Stegocephali (or Stegocephalia, from Ancient Greek: στεγοκεφαλια, lit. "roofed head") is a clade of vertebrate animals containing all fully limbed tetrapodomorphs. It is equivalent to a broad definition of the superclass Tetrapoda: under this broad definition, the term "tetrapod" applies to any animal descended from the first vertebrate with four limbs each with digits in the extremity (pentadactyly), rather than fins of their sarcopterygian relatives.
Stegocephalians include both the modern lineage of limbed vertebrates (the crown group tetrapods, including modern amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) as well as a portion of the stem group, the earliest limbed tetrapodomorphs such as Ichthyostega and Acanthostega, which evolved in the Devonian period long before the origin of the crown group. Many paleontologists prefer a stricter definition of Tetrapoda which applies solely to the crown group, excluding earlier types of limbed tetrapodomorphs. Stegocephali was re-established to replace the broad definition of Tetrapoda, resolving the usage of two conflicting definitions in discussions of tetrapod evolution.