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class="vector-toc-numb">1.3</span> <span>Mammalian evolution</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Mammalian_evolution-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Rise_of_dinosaurs" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Rise_of_dinosaurs"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Rise of dinosaurs</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Rise_of_dinosaurs-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Rise of dinosaurs subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Rise_of_dinosaurs-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Permian_reptiles" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Permian_reptiles"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Permian reptiles</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Permian_reptiles-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Mesozoic_era,_the_"Age_of_Reptiles"" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Mesozoic_era,_the_"Age_of_Reptiles""> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>The Mesozoic era, the "Age of Reptiles"</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Mesozoic_era,_the_"Age_of_Reptiles"-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bird_evolution" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bird_evolution"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>Bird evolution</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bird_evolution-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Demise_of_the_dinosaurs" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Demise_of_the_dinosaurs"> <div 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<ul id="toc-Squamata-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Crocodilia" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Crocodilia"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.4</span> <span>Crocodilia</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Crocodilia-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown 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a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks" style="border:2px solid #90ee90"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle">Part of a series on</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle" style="background:#90ee90;padding:0.2em;font-size:175%;font-weight:bold"><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_biology" title="Evolutionary biology">Evolutionary biology</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span class="notpageimage" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Darwin%27s_finches_by_Gould.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Darwin%27s_finches_by_Gould.jpg/180px-Darwin%27s_finches_by_Gould.jpg" decoding="async" width="180" height="136" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Darwin%27s_finches_by_Gould.jpg/270px-Darwin%27s_finches_by_Gould.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Darwin%27s_finches_by_Gould.jpg/360px-Darwin%27s_finches_by_Gould.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1748" data-file-height="1319" /></a></span><div class="sidebar-caption"><a href="/wiki/Darwin%27s_finches" title="Darwin's finches">Darwin's finches</a> by <a href="/wiki/John_Gould" title="John Gould">John Gould</a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-above" style="display:block; margin-bottom:0.55em; background-color: transparent;"> <div class="hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Index_of_evolutionary_biology_articles" title="Index of evolutionary biology articles">Index</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Introduction_to_evolution" title="Introduction to evolution">Introduction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution" title="Evolution">Main</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_evolution" title="Outline of evolution">Outline</a></li></ul> <div class="hlist"> </div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Glossary_of_evolutionary_biology" class="mw-redirect" title="Glossary of evolutionary biology">Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent" title="Evidence of common descent">Evidence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_life" title="History of life">History</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="background:transparent;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;padding-bottom:0;background:#90ee90;font-size:100%;font-weight:bold;;color: var(--color-base)">Processes and outcomes</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"><div class="hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Population_genetics" title="Population genetics">Population genetics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genetic_variation" title="Genetic variation">Variation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genetic_diversity" title="Genetic diversity">Diversity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mutation" title="Mutation">Mutation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Natural_selection" title="Natural selection">Natural selection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adaptation" title="Adaptation">Adaptation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Polymorphism_(biology)" title="Polymorphism (biology)">Polymorphism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genetic_drift" title="Genetic drift">Genetic drift</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gene_flow" title="Gene flow">Gene flow</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Speciation" title="Speciation">Speciation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adaptive_radiation" title="Adaptive radiation">Adaptive radiation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cooperation_(evolution)" title="Cooperation (evolution)">Co-operation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Coevolution" title="Coevolution">Coevolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Coextinction" title="Coextinction">Coextinction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Contingency_(evolutionary_biology)" title="Contingency (evolutionary biology)">Contingency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divergent_evolution" title="Divergent evolution">Divergence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Convergent_evolution" title="Convergent evolution">Convergence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parallel_evolution" title="Parallel evolution">Parallel evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Extinction" title="Extinction">Extinction</a></li></ul> </div></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="background:transparent;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;padding-bottom:0;background:#90ee90;font-size:100%;font-weight:bold;;color: var(--color-base)">Natural history</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"><div class="hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Abiogenesis" title="Abiogenesis">Origin of life</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Common_descent" title="Common descent">Common descent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_life" title="History of life">History of life</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Timeline_of_the_evolutionary_history_of_life" title="Timeline of the evolutionary history of life">Timeline of evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Human_evolution" title="Human evolution">Human evolution</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Recent_human_evolution" title="Recent human evolution">Recent human evolution</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phylogenetic_tree" title="Phylogenetic tree">Phylogeny</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biodiversity" title="Biodiversity">Biodiversity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biogeography" title="Biogeography">Biogeography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taxonomy_(biology)" title="Taxonomy (biology)">Classification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_taxonomy" title="Evolutionary taxonomy">Evolutionary taxonomy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cladistics" title="Cladistics">Cladistics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transitional_fossil" title="Transitional fossil">Transitional fossil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Extinction_event" title="Extinction event">Extinction event</a></li></ul> </div></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="background:transparent;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;padding-bottom:0;background:#90ee90;font-size:100%;font-weight:bold;;color: var(--color-base)">History of evolutionary theory</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"><div class="hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_evolutionary_thought" title="History of evolutionary thought">Overview</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_ideas_of_the_Renaissance_and_Enlightenment" title="Evolutionary ideas of the Renaissance and Enlightenment">Renaissance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transmutation_of_species" title="Transmutation of species">Before Darwin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Darwin" title="Charles Darwin">Darwin</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species" title="On the Origin of Species">Origin of Species</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism" title="The eclipse of Darwinism">Before synthesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modern_synthesis_(20th_century)" title="Modern synthesis (20th century)">Modern synthesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_molecular_evolution" title="History of molecular evolution">Molecular evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_developmental_biology" title="Evolutionary developmental biology">Evo-devo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Current_research_in_evolutionary_biology" class="mw-redirect" title="Current research in evolutionary biology">Current research</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_speciation" title="History of speciation">History of speciation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_paleontology" title="History of paleontology">History of paleontology</a> (<a href="/wiki/Timeline_of_paleontology" title="Timeline of paleontology">timeline</a>)</li></ul> </div></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="background:transparent;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;padding-bottom:0;background:#90ee90;font-size:100%;font-weight:bold;;color: var(--color-base)">Fields and applications</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Applications_of_evolution" title="Applications of evolution">Applications of evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biosocial_criminology" title="Biosocial criminology">Biosocial criminology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ecological_genetics" title="Ecological genetics">Ecological genetics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_aesthetics" title="Evolutionary aesthetics">Evolutionary aesthetics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_anthropology" title="Evolutionary anthropology">Evolutionary anthropology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_computation" title="Evolutionary computation">Evolutionary computation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_ecology" title="Evolutionary ecology">Evolutionary ecology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_economics" title="Evolutionary economics">Evolutionary economics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_epistemology" title="Evolutionary epistemology">Evolutionary epistemology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_ethics" title="Evolutionary ethics">Evolutionary ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_game_theory" title="Evolutionary game theory">Evolutionary game theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_linguistics" title="Evolutionary linguistics">Evolutionary linguistics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_medicine" title="Evolutionary medicine">Evolutionary medicine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_neuroscience" title="Evolutionary neuroscience">Evolutionary neuroscience</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_physiology" title="Evolutionary physiology">Evolutionary physiology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology" title="Evolutionary psychology">Evolutionary psychology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Experimental_evolution" title="Experimental evolution">Experimental evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Invasion_genetics" title="Invasion genetics">Invasion genetics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Island_biogeography" class="mw-redirect" title="Island biogeography">Island biogeography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phylogenetics" title="Phylogenetics">Phylogenetics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paleontology" title="Paleontology">Paleontology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Selective_breeding" title="Selective breeding">Selective breeding</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Laboratory_experiments_of_speciation" title="Laboratory experiments of speciation">Speciation experiments</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sociobiology" title="Sociobiology">Sociobiology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Systematics" title="Systematics">Systematics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Universal_Darwinism" title="Universal Darwinism">Universal Darwinism</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="background:transparent;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;padding-bottom:0;background:#90ee90;font-size:100%;font-weight:bold;;color: var(--color-base)">Social implications</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Eugenics" title="Eugenics">Eugenics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_as_fact_and_theory" title="Evolution as fact and theory">Evolution as fact and theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dysgenics" title="Dysgenics">Dysgenics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_effects_of_evolutionary_theory" title="Social effects of evolutionary theory">Social effects</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rejection_of_evolution_by_religious_groups" title="Rejection of evolution by religious groups">Creation–evolution controversy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theistic_evolution" title="Theistic evolution">Theistic evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Objections_to_evolution" title="Objections to evolution">Objections to evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Level_of_support_for_evolution" title="Level of support for evolution">Level of support</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nature_versus_nurture" title="Nature versus nurture">Nature-nurture controversy</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-below hlist"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><span class="nowrap"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Tree_of_life.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Tree_of_life.svg/17px-Tree_of_life.svg.png" decoding="async" width="17" height="14" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Tree_of_life.svg/26px-Tree_of_life.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Tree_of_life.svg/34px-Tree_of_life.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="915" data-file-height="760" /></a></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Evolutionary_biology" title="Portal:Evolutionary biology">Evolutionary biology portal</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/23px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/31px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Category:Evolutionary_biology" title="Category:Evolutionary biology">Category</a></span></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Evolutionary_biology" title="Template:Evolutionary biology"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Evolutionary_biology" title="Template talk:Evolutionary biology"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Evolutionary_biology" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Evolutionary biology"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><a href="/wiki/Reptiles" class="mw-redirect" title="Reptiles">Reptiles</a> arose about 320 million years ago<sup id="cite_ref-LibreTexts_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-LibreTexts-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> during the <a href="/wiki/Carboniferous" title="Carboniferous">Carboniferous</a> period. Reptiles, in the traditional sense of the term, are defined as animals that have <a href="/wiki/Scale_(anatomy)" class="mw-redirect" title="Scale (anatomy)">scales</a> or <a href="/wiki/Scutes" class="mw-redirect" title="Scutes">scutes</a>, lay land-based hard-shelled eggs, and possess <a href="/wiki/Ectotherm" title="Ectotherm">ectothermic</a> metabolisms. So defined, the group is <a href="/wiki/Paraphyly" title="Paraphyly">paraphyletic</a>, excluding <a href="/wiki/Endotherm" title="Endotherm">endothermic</a> animals like birds that are descended from early traditionally-defined reptiles. A definition in accordance with <a href="/wiki/Phylogenetic_nomenclature" title="Phylogenetic nomenclature">phylogenetic nomenclature</a>, which rejects paraphyletic groups, includes birds while excluding mammals and their <a href="/wiki/Synapsid" class="mw-redirect" title="Synapsid">synapsid</a> ancestors. So defined, Reptilia is identical to <a href="/wiki/Sauropsida" title="Sauropsida">Sauropsida</a>. </p><p>Though few reptiles today are <a href="/wiki/Apex_predator" title="Apex predator">apex predators</a>, many examples of apex reptiles have existed in the past. Reptiles have an extremely diverse evolutionary history that has led to biological successes, such as <a href="/wiki/Dinosaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Dinosaurs">dinosaurs</a>, <a href="/wiki/Pterosaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Pterosaurs">pterosaurs</a>, <a href="/wiki/Plesiosaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Plesiosaurs">plesiosaurs</a>, <a href="/wiki/Mosasaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Mosasaurs">mosasaurs</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Ichthyosaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Ichthyosaurs">ichthyosaurs</a>. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="First_reptiles">First reptiles</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: First reptiles"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Early_reptiles">Early reptiles</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Early reptiles"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Hylonomus_BW.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Hylonomus_BW.jpg/220px-Hylonomus_BW.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="93" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Hylonomus_BW.jpg/330px-Hylonomus_BW.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Hylonomus_BW.jpg/440px-Hylonomus_BW.jpg 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="338" /></a><figcaption>An early reptile <i><a href="/wiki/Hylonomus" title="Hylonomus">Hylonomus</a></i></figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Europasaurus_holgeri_Scene_2.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Europasaurus_holgeri_Scene_2.jpg/220px-Europasaurus_holgeri_Scene_2.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Europasaurus_holgeri_Scene_2.jpg/330px-Europasaurus_holgeri_Scene_2.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Europasaurus_holgeri_Scene_2.jpg/440px-Europasaurus_holgeri_Scene_2.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2576" data-file-height="1932" /></a><figcaption>Mesozoic scene showing typical reptilian megafauna: the <a href="/wiki/Dinosaur" title="Dinosaur">dinosaurs</a> <a href="/wiki/Europasaurus_holgeri" class="mw-redirect" title="Europasaurus holgeri">Europasaurus holgeri</a>, <i><a href="/wiki/Iguanodon" title="Iguanodon">Iguanodon</a></i>, and <i><a href="/wiki/Archaeopteryx" title="Archaeopteryx">Archaeopteryx</a></i> perched on the foreground tree stump.</figcaption></figure> <p>The origin of the reptiles lies about 320–310 million years ago, in the swamps of the late <a href="/wiki/Carboniferous" title="Carboniferous">Carboniferous</a> period, when the first reptiles evolved from advanced <a href="/wiki/Labyrinthodontia" title="Labyrinthodontia">labyrinthodonts</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Laurin_1995_165–223_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Laurin_1995_165–223-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The oldest known animal that may have been an <a href="/wiki/Amniote" title="Amniote">amniote</a>, a reptile rather than an <a href="/wiki/Amphibian" title="Amphibian">amphibian</a>, is <i><a href="/wiki/Casineria" title="Casineria">Casineria</a></i><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (though it has also been argued to be a <a href="/wiki/Temnospondyli" title="Temnospondyli">temnospondyl</a> amphibian).<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>A series of footprints from the fossil strata of <a href="/wiki/Nova_Scotia" title="Nova Scotia">Nova Scotia</a>, dated to 315 million years, show typical reptilian toes and imprints of scales.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The tracks are attributed to <i><a href="/wiki/Hylonomus" title="Hylonomus">Hylonomus</a></i>, the oldest unquestionable reptile known.