林蜥的化石是发现于加拿大新斯科细亚的Joggins地区。在19世纪中期,John William Dawson爵士发现这些化石。属名意为「森林居住者」,种名是以William Dawson的老师,Charles Lyell爵士为名。传统上,林蜥被分类于原古蜥科。目前研究认为原古蜥科的关系比较接近双孔亚纲。
英语百科
Hylonomus 林蜥属
Hylonomus (/haɪˈlɒnəməs/; hylo- "forest" + nomos "dweller") is an extinct genus of reptile that lived 312 million years ago during the Late Carboniferous period.
It is the earliest unquestionable reptile (Westlothiana is older, but in fact it may have been an amphibian, and Casineria is rather fragmentary). The only species is the type species Hylonomous lyelli.