{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Late Jurassic | image = Homeosaurus pulchellus 7889.JPG | image_caption = ''Kallimodon pulchellus'' | taxon = Kallimodon | authority = Cocude-Michel, 1963 | type_species = †'''''K. pulchellus''''' | type_species_authority = (Zittel, 1887) | subdivision_ranks = Other species | subdivision = * {{extinct}}'''''K. cerinensis''''' {{small|Cocude-Michel, 1963}} }}
'''''Kallimodon''''' is a genus of sphenodontian reptile from the Late Jurassic of Bavaria, southern Germany and France.
== History and species == ''Kallimodon pulchellus'' was originally described as a species of ''Homoeosaurus'' by Karl von Zittel in 1887. However, in 1963 it was renamed ''Kallimodon'' due to differences from the ''Homoeosaurus'' type species.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Cocude-Michel |first=Marguerite |date=1963 |title=Les rhynchocéphales et les sauriens des calcaires lithographiques (Jurassique supérieur) d'Europe occidentale |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/mhnly_0373-6636_1963_num_7_1_992 |journal=Publications du musée des Confluences |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=3–224 |doi=10.3406/mhnly.1963.992}}</ref>
A second species, ''Kallimodon cerinensis,'' was named by Cocude-Michel, 1963<ref name=":0" /> after 2 specimens from the late Kimmeridgian Cerin Lagerstätte in France : MDC 20015671, MDC 20015675 and its counterpart MDC 20015674 that were formerly referred to as ''Sauranodon incisivus,'' (Jourdan, 1862), which is now regarded as a synonym of ''Sapheosaurus thiollierei''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brignon |first=Arnaud |date=2025 |title=Les planches lithographiées des « Reptiles fossiles du Bugey (Ain) » de Claude Jourdan (1803-1873) et leur apport à l'histoire des premières découvertes de reptiles dans le Jurassique de Cerin et des gisements voisins |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/401308060 |journal=Revue de Paléobiologie, Genève |volume=44 |issue=12 |pages=1–57}}</ref>. This species was synonymized with ''K. pulchellus'' as ''Leptosaurus pulchellus'' by Fabre, 1981<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fabre |first=Jacques |url=https://books.google.fr/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=p-3_EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA5&dq=fabre+kallimodon&ots=NBkM59Al6E&sig=I24hvJNaOIgGo31a_9xY8GKwDn0#v=onepage&q=fabre%20kallimodon&f=false |title=Les rhynchocéphales et les ptérosauriens à crète pariétale du Kiméridgien supérieur-Berriasien d'Europe occidentale: Le gisement de Canjuers (Var-France) et ses abords |date=1980-12-31 |publisher=FeniXX |isbn=978-2-402-41853-9 |language=fr}}</ref> However, it was revalidated by recent studies.<ref name="Sphenodraco" /> A third specimen is also known from late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian Drigas quarry lagerstätte in the Causse Méjean lithographic limestones.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moreau |first=Jean-David |last2=Vullo |first2=Romain |last3=Charbonnier |first3=Sylvain |last4=Jattiot |first4=Romain |last5=Trincal |first5=Vincent |last6=Néraudeau |first6=Didier |last7=Fara |first7=Emmanuel |last8=Baret |first8=Louis |last9=Garassino |first9=Alessandro |last10=Gand |first10=Georges |last11=Lafaurie |first11=Gérard |date=2022 |title=Konservat-Lagerstätten from the Upper Jurassic lithographic limestone of the Causse Méjean (Lozère, southern France): palaeontological and palaeoenvironmental synthesis |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/geological-magazine/article/abs/konservatlagerstatten-from-the-upper-jurassic-lithographic-limestone-of-the-causse-mejean-lozere-southern-france-palaeontological-and-palaeoenvironmental-synthesis/507BF7E6C28DFBE9BEC120877781FF61 |journal=Geological Magazine |language=en |volume=159 |issue=5 |pages=761–781 |doi=10.1017/S0016756821001382 |issn=0016-7568}}</ref>
