In: Biology
Discuss the evolution of reptiles.
Evolution of reptiles:
The earliest amniotes date from about 350 million years ago.
They were like tiny lizards, but they were not reptile creatures.
Their amniotic eggs allow them to leave water bodies and grow. They
soon became the world's most important vertebrates.
About 320 million years ago, the first amniotes were divided into
two groups, called synapsids and sauropsids.
Synapsids were the last amniot to cause mammals.
Sauropsids were amniotes that appeared in reptiles, dinosaurs and
birds.
The two groups of amniote were different in their skulls.
First Creature: Hylonomus. The most famous ancient creature is
given the national name Hylonomus. They were 20 to 30 centimetres
lived in swimming pools, and ate insects and other small
invertebrates.
Initially, synapsids were more efficient than sauropsids. They became the most common animals on the planet. However, during the mass extinction of 245 million years ago, most synapsids disappeared. Their niches were taken by sauropsids, which had been of little importance until then. This is called Triassic takeover.
By the middle of the Triassic about 225 million years ago,
sauropsids had already become dinosaurs. Dinosaurs became
increasingly important throughout the Mesozoic Era, as they shone
to fill the bulk of the earth's history. That is why the Mesozoic
Era is called the Age of the Dinosaurs. During the subsequent mass
extinction, which took place near the end of the Mesozoic Era, all
dinosaurs disappeared. Many other creatures survived, but they
eventually produced the modern-day reptiles.
some of the first diverting reptiles were turtles ancestors. The
first turtle-like reptiles are thought to have originated 250
million years ago. Ancestral crocodiles evolved at least 220
million years ago. The Tuataras may have deviated from squamates
shortly thereafter. In the end, lizards and snakes went their
separate ways 150 million years ago.
The earliest amniote appeared about 350 million years ago, and the
first creatures came from the sauropsida ancestor about 315 million
years ago.
Dinosaurs evolved 225 million years ago and dominated animal life
on earth until 65 million years ago, when it all came to an
end.
Some reptiles survive into the categories of reptiles that exist
today.