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It was a small, lizard-like animal, about 20 to 30 cm (8–12 in) long, with numerous sharp teeth indicating an insectivorous diet.<sup id="cite_ref-EoDP_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-EoDP-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Other examples include <i><a href="/wiki/Westlothiana" title="Westlothiana">Westlothiana</a></i> (sometimes considered a <a href="/wiki/Reptiliomorpha" title="Reptiliomorpha">stem-amniote</a> rather than a true <a href="/wiki/Amniote" title="Amniote">amniote</a>)<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <i><a href="/wiki/Paleothyris" title="Paleothyris">Paleothyris</a></i>, both of similar build and presumably similar habit. One of the best known early reptiles is <i><a href="/wiki/Mesosaurus" title="Mesosaurus">Mesosaurus</a></i>, a genus from the <a href="/wiki/Cisuralian" title="Cisuralian">Early Permian</a> that had returned to water, feeding on fish. </p><p>The earliest reptiles were largely overshadowed by bigger <a href="/wiki/Labyrinthodontia" title="Labyrinthodontia">labyrinthodont</a> amphibians, such as <i><a href="/wiki/Cochleosaurus" title="Cochleosaurus">Cochleosaurus</a></i>, and remained a small, inconspicuous part of the fauna until after the small ice age at the end of the Carboniferous. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Anapsids,_synapsids,_diapsids_and_sauropsids"><span id="Anapsids.2C_synapsids.2C_diapsids_and_sauropsids"></span>Anapsids, synapsids, diapsids and sauropsids</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Anapsids, synapsids, diapsids and sauropsids"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Skull_comparison.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Skull_comparison.png/220px-Skull_comparison.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="335" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Skull_comparison.png/330px-Skull_comparison.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Skull_comparison.png/440px-Skull_comparison.png 2x" data-file-width="568" data-file-height="864" /></a><figcaption>A = Anapsid, B = Synapsid, C = Diapsid</figcaption></figure> <p>It was traditionally assumed that first reptiles were <a href="/wiki/Anapsid" title="Anapsid">anapsids</a>, having a solid skull with holes only for the nose, eyes, spinal cord, etc.;<sup id="cite_ref-Romer,_A_1977_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Romer,_A_1977-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> the discoveries of <a href="/wiki/Synapsid" class="mw-redirect" title="Synapsid">synapsid</a>-like openings in the <a href="/wiki/Skull_roof" title="Skull roof">skull roof</a> of the skulls of several members of <a href="/wiki/Parareptilia" title="Parareptilia">Parareptilia</a>, including <a href="/wiki/Lanthanosuchoidea" title="Lanthanosuchoidea">lanthanosuchoids</a>, <a href="/wiki/Millerettidae" title="Millerettidae">millerettids</a>, <a href="/wiki/Bolosauridae" title="Bolosauridae">bolosaurids</a>, some <a href="/wiki/Nycteroleteridae" title="Nycteroleteridae">nycteroleterids</a>, some <a href="/wiki/Procolophonoidea" title="Procolophonoidea">procolophonoids</a> and at least some <a href="/wiki/Mesosaur" title="Mesosaur">mesosaurs</a><sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-PineiroetalCRP2012_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-PineiroetalCRP2012-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> made it more ambiguous and it is currently uncertain whether the ancestral reptile had an anapsid-like or synapsid-like skull.<sup id="cite_ref-PineiroetalCRP2012_13-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-PineiroetalCRP2012-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Very soon after the first reptiles appeared, they split into two branches.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> One branch, Synapsida (including modern mammals), had one opening in the skull roof behind each eye. The other branch, <a href="/wiki/Sauropsida" title="Sauropsida">Sauropsida</a>, is itself divided into two main groups. One of them, the aforementioned Parareptilia, contained taxa with anapsid-like skull, as well as taxa with one opening behind each eye (see above). Members of the other group, <a href="/wiki/Diapsid" title="Diapsid">Diapsida</a>, possessed a hole in their skulls behind each eye, along with a second hole located higher on the skull. The function of the holes in both synapsids and diapsids was to lighten the skull and give room for the jaw muscles to move, allowing for a more powerful bite.<sup id="cite_ref-Romer,_A_1977_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Romer,_A_1977-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Turtles have been traditionally believed to be surviving anapsids, on the basis of their skull structure.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The rationale for this classification was disputed, with some arguing that turtles are diapsids that reverted to this primitive state in order to improve their armor (see <a href="/wiki/Parareptilia" title="Parareptilia">Parareptilia</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-Laurin_1995_165–223_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Laurin_1995_165–223-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Later morphological <a href="/wiki/Phylogenetics" title="Phylogenetics">phylogenetic</a> studies with this in mind placed turtles firmly within Diapsida.<sup id="cite_ref-Rieppel_16-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Rieppel-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> All <a href="/wiki/Molecular_phylogenetics" title="Molecular phylogenetics">molecular</a> studies have strongly upheld the placement of turtles within diapsids, most commonly as a sister group to extant <a href="/wiki/Archosaur" title="Archosaur">archosaurs</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Zardoya_17-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Zardoya-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Iwabe_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Iwabe-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Roos_19-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Roos-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Katsu_20-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Katsu-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Mammalian_evolution">Mammalian evolution</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Mammalian evolution"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_mammals" title="Evolution of mammals">Evolution of mammals</a></div> <table border="0" style="line-height:100%;margin-left:0em;margin-right:0em;"> <tbody><tr> <td> <div class="clade"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1261294616">body.skin-vector-2022 .mw-parser-output div.clade,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output div.clade{overflow-x:auto;overflow-y:hidden}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output div.clade p{font-size:inherit}.mw-parser-output table.clade{border-spacing:0;margin:0;font-size:100%;line-height:100%;border-collapse:separate;width:auto;display:table}.mw-parser-output table.clade table.clade{width:100%;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-label{min-width:0.2em;width:0.2em;padding:0.1em 0.25em;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:center;border-left:1px solid;border-bottom:1px solid;white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-label::before,.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-slabel::before{content:"\2060 "}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-fixed-width{overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-fixed-width:hover{overflow:visible}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-label.first{border-left:none;border-right:none}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-label.reverse{border-left:none;border-right:1px solid}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-slabel{padding:0.1em 0.25em;vertical-align:top;text-align:center;border-left:1px solid;white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-slabel:hover{overflow:visible}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-slabel.last{border-left:none;border-right:none}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-slabel.reverse{border-left:none;border-right:1px solid}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-bar{vertical-align:middle;text-align:left;padding:0 0.5em;position:relative}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-bar.reverse{text-align:right;position:relative}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-leaf{border:0;padding:0;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-leaf p{padding-right:5px;padding-left:2px}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-leafR{border:0;padding:0;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-leafR p{padding-left:5px;padding-right:2px}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-leaf.reverse{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output table.clade td.clade-leaf.reverse p{padding-left:5px;padding-right:2px}.mw-parser-output table.clade:hover span.linkA{background-color:yellow}.mw-parser-output table.clade:hover span.linkB{background-color:green}</style> <table class="clade" style="font-size:90%;line-height:100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"><a href="/wiki/Tetrapod" title="Tetrapod">Tetrapods</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Amphibian" title="Amphibian">Amphibians</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"><a href="/wiki/Amniote" title="Amniote">Amniotes</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Sauropsid" class="mw-redirect" title="Sauropsid">Sauropsids</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"><a href="/wiki/Synapsid" class="mw-redirect" title="Synapsid">Synapsids</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf" style="border-right:2px solid limegreen;border-bottom:0;border-top:2px solid limegreen;"> <p><a href="/wiki/Caseasaur" class="mw-redirect" title="Caseasaur">Caseasaurs</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"><a href="/wiki/Eupelycosauria" title="Eupelycosauria">Eupelycosaurs</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf" style="border-right:2px solid limegreen;border-bottom:2px solid limegreen;border-top:0;"> <p><a href="/wiki/Sphenacodontid" class="mw-redirect" title="Sphenacodontid">Sphenacodontids</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"><a href="/wiki/Therapsid" class="mw-redirect" title="Therapsid">Therapsids</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Mammal" title="Mammal">Mammals</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td> <td><div style="position:relative;margin-top:0.742em;height:10.6em;width:0em"> <div style="position:absolute;top:5.42em;color:#2DB82D;white-space:nowrap"><b>Pelycosaurs</b></div></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>A basic cladogram of the origin of mammals. Important developments in the transition from reptile to mammal were the evolution of <a href="/wiki/Warm-bloodedness" class="mw-redirect" title="Warm-bloodedness">warm-bloodedness</a>, of <a href="/wiki/Molar_(tooth)" title="Molar (tooth)">molar</a> <a href="/wiki/Occlusion_(dentistry)" title="Occlusion (dentistry)">occlusion</a>, of the <a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_mammalian_auditory_ossicles" title="Evolution of mammalian auditory ossicles">three-ossicle middle ear</a>, of <a href="/wiki/Hair" title="Hair">hair</a>, and of <a href="/wiki/Mammary_glands" class="mw-redirect" title="Mammary glands">mammary glands</a>. By the end of the <a href="/wiki/Triassic" title="Triassic">Triassic</a>, there were many species that looked like modern mammals and, by the <a href="/wiki/Middle_Jurassic" title="Middle Jurassic">Middle Jurassic</a>, the lineages leading to the three extant mammal groups — the <a href="/wiki/Monotreme" title="Monotreme">monotremes</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Marsupial" title="Marsupial">marsupials</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Placental" class="mw-redirect" title="Placental">placentals</a> — had diverged. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Rise_of_dinosaurs">Rise of dinosaurs</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Rise of dinosaurs"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_dinosaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Evolution of dinosaurs">Evolution of dinosaurs</a></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Permian_reptiles">Permian reptiles</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Permian reptiles"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Near the end of the Carboniferous, while the terrestrial <a href="/wiki/Reptiliomorpha" title="Reptiliomorpha">reptiliomorph</a> labyrinthodonts were still present, the synapsids evolved the first fully terrestrial large vertebrates, the <a href="/wiki/Pelycosaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Pelycosaurs">pelycosaurs</a> such as <i><a href="/wiki/Edaphosaurus" title="Edaphosaurus">Edaphosaurus</a></i>. In the mid-Permian period, the climate turned drier, resulting in a change of fauna: The primitive pelycosaurs were replaced by the more advanced <a href="/wiki/Therapsids" class="mw-redirect" title="Therapsids">therapsids</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-autogenerated2001_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-autogenerated2001-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The anapsid reptiles, whose massive <a href="/wiki/Skull_roof" title="Skull roof">skull roofs</a> had no postorbital holes, continued and flourished throughout the Permian. The <a href="/wiki/Pareiasaur" class="mw-redirect" title="Pareiasaur">pareiasaurs</a> reached giant proportions in the <a href="/wiki/Lopingian" title="Lopingian">late Permian</a>, eventually disappearing at the close of the period.<sup id="cite_ref-autogenerated2001_21-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-autogenerated2001-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Late in the period, the diapsid reptiles split into two main lineages, the <a href="/wiki/Archosauria" class="mw-redirect" title="Archosauria">archosaurs</a> (ancestors of <a href="/wiki/Crocodile" title="Crocodile">crocodiles</a> and dinosaurs) and the <a href="/wiki/Lepidosauria" title="Lepidosauria">lepidosaurs</a> (predecessors of modern <a href="/wiki/Tuatara" title="Tuatara">tuataras</a>, lizards, and snakes). Both groups remained lizard-like and relatively small and inconspicuous during the Permian. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Mesozoic_era,_the_"Age_of_Reptiles""><span id="The_Mesozoic_era.2C_the_.22Age_of_Reptiles.22"></span>The Mesozoic era, the "Age of Reptiles"</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: The Mesozoic era, the "Age of Reptiles""><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The close of the Permian saw the greatest mass extinction known (see the <a href="/wiki/Permian%E2%80%93Triassic_extinction_event" title="Permian–Triassic extinction event">Permian–Triassic extinction event</a>). Most of the earlier anapsid/synapsid megafauna disappeared, being replaced by the <a href="/wiki/Archosauromorpha" title="Archosauromorpha">archosauromorph</a> diapsids. The archosaurs were characterized by elongated hind legs and an erect pose, the early forms looking somewhat like long-legged crocodiles. The archosaurs became the <a href="/wiki/Dominance_(ecology)" title="Dominance (ecology)">dominant group</a> during the <a href="/wiki/Triassic" title="Triassic">Triassic</a> period, developing into the well-known <a href="/wiki/Dinosaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Dinosaurs">dinosaurs</a> and <a href="/wiki/Pterosaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Pterosaurs">pterosaurs</a>, as well as the <a href="/wiki/Pseudosuchia" title="Pseudosuchia">pseudosuchians</a>. The Mesozoic is often called the "Age of Reptiles", a phrase coined by the early 19th-century paleontologist <a href="/wiki/Gideon_Mantell" title="Gideon Mantell">Gideon Mantell</a> who recognized the dinosaurs and the ancestors of the <a href="/wiki/Crocodilia" title="Crocodilia">crocodilians</a> as the dominant land vertebrates. Some of the dinosaurs were the largest land animals ever to have lived while some of the smaller <a href="/wiki/Therapoda" class="mw-redirect" title="Therapoda">theropods</a> gave rise to the first <a href="/wiki/Birds" class="mw-redirect" title="Birds">birds</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-autogenerated2001_21-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-autogenerated2001-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Sister_group" title="Sister group">sister group</a> to Archosauromorpha is <a href="/wiki/Lepidosauromorpha" title="Lepidosauromorpha">Lepidosauromorpha</a>, containing <a href="/wiki/Squamata" title="Squamata">squamates</a> and <a href="/wiki/Rhynchocephalia" title="Rhynchocephalia">rhynchocephalians</a>, as well as their fossil relatives. Lepidosauromorpha contained at least one major group of the Mesozoic sea reptiles: the <a href="/wiki/Mosasaurs" class="mw-redirect" title="Mosasaurs">mosasaurs</a>, which emerged during the <a href="/wiki/Cretaceous" title="Cretaceous">Cretaceous</a> period. The phylogenetic placement of other main groups of fossil sea reptiles – the <a href="/wiki/Sauropterygia" title="Sauropterygia">sauropterygians</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Ichthyosaur" class="mw-redirect" title="Ichthyosaur">ichthyosaurs</a>, which evolved in the early Triassic and in the Middle Triassic respectively – is more controversial. Different authors linked these groups either to lepidosauromorphs<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> or to archosauromorphs,<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and ichthyosaurs were also argued to be diapsids that did not belong to the least inclusive clade containing lepidosauromorphs and archosauromorphs.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The therapsids came under increasing pressure from the dinosaurs in the <a href="/wiki/Jurassic" title="Jurassic">Jurassic</a>; the mammals and the <a href="/wiki/Tritylodontid" class="mw-redirect" title="Tritylodontid">tritylodontids</a> were the only survivors of the line by the end of the period. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Bird_evolution">Bird evolution</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Bird evolution"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_birds" title="Evolution of birds">Evolution of birds</a></div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Archaeopteryx_lithographica_(Berlin_specimen).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Archaeopteryx_lithographica_%28Berlin_specimen%29.jpg/220px-Archaeopteryx_lithographica_%28Berlin_specimen%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="297" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Archaeopteryx_lithographica_%28Berlin_specimen%29.jpg/330px-Archaeopteryx_lithographica_%28Berlin_specimen%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Archaeopteryx_lithographica_%28Berlin_specimen%29.jpg/440px-Archaeopteryx_lithographica_%28Berlin_specimen%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1888" data-file-height="2552" /></a><figcaption>An <i><a href="/wiki/Archaeopteryx" title="Archaeopteryx">Archaeopteryx</a></i> specimen in Berlin.</figcaption></figure> <p>The main points to the transition from reptile to bird are the evolution from scales to <a href="/wiki/Feathers" class="mw-redirect" title="Feathers">feathers</a>, the evolution of the <a href="/wiki/Beak" title="Beak">beak</a> (although independently evolved in other organisms), the hollowfication of bones, development of flight, and <a href="/wiki/Warm-bloodedness" class="mw-redirect" title="Warm-bloodedness">warm-bloodedness</a>. </p><p>The evolution of birds is thought to have begun in the <a href="/wiki/Jurassic" title="Jurassic">Jurassic</a> Period, with the earliest <a href="/wiki/Bird" title="Bird">birds</a> derived from <a href="/wiki/Theropoda" title="Theropoda">theropod dinosaurs</a>. Birds are categorized as a <a href="/wiki/Class_(biology)" title="Class (biology)">biological class</a>, Aves. The earliest known species in Aves is <i><a href="/wiki/Archaeopteryx" title="Archaeopteryx">Archaeopteryx lithographica</a></i>, from the Late <a href="/wiki/Jurassic" title="Jurassic">Jurassic</a> period. Modern phylogenetics place birds in the dinosaur <a href="/wiki/Clade" title="Clade">clade</a> <a href="/wiki/Theropoda" title="Theropoda">Theropoda</a>. According to the current consensus, Aves and <a href="/wiki/Crocodilia" title="Crocodilia">Crocodilia</a> are the sole living members of an unranked clade, the <a href="/wiki/Archosauria" class="mw-redirect" title="Archosauria">Archosauria</a>. </p> <div class="clade"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"><a href="/wiki/Coelurosauria" title="Coelurosauria">Coelurosaurs</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Tyrannosauroidea" title="Tyrannosauroidea">Tyrannosauroids</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Compsognathidae" title="Compsognathidae">Compsognathids</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"><a href="/wiki/Maniraptoriformes" class="mw-redirect" title="Maniraptoriformes">Maniraptoriformes</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Ornithomimosauria" title="Ornithomimosauria">Ornithomimosaurs</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"><a href="/wiki/Maniraptora" title="Maniraptora">Maniraptora</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><i><a href="/wiki/Ornitholestes" title="Ornitholestes">Ornitholestes</a></i> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Therizinosaur" class="mw-redirect" title="Therizinosaur">Therizinosauroids</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Alvarezsauridae" title="Alvarezsauridae">Alvarezsaurids</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Oviraptorosauria" title="Oviraptorosauria">Oviraptorosaurs</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"><a href="/wiki/Paraves" title="Paraves">Paraves</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Avialae" title="Avialae">Avialae</a> (birds and their closest relatives) </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"><a href="/wiki/Deinonychosauria" title="Deinonychosauria">Deinonychosaurs</a> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1261294616" /> <table class="clade"> <tbody><tr> <td class="clade-label first"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Troodontidae" title="Troodontidae">Troodontids</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel"> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-label"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="clade-leaf"> <p><a href="/wiki/Dromaeosauridae" title="Dromaeosauridae">Dromaeosaurs</a> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td class="clade-slabel last"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div> <p>Simplified cladogram from Senter (2007).