| Taytalura Temporal range: Late Triassic (late Carnian)
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| skull diagram | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Lepidosauromorpha |
| Genus: | †Taytalura Martinez et al., 2021 |
| Type species | |
| †Taytalura alcoberi Martinez et al., 2021
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Taytalura is an extinct genus of lepidosauromorph reptile from the Late Triassic of Argentina. It contains a single species, Taytalura alcoberi, which is based on a well-preserved skull from the fossiliferous Ischigualasto Formation. As a lepidosauromorph, Taytalura is a distant relative of modern lepidosaurs such as sphenodontians (the tuatara and its extinct kin) and squamates (lizards and snakes). Taytalura did not belong to any group of modern lepidosaurs, since it bears unique features, such as unfused bones in the skull roof and teeth which all sit loosely in a deep groove without sockets. Regardless, Micro-CT scanning reveals features of the skull previously only seen in rhynchocephalians (sphenodonts and their ancestors). This suggests that the ancestral condition of the skull in lepidosaurs was more similar to sphenodonts than to squamates.[1]
- ^ Martínez, Ricardo N.; Simões, Tiago R.; Sobral, Gabriela; Apesteguía, Sebastián (2021-08-25). "A Triassic stem lepidosaur illuminates the origin of lizard-like reptiles". Nature. 597 (7875): 235–238. Bibcode:2021Natur.597..235M. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03834-3. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 34433961. S2CID 237307957.