In 1997, ''Kallimodon'' was sunk as a junior synonym of ''Leptosaurus'', with the type species referred to as ''L. pulchellus''.<ref>S. Renesto and G. Viohl. 1997. A sphenodontid (Reptilia, Diapsida) from the late Kimmeridgian of Schamhaupten (Southern Franconian Alb, Bavaria, Germany). Archaeopteryx 15:27-46</ref> However, subsequent studies find ''Kallimodon'' to be valid and distinct from ''Leptosaurus.'' One specimen previously referred to this genus is actually a distinct taxon.<ref>Rauhut O. W. M., Heyng A. M., López-Arbarello A. & Hecker A. (2012): A new rhynchocephalian from the Late Jurassic of Germany with a dentition that is unique amongst tetrapods. PLoS ONE 7: e46839.</ref><ref>Oliver W. M. Rauhut & Adriana López-Arbarello (2015) Zur Taxonomie der Brückenechse aus dem oberen Jura von Schamhaupten. [On the taxonomy of rhynchocephalians from the Late Jurassic of Schamhaupten] ''Archaeopteryx'' 33: 1-11 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301517359_Zur_Taxonomie_der_Bruckenechse_aus_dem_oberen_Jura_von_Schamhaupten_On_the_taxonomy_of_the_rhynchocephalian_from_the_Late_Jurassic_of_Schamhaupten</ref>
== Description == The skull lacks a quadratojugal process of the jugal. The fourth metacarpal and metatarsal bones of the forefoot and hindfoot, respectively, are longer than the third digits of these feet. The unguals are relatively flat. Preserved soft tissue shows that ''Kallimodon pulchellus'' had square scales on the tail region.<ref name="Sphenodraco">{{Cite journal |last1=Beccari |first1=Victor |last2=Guillaume |first2=Alexandre R. D. |last3=Jones |first3=Marc E. H. |last4=Villa |first4=Andrea |last5=Cooper |first5=Natalie |last6=Regnault |first6=Sophie |last7=Rauhut |first7=Oliver W. M. |date=2025-07-01 |title=An arboreal rhynchocephalian from the Late Jurassic of Germany, and the importance of the appendicular skeleton for ecomorphology in lepidosaurs |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=204 |issue=3 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf073 |hdl=10362/186782 |issn=0024-4082 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |article-number=zlaf073}}</ref>
== Ecology == The morphology of the limbs resembles those of terrestrial lizards, but ''Kallimodon'' has been suggested as semi-aquatic, which may be supported by the finding of apparent fish remains in the body cavity of one specimen, which may represent stomach contents.<ref name="Sphenodraco" /> ==Phylogeny== In recent studies, ''Kallimodon'' has been recovered as part of the clade Leptorhynchia, which also includes the sapheosaurs, pleurosaurs and ''Homoeosaurus,'' among others.<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last1=DeMar |first1=David G. |last2=Jones |first2=Marc E. H. |last3=Carrano |first3=Matthew T. |date=2022-12-31 |title=A nearly complete skeleton of a new eusphenodontian from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, Wyoming, USA, provides insight into the evolution and diversity of Rhynchocephalia (Reptilia: Lepidosauria) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2022.2093139 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |language=en |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=1–64 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2022.2093139 |hdl=2440/136608 |issn=1477-2019 |s2cid=252325953 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>
Cladogram after Beccari et al. 2025:<ref name="Sphenodraco" />{{clade|{{clade |1=†''Gephyrosaurus'' |label2='''Sphenodontia''' |2={{clade |1=†''Diphydontosaurus'' |2={{clade |1=†''Planocephalosaurus'' |label2='''Eusphenodontia''' |2={{clade |1=†''Clevosaurus'' (paraphyletic) |label2='''Neosphenodontia''' |2={{clade |label1=Sphenodontidae |1={{clade |label1=†Eilenodontinae |1={{clade |1=†''Priosphenodon'' |2=†''Sphenotitan'' }} |label2=Sphenodontinae |2={{clade |1=†''Opisthiamimus'' |2={{clade |1=†''Navajosphenodon'' |2={{clade |1=†''Sphenofontis'' |2=''Sphenodon'' (tuatara) }}}}}}}} |label2=Leptorhynchia |2={{clade |1=†''Homoeosaurus solnhofensis'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=†''Homoeosaurus maximiliani'' |2=†''Homoeosaurus parvipes'' }} |2={{clade |1=†''Sphenodraco'' |2=†''Kallimodon'' }} }} |2={{clade |label1=†Pleurosauridae |1={{clade |1=†''Derasmosaurus'' |2={{clade |1=†''Ankylosphenodon'' |2={{clade |1=†''Palaeopleurosaurus'' |2={{clade |1=†''Acrosaurus'' |2=†''Pleurosaurus'' }}}}}}}} |2={{clade |1=†''Vadasaurus'' |label2=†Sapheosauridae |2={{clade |1=†''Sapheosaurus'' |2={{clade |1=†''Piocormus'' |2=†''Oenosaurus'' }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}|label1=Rhynchocephalia}}{{Portal|Paleontology}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Sphenodontia}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q28431686}}
Category:Rhynchocephalia Category:Late Jurassic reptiles of Europe
{{paleo-reptile-stub}} Category:Fossils of France Category:Fossils of Germany