<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Demise_of_the_dinosaurs">Demise of the dinosaurs</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Demise of the dinosaurs"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_extinction_event" title="Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event">Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event</a></div> <p>The close of the <a href="/wiki/Cretaceous" title="Cretaceous">Cretaceous</a> period saw the demise of the Mesozoic era reptilian megafauna. Along with massive amount of volcanic activity at the time, the meteor impact that created the <a href="/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_boundary" title="Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary">Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary</a> is accepted as the main cause for this mass <a href="/wiki/Extinction_event" title="Extinction event">extinction event</a>. Of the large marine reptiles, only <a href="/wiki/Sea_turtle" title="Sea turtle">sea turtles</a> are left, and, of the dinosaurs, only the small feathered <a href="/wiki/Theropoda" title="Theropoda">theropods</a> survived in the form of <a href="/wiki/Birds" class="mw-redirect" title="Birds">birds</a>. The end of the “Age of Reptiles” led to the “Age of Mammals”. Despite the change in phrasing, reptile diversification continued throughout the Cenozoic. Today, squamates make up the majority of extant reptiles today (over 90%).<sup id="cite_ref-The_Reptile_Database_28-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-The_Reptile_Database-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> There are approximately 9,766 extant species of reptiles,<sup id="cite_ref-The_Reptile_Database_28-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-The_Reptile_Database-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> compared with 5,400 species of mammals, so the number of reptilian species (without birds) is nearly twice the number of mammals. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Role_reversal">Role reversal</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Role reversal"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-Unreferenced_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Unreferenced" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>does not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">cite</a> any <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">sources</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Evolution_of_reptiles" title="Special:EditPage/Evolution of reptiles">improve this section</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidence" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">removed</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">November 2012</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>After the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event wiped out all of the non-avian dinosaurs (<a href="/wiki/Birds" class="mw-redirect" title="Birds">birds</a> are generally regarded as the surviving dinosaurs) and several mammalian groups, placental and marsupial mammals diversified into many new forms and ecological niches throughout the <a href="/wiki/Paleogene" title="Paleogene">Paleogene</a> and <a href="/wiki/Neogene" title="Neogene">Neogene</a> eras. Some reached enormous sizes and almost as wide a variation as the dinosaurs once did. Nevertheless, mammalian <a href="/wiki/Megafauna" title="Megafauna">megafauna</a> never quite reached the skyscraper heights of some sauropods. </p><p>Nonetheless, large reptiles still composed important megafaunal components, such as <a href="/wiki/Giant_tortoise" title="Giant tortoise">giant tortoises</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-Hansen_29-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Hansen-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Cione_30-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Cione-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> large <a href="/wiki/Crocodilians" class="mw-redirect" title="Crocodilians">crocodilians</a> and, more locally, large <a href="/wiki/Varanidae" title="Varanidae">varanids</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="The_four_orders_of_Reptilia">The four orders of Reptilia</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: The four orders of Reptilia"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Testudines">Testudines</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Testudines"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Testudines" class="mw-redirect" title="Testudines">Testudines</a></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444" /><table class="box-Unreferenced_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Unreferenced" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>does not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">cite</a> any <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">sources</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Evolution_of_reptiles" title="Special:EditPage/Evolution of reptiles">improve this section</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidence" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">removed</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">June 2014</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Testudines, or turtles, may have evolved from anaspids, but their exact origin is unknown and heavily debated. Fossils date back to around 220 million years ago and share remarkably similar characteristics. These first turtles retain the same body plan as do all modern testudines and are mostly herbivorous, with some feeding exclusively on small marine organisms. The trade-mark shell is believed to have evolved from extensions from their backbone and widened ribs that fused together. This is supported by the fossil of <i><a href="/wiki/Odontochelys" title="Odontochelys">Odontochelys</a> semitestacea</i>, which has an incomplete shell originating from the ribs and back bone. This species also had teeth with its beak, giving more support to it being a transitional fossil, although this claim is still controversial. This shell evolved to protect against predators, but also slows down the land-based species by a great amount. This has caused many species to go extinct in recent times. Because of alien species out-competing them for food and the inability to escape from humans, there are many endangered species in this order. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Sphenodontia">Sphenodontia</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Sphenodontia"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Sphenodontia" class="mw-redirect" title="Sphenodontia">Sphenodontia</a></div> <p>Sphenodontians arose in the mid Triassic and now consists of a single genus, <a href="/wiki/Tuatara" title="Tuatara">tuatara</a>, which comprises two endangered species that live on New Zealand and some of its minor surrounding islands. Their evolutionary history is filled with many species.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Recent paleogenetic discoveries show that tuataras are prone to quick speciation. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Squamata">Squamata</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Squamata"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Squamata" title="Squamata">Squamata</a></div> <p>The most recent order of reptiles, squamates,<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> are recognized by having a movable <a href="/wiki/Quadrate_bone" title="Quadrate bone">quadrate bone</a> (giving them upper-jaw movement), possessing horny scales and <a href="/wiki/Hemipenes" class="mw-redirect" title="Hemipenes">hemipenes</a>. They originate from the early Jurassic and are made up of the three suborders <a href="/wiki/Lacertilia" class="mw-redirect" title="Lacertilia">Lacertilia</a> (paraphyletic), <a href="/wiki/Serpentes" class="mw-redirect" title="Serpentes">Serpentes</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Amphisbaenia" title="Amphisbaenia">Amphisbaenia</a>. Although they are the most recent order, squamates contain more species than any of the other reptilian orders. Squamates are a <a href="/wiki/Monophyletic" class="mw-redirect" title="Monophyletic">monophyletic</a> group included, with the <a href="/wiki/Sphenodontia" class="mw-redirect" title="Sphenodontia">Sphenodontia</a> (e.g. <a href="/wiki/Tuataras" class="mw-redirect" title="Tuataras">tuataras</a>), in the <a href="/wiki/Lepidosauria" title="Lepidosauria">Lepidosauria</a>. The latter superorder, together with some extinct animals like the <a href="/wiki/Plesiosaur" title="Plesiosaur">plesiosaurs</a>, constitute the <a href="/wiki/Lepidosauromorpha" title="Lepidosauromorpha">Lepidosauromorpha</a>, the sister infraclass to the group, the <a href="/wiki/Archosauromorpha" title="Archosauromorpha">Archosauromorpha</a>, that contains crocodiles, turtles, and birds. Although squamate fossils first appear in the early <a href="/wiki/Jurassic" title="Jurassic">Jurassic</a>, mitochondrial phylogenetics suggests that they evolved in the late <a href="/wiki/Permian" title="Permian">Permian</a>. Most evolutionary relationships within the squamates are not yet completely worked out, with the relationship of snakes to other groups being most problematic. From morphological data, Iguanid lizards have been thought to have diverged from other squamates very early, but recent <a href="/wiki/Molecular_phylogeny" class="mw-redirect" title="Molecular phylogeny">molecular phylogenies</a>, both from <a href="/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA" title="Mitochondrial DNA">mitochondrial</a> and nuclear <a href="/wiki/DNA" title="DNA">DNA</a>, do not support this early divergence.