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Clade of reptiles with two holes in each side of their skulls / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Diapsida ("two arches") is a clade of sauropsids (reptiles in the wide sense), distinguished by the presence of two holes, known as temporal fenestrae, in each side of their skulls. Modern reptiles and birds belong to the diapsid subclade Sauria.
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Diapsid reptiles | |
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Skull of Orovenator, one of the earliest known diapsids | |
Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Romeriida |
Clade: | Diapsida Osborn, 1903 |
Subgroups | |
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The earliest potential diapsids, the araeoscelidians, first appeared about three hundred million years ago during the Late Carboniferous,[1] but these may actually be stem-amniotes or otherwise have acquired their diapsid skulls convergently from true diapsids. Non-araeoscelidian diapsids are often united into the clade Neodiapsida; the earliest known members of this group are Orovenator and Maiothisavros from the Early Permian, around 290 million years ago.[2][3] Early diapsids were ancestrally lizard-like, but non-saurian diapsids include semiaquatic taxa (like Claudiosaurus and some tangasaurids),[4] the gliding lizard-like Weigeltisauridae,[5] and possibly the Triassic chameleon-like drepanosaurs.[6] The position of the highly derived Mesozoic marine reptile groups Thalattosauria, Ichthyosauromorpha and Sauropterygia within Diapsida is uncertain, and they may lie within Sauria.[7]
Modern diapsids are extremely diverse, and include birds and all modern reptile groups, including turtles, which were historically thought to lie outside the group.[8] Although some diapsids have lost either one hole (lizards), or both holes (snakes and turtles), or have a heavily restructured skull (modern birds), they are still classified as diapsids based on their ancestry. At least 17,084 species of diapsid animals are extant: 9,159 birds,[9] and 7,925 snakes, lizards, tuatara, turtles, and crocodiles.[10]