et al cladogram includes far fewer taxa than the LRT and shuffles Lepidosauromorpha within and without Archosauromorpha. Adding taxa resolves this issue.” width=”584″ height=”644″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops.cladogram588.jpg?w=584&h=644 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops.cladogram588.jpg?w=136&h=150 136w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops.cladogram588.jpg?w=272&h=300 272w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops.cladogram588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. The Mooney et al cladogram includes far fewer taxa than the LRT and shuffles Lepidosauromorpha within and without Archosauromorpha. Adding taxa resolves this issue.
The authors wrote,
“Our analysis also indicates that Youngina capensis falls outside the clade of Akkedops bremenri + Sauria and does not appear to form a clade with other “younginiform” reptiles.”
The Mooney team needs to add taxa. Their cladogram does not model evo-events.
The new Akkedops skull from Mooney et al, standard DGS colors added here. It is about the size of the SAM PK7710 skulls.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops_bremneri_skull588.jpg?w=123″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops_bremneri_skull588.jpg?w=420″ class=”size-full wp-image-91943″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops_bremneri_skull588.jpg” alt=”The new Akkedops skull from Mooney et al, standard DGS colors added here. It is about the size of the SAM PK7710 skulls. ” width=”584″ height=”1422″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops_bremneri_skull588.jpg?w=584&h=1422 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops_bremneri_skull588.jpg?w=62&h=150 62w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops_bremneri_skull588.jpg?w=123&h=300 123w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/akkedops_bremneri_skull588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
The new Akkedops skull from Mooney et al, standard DGS colors added here. It is about the size of the SAM PK7710 skulls.
The authors wrote,
“The available evidence indicates a surprising level of complexity related to the evolution
of stem saurians and the origin of Sauria that occurred in the shadow of other Paleozoic amniotes.”
The Reisz team needs to start adding taxa. Until they do, they will continue to recover ‘a surprising level of complexity.’ Evolution works in small steps. So does the LRT.
References
Mooney ED, Scott D and Reisz RR 2025. A new stem saurian reptile from the late Permian of South Africa and insights into saurian evolution. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 144:10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-025-00351-y
Smith, RMH and Evans SE 1996. New material of Youngina: evidence of juvenile aggregation in Permian diapsid reptiles. Palaeontology, 39 (2):289–303.
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/akkedops-new-name-for-the-assembly-of-juvenile-youngina-2-new-skulls/
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