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Neodiapsids
Diapsids ("two arches") are a clade of sauropsids, distinguished from more primitive eureptiles by the presence of two holes, known as temporal fenestrae, in each side of their skulls. The earliest traditionally identified diapsids, the araeoscelidians, appeared about three hundred million years ago during the late Carboniferous period. All diapsids other than the most primitive ones in the clade Araeoscelidia are often placed into the clade Neodiapsida. The diapsids are extremely diverse, and include birds and all modern reptile groups, including turtles, which were historically thought to lie outside the group. All modern reptiles and birds are placed within the neodiapsid subclade Sauria. Although some diapsids have lost either one hole (lizards), or both holes (snakes and turtles), or have a heavily restructured skull (modern birds), they are still classified as diapsids based on their ancestry. At least 17,084 species of diapsid animals are extant: 9,159 birds, and 7,925 snakes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Carboniferous
Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * Late (The 77s album), ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudonym used by Dave Grohl on his ''Pocketwatch (album), Pocketwatch'' album * Late (rapper), an underground rapper from Wolverhampton * "Late", a song by Kanye West from ''Late Registration'' Other uses * Late (Tonga), an uninhabited volcanic island southwest of Vavau in the kingdom of Tonga * Late (The Handmaid's Tale), "Late" (''The Handmaid's Tale''), a television episode * LaTe, Laivateollisuus, Oy Laivateollisuus Ab, a defunct shipbuilding company * Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia * Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law * Local average treatment effect, a concept in econometrics * Late, a synonym for ''cooler'' in Stellar classification#"Early" and "late" nomencla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longisquama
''Longisquama'' is a genus of extinct reptile. There is only one species, ''Longisquama insignis'', known from a poorly preserved skeleton and several incomplete fossil impressions from the Middle Triassic, Middle to Late Triassic Madygen Formation in Kyrgyzstan. It is known from the type fossil specimen, slab and counterslab (PIN 2548/4 and PIN 2584/5) and five referred specimens of possible integumentary appendages (PIN 2584/7 through 9). All specimens are in the collection of the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. ''Longisquama'' means "long scales"; the specific name (zoology), specific name ''insignis'' refers to its small size. The ''Longisquama'' holotype is notable for a number of long structures that appear to grow from its skin. The current opinion is that ''Longisquama'' is an ambiguous diapsid and has no bearing on the origin of birds. History Interpretation Researchers Haubold and Buffetaut believed that the structures were long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thalattosauria
Thalattosauria ( Greek for "sea lizards") is an extinct order of marine reptiles that lived during the Triassic Period. Thalattosaurs were diverse in size and shape, and are divided into two superfamilies: Askeptosauroidea and Thalattosauroidea. Askeptosauroids were endemic to the Tethys Ocean, their fossils have been found in Europe and China, and they were likely semiaquatic fish eaters with straight snouts and decent terrestrial abilities. Thalattosauroids were more specialized for aquatic life and most had unusual downturned snouts and crushing dentition. Thalattosauroids lived along the coasts of both Panthalassa and the Tethys Ocean, and were most diverse in China and western North America. The largest species of thalattosaurs grew to over 4 meters (13 feet) in length, including a long, flattened tail utilized in underwater propulsion. Although thalattosaurs bore a superficial resemblance to lizards, their exact relationships are unresolved. They are widely accepte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropterygia
Sauropterygia ("lizard flippers") is an extinct taxon of diverse, aquatic diapsid reptiles that developed from terrestrial ancestors soon after the end-Permian extinction and flourished during the Triassic before all except for the Plesiosauria became extinct at the end of that period. The plesiosaurs would continue to diversify until the end of the Mesozoic, when they became extinct as part of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Sauropterygians are united by a radical adaptation of their pectoral girdle, adapted to support powerful flipper strokes. Some later sauropterygians, such as the pliosaurs, developed a similar mechanism in their pelvis. Other than being diapsids, their affinities to other reptiles have long been contentious. Sometimes suggested to be closely related to turtles, other proposals have considered them most closely related to Lepidosauromorpha or Archosauromorpha, and/or the marine reptile groups Thalattosauria and Ichthyosauromorpha. Origins an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ichthyosauromorpha
The Ichthyosauromorpha are an extinct clade of Mesozoic marine reptiles consisting of the Ichthyosauriformes and the Hupehsuchia. The node clade Ichthyosauromorpha was first defined by Ryosuke Motani ''et al.'' in 2014 as the group consisting of the last common ancestor of '' Ichthyosaurus communis'' and '' Hupehsuchus nanchangensis'', and all its descendants. Their synapomorphies, unique derived traits, include: the presence of an anterior flange on the humerus and radius; the lower end of the ulna being as wide as or wider than the upper end, the forelimb being as long as or longer than the hindlimb, the hand having at least three quarters of the length of the upper arm and lower arm combined, the fibula extending behind the level of the thighbone, and the transverse process of the vertebral neural arch being reduced or absent. The Ichthyosauromorpha were previously thought to have likely originated in China during the upper Lower Triassic period, about 248 million years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weigeltisauridae
Weigeltisauridae is a family of gliding neodiapsid reptiles that lived during the Late Permian, between 259.51 and 251.9 million years ago. Fossils of weigeltisaurids have been found in Madagascar, Germany, Great Britain, and Russia. They are characterized by long, hollow rod-shaped bones extending from the torso that probably supported wing-like membranes. Similar membranes are also found in several other extinct reptiles such as kuehneosaurids and '' Mecistotrachelos'', as well as living gliding lizards, although each group evolved these structures independently. Skeleton The skulls and jaws of weigeltisaurids are ornamented with horns and tubercles, including chameleon-like frills. The torso and limbs are slender. The skeletons of weigeltisaurds are lightened by large air spaces (skeletal pneumaticity) within the bones. The phalanges of the hands and feet are elongate contrasting strongly with those of most other primitive diapsids, but are similar to those of modern arbor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drepanosauromorpha
