Sauropsids Temporal range: Pennsylvanian – Recent | |
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(unranked): | Sauropsida |
Sauropsids are a group of land vertebrates which includes all existing reptiles and birds and their fossil ancestors.
They are one of the two groups which evolved from egg-laying amniotes in the first part of the Carboniferous period.
The synapsids are the other group which evolved from amniotes. They gave rise, eventually, to the mammals.
Living sauropsids include lizards, snakes, turtles, crocodiles, and birds. Extinct sauropsids include non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and many others.
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