This small Permian reptile holds the key to understanding the ancestry of modern lizards

Nature · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Youngina, a lizard-like creature from the Late Permian, serves as a vital evolutionary bridge. By examining its well-preserved skulls, scientists have gained rare insights into the ancestral traits that preceded the split of all living reptiles. It remains a central figure in mapping the early history of diapsid evolution.

Discovered near Nieu-Bethesda in South Africa, Youngina was first described by Robert Broom in 1914. This small reptile, measuring about 30 centimetres in total length with a 5-centimetre skull, belongs to the Late Permian period. Its importance lies in its position as a basal member of the Neodiapsida, meaning it represents a lineage that branched off before the emergence of the common ancestor shared by all reptiles alive today.

The study of Youngina has evolved significantly through modern technology. In 2010, researchers utilized CT scans to re-examine the braincase of the holotype, providing a clearer picture of its internal anatomy. Recent findings, such as the 2023 analysis of the specimen BP/1/2871 by Hunt and colleagues, suggest that Youngina occupies a more primitive position on the evolutionary tree than previously assumed. These studies also clarified that while its skull features a palatobasal articulation, it was likely immobile, mirroring the structure found in the modern tuatara.

The classification of Youngina has been a subject of ongoing debate. Historically, it was grouped within the now-discredited 'Eosuchia' or the potentially paraphyletic 'Younginiformes.' Taxonomic confusion often plagued the genus, with various specimens previously labeled as distinct genera like Youngoides or Youngopsis eventually being recognized as the same species, Y. capensis. Even the well-known aggregation SAM-PK-K7710, long associated with Youngina, was reclassified as a separate species, Scyllacerta creanae, in 2026. These shifts highlight the complexities of interpreting the fossil record of early diapsids.

Ultimately, Youngina displays a mosaic of characteristics that appear in both primitive and more advanced reptile groups. This non-orthogenetic pattern of evolution challenges older, simpler models of how these traits developed. By serving as a reference point for the plesiomorphic morphology of early diapsids, Youngina remains essential for scientists attempting to reconstruct the deep history of the reptilian lineage.

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