<sup id="cite_ref-Kumazawa_33-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Kumazawa-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Because snakes have a faster <a href="/wiki/Molecular_clock" title="Molecular clock">molecular clock</a> than other squamates,<sup id="cite_ref-Kumazawa_33-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Kumazawa-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and there are few early snake and snake ancestor fossils,<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> it is difficult to resolve the relationship between snakes and other squamate groups. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Crocodilia">Crocodilia</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Crocodilia"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Crocodilia" title="Crocodilia">Crocodilia</a></div> <p>The first organisms that showed similar characteristics of Crocodilians<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> were the <a href="/wiki/Crurotarsi" title="Crurotarsi">Crurotarsi</a>, who appeared during the early Triassic 250 million years ago. This quickly gave rise to the Eusuchia clade 220 million years ago, which would eventually lead to the order of Crocodilians, the first of which arose about 85 million years ago during the late Cretaceous. The earliest fossil evidence of eusuchians is of the genus <i><a href="/wiki/Isisfordia" title="Isisfordia">Isisfordia</a></i>. Early species mainly fed on fish and vegetation. They were land-based, most having long legs (when compared to modern crocodiles) and many were bipedal. As diversification increased, many apex predators arose, all of which are now extinct. Modern Crocodilia arose through specific evolutionary traits. The complete loss of bipedalism was traded for a generally low quadrupedal stance for an easy and less noticeable entrance to bodies of water. The shape of the skull/jaw changed to allow more grasp along with upward-pointing nostrils and eyes. <a href="/wiki/Mimicry" title="Mimicry">Mimicry</a> is evident, as the backs of all crocodilia resemble some type of floating log and their general color scheme of brown and green mimics moss or wood. Their tail also took on a paddle shape to increase swimming speed. The only remaining groups<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> of this order are the <a href="/wiki/Alligator" title="Alligator">alligators</a>, <a href="/wiki/Caiman" title="Caiman">caimans</a>, <a href="/wiki/Crocodile" title="Crocodile">crocodiles</a>, <a href="/wiki/Gharial" title="Gharial">gharials</a>, and <a href="/wiki/False_gharial" title="False gharial">false gharials</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_reptiles&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-LibreTexts-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-LibreTexts_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology">"Reptile Evolution"</a>. <i>Biology LibreTexts</i>. LibreTexts. 15 August 2021<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">13 December</span> 2023</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Biology+LibreTexts&rft.atitle=Reptile+Evolution&rft.date=2021-08-15&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbio.libretexts.org%2FBookshelves%2FIntroductory_and_General_Biology&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEvolution+of+reptiles" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Laurin_1995_165–223-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Laurin_1995_165–223_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Laurin_1995_165–223_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFLaurinReisz,_R._R.1995" class="citation journal cs1">Laurin, M.; Reisz, R. R. (1995). "A reevaluation of early amniote phylogeny". <i><a href="/wiki/Zoological_Journal_of_the_Linnean_Society" title="Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society">Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society</a></i>. <b>113</b> (2): <span class="nowrap">165–</span>223. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1096-3642.1995.tb00932.x">10.1111/j.1096-3642.1995.tb00932.x</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:29661691">29661691</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Zoological+Journal+of+the+Linnean+Society&rft.atitle=A+reevaluation+of+early+amniote+phylogeny&rft.volume=113&rft.issue=2&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E165-%3C%2Fspan%3E223&rft.date=1995&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1111%2Fj.1096-3642.1995.tb00932.x&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A29661691%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft.aulast=Laurin&rft.aufirst=M.&rft.au=Reisz%2C+R.+R.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEvolution+of+reptiles" class="Z3988"></span> (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/zj/1995/00000113/00000002/art00007">abstract</a>)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFPatonPatonClack1999" class="citation journal cs1">Paton, R. L.; Paton, T. R.; Clack, J. A. (1999). "An amniote-like skeleton from the Early Carboniferous of Scotland". <i><a href="/wiki/Nature_(journal)" title="Nature (journal)">Nature</a></i>. <b>398</b> (6727): <span class="nowrap">508–</span>513. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Bibcode (identifier)">Bibcode</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1999Natur.398..508P">1999Natur.398..508P</a>. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1038%2F19071">10.1038/19071</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:204992355">204992355</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Nature&rft.atitle=An+amniote-like+skeleton+from+the+Early+Carboniferous+of+Scotland&rft.volume=398&rft.issue=6727&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E508-%3C%2Fspan%3E513&rft.date=1999&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A204992355%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1038%2F19071&rft_id=info%3Abibcode%2F1999Natur.398..508P&rft.aulast=Paton&rft.aufirst=R.+L.&rft.au=Paton%2C+T.+R.&rft.au=Clack%2C+J.+A.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEvolution+of+reptiles" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Monastersky, R. (1999) Out of the Swamps, How early vertebrates established a foothold—with all 10 toes—on land. Science News, Vol. 155, No. 21, p. 328. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc99/5_22_99/bob1.htm">article</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Chapter 6: "Walking with early tetrapods: evolution of the postcranial skeleton and the phylogenetic affinities of the Temnospondyli (Vertebrata: Tetrapoda)." <i>In</i>: Kat Pawley (2006). "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hdl.handle.net/1959.9/57256">The postcranial skeleton of temnospondyls (Tetrapoda: temnospondyli)</a>." PhD Thesis. 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navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bird" title="Bird">Aves (birds)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crocodilia" title="Crocodilia">Crocodilia (crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and relatives)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div><b><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_reptiles" title="Outline of reptiles">Outline of reptiles</a></b>   <b><span class="nowrap"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Lizardicon.svg/21px-Lizardicon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="21" height="13" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Lizardicon.svg/32px-Lizardicon.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Lizardicon.svg/42px-Lizardicon.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="100" data-file-height="60" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Reptiles" title="Portal:Reptiles">Reptiles portal</a></b> <ul><li>Kingdom: <a href="/wiki/Animal" title="Animal">Animalia</a></li> <li>Phylum: <a href="/wiki/Chordate" title="Chordate">Chordata</a></li> <li>Subphylum: <a href="/wiki/Vertebrate" title="Vertebrate">Vertebrata</a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235" /></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Evolutionary_biology753" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231" /><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Evolution" title="Template:Evolution"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Evolution" title="Template talk:Evolution"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Evolution" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Evolution"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Evolutionary_biology753" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_biology" title="Evolutionary biology">Evolutionary biology</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Introduction_to_evolution" title="Introduction to evolution">Introduction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_evolution" title="Outline of evolution">Outline</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Timeline_of_the_evolutionary_history_of_life" title="Timeline of the evolutionary history of life">Timeline of evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_life" title="History of life">History of life</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Index_of_evolutionary_biology_articles" title="Index of evolutionary biology articles">Index</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Evolution" title="Evolution">Evolution</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Abiogenesis" title="Abiogenesis">Abiogenesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adaptation" title="Adaptation">Adaptation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adaptive_radiation" title="Adaptive radiation">Adaptive radiation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Altruism_(biology)" title="Altruism (biology)">Altruism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cheating_(biology)" title="Cheating (biology)">Cheating</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reciprocal_altruism" title="Reciprocal altruism">Reciprocal</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Baldwin_effect" title="Baldwin effect">Baldwin effect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cladistics" title="Cladistics">Cladistics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Coevolution" title="Coevolution">Coevolution</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Mutualism_(biology)" title="Mutualism (biology)">Mutualism</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Common_descent" title="Common descent">Common descent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Convergent_evolution" title="Convergent