Akkedops is an extinctgenus of early neodiapsid reptiles known from the Late Permian of South Africa. The genus contains a single species, A. bremneri, described based on several skulls and skeletons.
Holotype skull in dorsal (top) (a–b) and ventral (bottom) (c–d) views
The Akkedopsholotype specimen, SAM-PK-K6205, was discovered by D.T. Bremner in the 1980s in outcrops of the Beaufort Group (Karoo Supergroup) in South Africa. The specimen consists of a single, nearly complete skull with associated postcranial fragments. The specimen is somewhat crushed and distorted.[1]
In 2025, Mooney, Scott & Reisz describedAkkedops bremneri as a new genus and species of early reptiles based on these fossil remains. The generic name, Akkedops, combines the Afrikaans word akkedis, meaning "lizard", with the Greek suffix opsis, meaning appearance, in reference to the superficially lizard-like morphology of the preserved material. The specific name, bremneri, honors the discoverer of the holotype specimen.[1]
Mooney, Scott & Reisz also referred two other specimens to Akkedops based on similarities in their anatomy and discovery locality: BP/1/2614, an additional nearly complete but crushed skull, and SAM-PK-K7710, an aggregation of around seven partial individuals originally described as juveniles of the related Youngina.[1][2]
Classification
To test the relationships of Akkedops, Mooney, Scott & Reisz (2025) scored this taxon in the data matrix of Buffa et al. (2024).[3] This phylogenetic analysis placed Akkedops as the sister taxon to Sauria within the Neodiapsida, diverging after Youngina. These results are displayed in the cladogram below:[1]
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