| Saurians Temporal range: Permian - Recent | |
|---|---|
| File:Tuatara.jpg | |
| Tuatara | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Neodiapsida |
| Clade: | Sauria Gauthier, 1984 |
| Subgroups | |
| |
Sauria is a clade of reptiles that includes all living diapsids, as well as their common ancestor and all its extinct descendants. The ancestral saurian was probably a small lizard-like creature living in the Permian Period. This crown group is diagnosed by a number of details in skull and skeleton, and comprises the two important clades Lepidosauromorpha and Archosauromorpha.
The term "Sauria" has previously been used as a synonym of Lacertilia, a suborder of Squamata that includes all lizards but excludes snakes. This classification is rarely used today because Sauria so-defined is a paraphyletic group.
References[]
- Callaway, J.M. (1997), Ichthyosauria: Introduction, in JM Callaway & EL Nicholls (eds.), Ancient Marine Reptiles. Academic Press, pp. 3-16.
- Tree of Life Project <http://tolweb.org/Diapsida/14866>
External links[]
- Sauria cladogram
Template:Reptile-stub
Template:Project Reptilia Taxonomy