evolution">Convergence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divergent_evolution" title="Divergent evolution">Divergence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Earliest_known_life_forms" title="Earliest known life forms">Earliest known life forms</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent" title="Evidence of common descent">Evidence of evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_arms_race" title="Evolutionary arms race">Evolutionary arms race</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_pressure" title="Evolutionary pressure">Evolutionary pressure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Exaptation" title="Exaptation">Exaptation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Extinction" title="Extinction">Extinction</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Extinction_event" title="Extinction event">Event</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Homology_(biology)" title="Homology (biology)">Homology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Last_universal_common_ancestor" title="Last universal common ancestor">Last universal common ancestor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Macroevolution" title="Macroevolution">Macroevolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microevolution" title="Microevolution">Microevolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_mismatch" title="Evolutionary mismatch">Mismatch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nonadaptive_radiation" title="Nonadaptive radiation">Non-adaptive radiation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Abiogenesis" title="Abiogenesis">Origin of life</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Panspermia" title="Panspermia">Panspermia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parallel_evolution" title="Parallel evolution">Parallel evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Signalling_theory" title="Signalling theory">Signalling theory</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Handicap_principle" title="Handicap principle">Handicap principle</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Speciation" title="Speciation">Speciation</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Species" title="Species">Species</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Species_complex" title="Species complex">Species complex</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_taxonomy" title="Evolutionary taxonomy">Taxonomy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Unit_of_selection" title="Unit of selection">Unit of selection</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gene-centered_view_of_evolution" title="Gene-centered view of evolution">Gene-centered view of evolution</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Population_genetics" title="Population genetics">Population<br />genetics</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Selective_breeding" title="Selective breeding">Artificial selection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biodiversity" title="Biodiversity">Biodiversity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionarily_stable_strategy" title="Evolutionarily stable strategy">Evolutionarily stable strategy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fisher%27s_principle" title="Fisher's principle">Fisher's principle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fitness_(biology)" title="Fitness (biology)">Fitness</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Inclusive_fitness" title="Inclusive fitness">Inclusive</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gene_flow" title="Gene flow">Gene flow</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genetic_drift" title="Genetic drift">Genetic drift</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kin_selection" title="Kin selection">Kin selection</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Parental_investment" title="Parental investment">Parental investment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parent%E2%80%93offspring_conflict" title="Parent–offspring conflict">Parent–offspring conflict</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mutation" title="Mutation">Mutation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Population" title="Population">Population</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Natural_selection" title="Natural selection">Natural selection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism" title="Sexual dimorphism">Sexual dimorphism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sexual_selection" title="Sexual selection">Sexual selection</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sexual_selection_in_flowering_plants" title="Sexual selection in flowering plants">Flowering plants</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sexual_selection_in_fungi" title="Sexual selection in fungi">Fungi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mate_choice" title="Mate choice">Mate choice</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_selection" title="Social selection">Social selection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trivers%E2%80%93Willard_hypothesis" title="Trivers–Willard hypothesis">Trivers–Willard hypothesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genetic_variation" title="Genetic variation">Variation</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Development</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Canalisation_(genetics)" title="Canalisation (genetics)">Canalisation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_developmental_biology" title="Evolutionary developmental biology">Evolutionary developmental biology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genetic_assimilation" title="Genetic assimilation">Genetic assimilation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inversion_(evolutionary_biology)" title="Inversion (evolutionary biology)">Inversion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modularity_(biology)" title="Modularity (biology)">Modularity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phenotypic_plasticity" title="Phenotypic plasticity">Phenotypic plasticity</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Of <a href="/wiki/Taxon" title="Taxon">taxa</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_bacteria" title="Evolution of bacteria">Bacteria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_birds" title="Evolution of birds">Birds</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Origin_of_birds" title="Origin of birds">origin</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_brachiopods" title="Evolution of brachiopods">Brachiopods</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_molluscs" title="Evolution of molluscs">Molluscs</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_cephalopods" title="Evolution of cephalopods">Cephalopods</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dinosaur#Evolutionary_history" title="Dinosaur">Dinosaurs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_fish" title="Evolution of fish">Fish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_fungi" title="Evolution of fungi">Fungi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_insects" title="Evolution of insects">Insects</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_butterflies" title="Evolution of butterflies">butterflies</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_life" title="History of life">Life</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_mammals" title="Evolution of mammals">Mammals</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cat_gap" title="Cat gap">cats</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Canidae#Evolution" title="Canidae">canids</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_the_wolf" title="Evolution of the wolf">wolves</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Domestication_of_the_dog" title="Domestication of the dog">dogs</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hyena#Evolution" title="Hyena">hyenas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_cetaceans" title="Evolution of cetaceans">dolphins and whales</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_the_horse" title="Evolution of the horse">horses</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_Macropodidae" title="Evolution of Macropodidae">Kangaroos</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_primates" title="Evolution of primates">primates</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Human_evolution" title="Human evolution">humans</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_lemurs" title="Evolution of lemurs">lemurs</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_sirenians" title="Evolution of sirenians">sea cows</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_history_of_plants" title="Evolutionary history of plants">Plants</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Pollinator-mediated_selection" title="Pollinator-mediated selection">pollinator-mediated</a></li></ul></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Reptiles</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_spiders" title="Evolution of spiders">Spiders</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_tetrapods" title="Evolution of tetrapods">Tetrapods</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Viral_evolution" title="Viral evolution">Viruses</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Of <a href="/wiki/Organ_(anatomy)" class="mw-redirect" title="Organ (anatomy)">organs</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_cells" title="Evolution of cells">Cell</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Models_of_DNA_evolution" title="Models of DNA evolution">DNA</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_flagella" title="Evolution of flagella">Flagella</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eukaryote#Origin_of_eukaryotes" title="Eukaryote">Eukaryotes</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Symbiogenesis" title="Symbiogenesis">symbiogenesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chromosome#Eukaryotes" title="Chromosome">chromosome</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Endomembrane_system#Evolution" title="Endomembrane system">endomembrane system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mitochondrion#Origin_and_evolution" title="Mitochondrion">mitochondria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cell_nucleus#Evolution" title="Cell nucleus">nucleus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plastid#Origin" title="Plastid">plastids</a></li></ul></li> <li>In animals <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_the_eye" title="Evolution of the eye">eye</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hair#Evolution" title="Hair">hair</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_mammalian_auditory_ossicles" title="Evolution