Drepanosaurs (members of the clade Drepanosauromorpha) are a group of extinct reptiles that lived between the Carnian and Rhaetian stages of the late Triassic Period, approximately between 230 and 210 million years ago. The various species of drepanosaurs were characterized by a bird-like skull, a barrell shaped body, and a horizontally narrow tail. A number of drepanosaurs had specialized grasping limbs and often prehensile tails similar to those of chameleons. Drepanosaurs are generally thought to have been arboreal (tree-dwelling), and probably insectivores. Some studies have alternately suggested fossorial (digging) and aquatic lifestyles for some members. Fossils of drepanosaurs have been found in North America (Arizona, New Mexico, New Jersey, Utah) and Europe (England and northern Italy). The name is taken from the family's namesake genus '' Drepanosaurus'', which means "sickle lizard," a reference to their strongly curved claws. Some studies have included Drepanosaurs with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avicephala
Avicephala ("bird heads") is a potentially polyphyletic grouping of extinct diapsid reptiles that lived during the Late Permian and Triassic periods characterised by superficially bird-like skulls and arboreal lifestyles. As a clade, Avicephala is defined as including the gliding weigeltisaurids and the arboreal drepanosaurs to the exclusion of other major diapsid groups. This relationship is not recovered in the majority of phylogenetic analyses of early diapsids and so Avicephala is typically regarded as an artificial or unnatural grouping. However, the clade was recovered again in 2021 following a redescription of '' Weigeltisaurus'', raising the possibility that the clade may be valid after all, although subsequent analyses have not supported this result. Description Avicephalans were named in reference to their pointed, lightly constructed, superficially bird-like skulls. The resemblance is especially striking in some drepanosaurs such as '' Megalancosaurus'' which possess ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Younginidae
Younginidae is an extinct family of diapsid reptiles from the Late Permian. In a phylogenetic context, younginids are near the base of the clade Neodiapsida. The only species definitively a member of the Younginidae is '' Youngina capensis'' from the Late Permian of South Africa. Several genera have historically been assigned to this family, though more recent phylogenetic analyses have supported relationships with other clades. '' Heleosuchus griesbachi'' from the Late Permian of South Africa may also be a member of the family. Younginidae was traditionally assigned to Eosuchia, an order containing an assemblage of basal diapsids now thought to represent an evolutionary grade rather than a true clade. In 1945 paleontologist Alfred Romer reclassified Younginidae within a new group, Younginiformes, grouping it with the families Tangasauridae and Prolacertidae. Romer considered Younginidae to include many genera that are no longer classified as younginids: '' Paliguana'', '' P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangasauridae
Tangasauridae is an extinct family of diapsids known from fossil specimens from Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania that are Late Permian to Early Triassic in age. Fossils have been found of numerous specimens of common members of this family such as '' Hovasaurus'' in different stages of ontogenic development. Recent material from the Middle Sakamena Formation of the Morondava Basin of Madagascar that dates back to the early Triassic period suggests that the Tangasauridae were relatively unaffected by the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Description and phylogeny Tangasaurids are known to have been a highly derived group of diapsids. One subfamily, Kenyasaurinae, is composed of taxa that were fully terrestrial. They had long toes and highly developed sternums that made them well suited to life on land. On the other hand, the other subfamily, Tangasaurinae, is composed of taxa that were adapted to an aquatic life. They had webbed feet and a laterally compressed tails that al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Younginiformes
Younginiformes is a group of diapsid reptiles known from the Permian-Triassic of Africa and Madagascar. It has been used as a replacement for " Eosuchia". Younginiformes (including '' Acerosodontosaurus'', '' Hovasaurus'', '' Kenyasaurus'', '' Tangasaurus'', '' Thadeosaurus'' and ''Youngina'') were historically suggested to be lepidosauromorphs, but are currently thought to be basal non- saurian neodiapsids. The group is sometimes divided into two families, Tangasauridae and Younginidae. The monophyly of the group is disputed. A 2009 study found them to be an unresolved polytomy at the base of Neodiapsida, while a 2011 study recovered the group as paraphyletic. A 2022 study recovered the Younginiformes as a monophyletic group of basal neodiapsid reptiles, also including '' Claudiosaurus'' and '' Saurosternon'' as part of the group. Some younginiforms like ''Hovasaurus'' and ''Acerosodontosaurus'' are thought to have had an amphibious lifestyle, while others like ''Kenyasaurus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saurosternon
''Saurosternon'' is an extinct genus of neodiapsid reptile from the Late Permian of South Africa. It is based on a partial skeleton split between two slabs of sandstone from the ''Daptocephalus'' Assemblage Zone. ''Saurosternon'' was one of the earliest small lizard-like reptiles to be discovered in Permian deposits of the Karoo Supergroup, preceding later discoveries such as '' Paliguana'', ''Youngina'', '' Palaeagama'', and ''Lacertulus''. The skeleton is mostly complete, though missing the head. Most of the original bone had decayed away by the time the fossil was discovered, leaving perfect molds in the sandstone slabs. What little bone remained was removed with acid by museum preparators, and the specimen was cast with latex to reconstruct the original bone shape. The affinities of ''Saurosternon'' are uncertain. Several studies interpreted it as one of the earliest lepidosauromorphs, the reptile group including squamates (lizards and snakes), rhynchocephalians (tuatara an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
