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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 ]
Their closest living relatives are squamates (lizards and snakes). 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 along the back, especially pronounced in males. They have two rows ...
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]
Hylonomus (/ h aɪ ˈ l ɒ n əm ə s /; hylo-"forest" + nomos "dweller") [2] is an extinct genus of reptile that lived during the Bashkirian stage of the Late Carboniferous.It is the earliest known crown group amniote and the oldest known unquestionable reptile, with the only known species being Hylonomus lyelli.
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.
Modern paleontologists define Archosauria as a crown group that includes the most recent common ancestor of living birds and crocodilians, and all of its descendants. The base of Archosauria splits into two clades: Pseudosuchia , which includes crocodilians and their extinct relatives; and Avemetatarsalia , which includes birds and their ...
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]
Temnospondyli (from Greek τέμνειν, temnein 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, spondylos 'vertebra') or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods, with fossils being found on every continent.