Stegocephali

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.Michel Laurin (1998): The importance of global parsimony and historical bias in understanding tetrapod evolution. Part I-systematics, middle ear evolution, and jaw suspension. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie, Paris, 13e Series 19: pp 1–42.

 References 

Category:Lobe-finned fish