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However, it is represented by only one living species: the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), a superficially lizard-like reptile native to New Zealand. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Lepidosauria is a monophyletic group (i.e. a clade ), containing all descendants of the last common ancestor of squamates and rhynchocephalians. [ 7 ]
Their closest living relatives are squamates (lizards and snakes). Tuatara are of interest for studying the evolution of reptiles. Tuatara are of interest for studying the evolution of reptiles. Tuatara are greenish brown and grey, and measure up to 80 cm (31 in) from head to tail-tip and weigh up to 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) [ 10 ] with a spiny crest ...
The oldest known animal that may have been an amniote, a reptile rather than an amphibian, is Casineria [3] [4] (though it has also been argued to be a temnospondyl amphibian). [ 5 ] A series of footprints from the fossil strata of Nova Scotia , dated to 315 million years, show typical reptilian toes and imprints of scales. [ 6 ]
The Varanidae are a family of lizards in the superfamily Varanoidea and order Anguimorpha.The family, a group of carnivorous and frugivorous lizards, [1] includes the living genus Varanus and a number of extinct genera more closely related to Varanus than to the earless monitor lizard (Lanthanotus). [2]
The oldest living spider, named Number 16 by researchers, was a 43-year-old female Gaius villosus armored trapdoor spider, at the North Bungulla Reserve, Tammin, Western Australia. [ 132 ] Debby , the polar bear, an inhabitant of the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Canada , was the oldest polar bear and third-oldest bear species on record ...
The evolution of tetrapods began about 400 million years ago in the Devonian Period with the earliest tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fishes. [1] Tetrapods (under the apomorphy-based definition used on this page) are categorized as animals in the biological superclass Tetrapoda, which includes all living and extinct amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Varanus is the only living genus of the family Varanidae. Varanids last shared a common ancestor with their closest living relatives, earless "monitors", during the Late Cretaceous. The oldest known varanids are from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. During the Eocene, the varanid Saniwa occurred in North America.
This group of lizards includes some more popularly known, such as the domesticated bearded dragon, Chinese water dragon, and Uromastyx species. One of the key distinguishing features of the agamids is their teeth, which are borne on the outer rim of their mouths ( acrodonts ), rather than on the inner side of their jaws ( pleurodonts ).