| Stegocephali | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Examples of stegocephalians (clockwise from top left): Litoria phyllochroa, Acanthostega gunnari, Vulpes vulpes, and Tyto alba | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Elpistostegalia |
| Clade: | Stegocephali Cope, 1868 |
| Subgroups | |
|
See text. | |
Stegocephali is a group containing all four-limbed vertebrates.
The word was first used in 1868 by the American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, who used it as a general category of prehistoric amphibians. This did not get used by other people.
In 1998 the Canadian paleontologist Michel Laurin used the word and gave a formal phylogenetic definition. This was intended to include taxa with digits rather than fins, except where secondarily lost.
