Sphenosaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = Late Permian,
{{fossilrange|252|latest=246}}

| genus = Sphenosaurus

| parent_authority = von Meyer, 1847

| species = sternbergii

| authority = von Meyer, 1847

| synonyms =

• Palaeosaurus sternbergii Fitzinger, 1840

}}

Sphenosaurus is a poorly known genus of procolophonid, a type of prehistoric reptile from the Late Permian Buntsanstein of Germany.F. A. Quenstedt. (1882). Handbook of Fossils viii-1239 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.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110708094443/http://www.bristoldinosaur.com/project-history.html The story of Palaeosaurus and Thecodontosaurus] from The Bristol Dinosaur ProjectA series of posts to the [http://dml.cmnh.org Dinosaur Mailing List] by George Olshevsky, regarding the history of Palaeosaurus, including Sphenosaurus: [http://dml.cmnh.org/2000Apr/msg00666.html 1] [http://dml.cmnh.org/2000Apr/msg00668.html 2] [http://dml.cmnh.org/2002Apr/msg00630.html 3] [http://dml.cmnh.org/2002Aug/msg00273.html 4] In 1847, Hermann von Meyer recognized the original 1833 and 1836 usages of Palaeosaurus{{cite journal|last=Riley, H.|author2=S. Stutchbury|year= 1836|title=A description of various fossil remains of three distinct saurian animals discovered in the autumn of 1834, in the Magnesian Conglomerate on Durdham Down, near Bristol|journal= Proceedings of the Geological Society of London|volume= 2|pages=397–399}} and moved P. sternbergii to a new genus, Sphenosaurus.H. v. Meyer. (1855). The Fauna of the Ancient World. The Saurians of the Muschelkalk with Regard to the Saurians of the Buntem Sandstone and Keuper viii-167