of mammalian auditory ossicles">auditory ossicle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_nervous_systems" title="Evolution of nervous systems">nervous system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_the_brain" title="Evolution of the brain">brain</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Of <a href="/wiki/Biological_process" title="Biological process">processes</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_ageing" title="Evolution of ageing">Aging</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Death#Evolution_of_aging_and_mortality" title="Death">Death</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Programmed_cell_death#Evolutionary_origin_of_mitochondrial_apoptosis" title="Programmed cell death">Programmed cell death</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Origin_of_avian_flight" title="Origin of avian flight">Avian flight</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_biological_complexity" title="Evolution of biological complexity">Biological complexity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cooperation_(evolution)" title="Cooperation (evolution)">Cooperation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_color_vision" title="Evolution of color vision">Color vision</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_color_vision_in_primates" title="Evolution of color vision in primates">in primates</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_emotion" title="Evolution of emotion">Emotion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Empathy#Evolution_across_species" title="Empathy">Empathy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_ethics" title="Evolutionary ethics">Ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_eusociality" title="Evolution of eusociality">Eusociality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Immune_system#Evolution_and_other_mechanisms" title="Immune system">Immune system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Metabolism#Evolution" title="Metabolism">Metabolism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monogamy_in_animals" title="Monogamy in animals">Monogamy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_morality" title="Evolution of morality">Morality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mosaic_evolution" title="Mosaic evolution">Mosaic evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Multicellular_organism#Evolutionary_history" title="Multicellular organism">Multicellularity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_sexual_reproduction" title="Evolution of sexual reproduction">Sexual reproduction</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anisogamy#Evolution" title="Anisogamy">Gamete differentiation/sexes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biological_life_cycle" title="Biological life cycle">Life cycles/nuclear phases</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mating_type" title="Mating type">Mating types</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Origin_and_function_of_meiosis" title="Origin and function of meiosis">Meiosis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sex-determination_system#Evolution" title="Sex-determination system">Sex-determination</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolution_of_snake_venom" title="Evolution of snake venom">Snake venom</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Tempo_and_Mode_in_Evolution" title="Tempo and Mode in Evolution">Tempo and modes</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Phyletic_gradualism" title="Phyletic gradualism">Gradualism</a>/<a href="/wiki/Punctuated_equilibrium" title="Punctuated equilibrium">Punctuated equilibrium</a>/<a href="/wiki/Saltation_(biology)" title="Saltation (biology)">Saltationism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Point_mutation" title="Point mutation">Micromutation</a>/<a href="/wiki/Mutationism#Later_mutationist_theories" title="Mutationism">Macromutation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uniformitarianism" title="Uniformitarianism">Uniformitarianism</a>/<a href="/wiki/Catastrophism" title="Catastrophism">Catastrophism</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Speciation" title="Speciation">Speciation</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Allopatric_speciation" title="Allopatric speciation">Allopatric</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anagenesis" title="Anagenesis">Anagenesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catagenesis_(biology)" title="Catagenesis (biology)">Catagenesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cladogenesis" title="Cladogenesis">Cladogenesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cospeciation" title="Cospeciation">Cospeciation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ecological_speciation" title="Ecological speciation">Ecological</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hybrid_speciation" title="Hybrid speciation">Hybrid</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nonecological_speciation" title="Nonecological speciation">Non-ecological</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parapatric_speciation" title="Parapatric speciation">Parapatric</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peripatric_speciation" title="Peripatric speciation">Peripatric</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reinforcement_(speciation)" title="Reinforcement (speciation)">Reinforcement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sympatric_speciation" title="Sympatric speciation">Sympatric</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/History_of_evolutionary_thought" title="History of evolutionary thought">History</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_ideas_of_the_Renaissance_and_Enlightenment" title="Evolutionary ideas of the Renaissance and Enlightenment">Renaissance and Enlightenment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transmutation_of_species" title="Transmutation of species">Transmutation of species</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_Hume" title="David Hume">David Hume</a> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Dialogues_Concerning_Natural_Religion" title="Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion">Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion</a></i></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Darwin" title="Charles Darwin">Charles Darwin</a> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species" title="On the Origin of Species">On the Origin of Species</a></i></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_paleontology" title="History of paleontology">History of paleontology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transitional_fossil" title="Transitional fossil">Transitional fossil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Blending_inheritance" title="Blending inheritance">Blending inheritance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mendelian_inheritance" title="Mendelian inheritance">Mendelian inheritance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism" title="The eclipse of Darwinism">The eclipse of Darwinism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neo-Darwinism" title="Neo-Darwinism">Neo-Darwinism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modern_synthesis_(20th_century)" title="Modern synthesis (20th century)">Modern synthesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_molecular_evolution" title="History of molecular evolution">History of molecular evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Extended_evolutionary_synthesis" title="Extended evolutionary synthesis">Extended evolutionary synthesis</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Philosophy</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Darwinism" title="Darwinism">Darwinism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alternatives_to_Darwinian_evolution" title="Alternatives to Darwinian evolution">Alternatives</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Catastrophism" title="Catastrophism">Catastrophism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lamarckism" title="Lamarckism">Lamarckism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Orthogenesis" title="Orthogenesis">Orthogenesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mutationism" title="Mutationism">Mutationism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saltation_(biology)" title="Saltation (biology)">Saltationism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Structuralism_(biology)" title="Structuralism (biology)">Structuralism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Spandrel_(biology)" title="Spandrel (biology)">Spandrel</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theistic_evolution" title="Theistic evolution">Theistic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vitalism" title="Vitalism">Vitalism</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Teleology_in_biology" title="Teleology in biology">Teleology in biology</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Biogeography" title="Biogeography">Biogeography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ecological_genetics" title="Ecological genetics">Ecological genetics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_medicine" title="Evolutionary medicine">Evolutionary medicine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Group_selection" title="Group selection">Group selection</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cultural_evolution" title="Cultural evolution">Cultural evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cultural_group_selection" title="Cultural group selection">Cultural group selection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dual_inheritance_theory" title="Dual inheritance theory">Dual inheritance theory</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hologenome_theory_of_evolution" title="Hologenome theory of evolution">Hologenome theory of evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Missing_heritability_problem" title="Missing heritability problem">Missing heritability problem</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Molecular_evolution" title="Molecular evolution">Molecular evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Astrobiology" title="Astrobiology">Astrobiology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phylogenetics" title="Phylogenetics">Phylogenetics</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Phylogenetic_tree" title="Phylogenetic tree">Tree</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Polymorphism_(biology)" title="Polymorphism (biology)">Polymorphism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Protocell" title="Protocell">Protocell</a></li> <li><a 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