Milleretta
Encyclopedia
Milleretta was a fast-moving reptile
that lived in the late Permian
period of South Africa, 250 million years ago. Fossils have been found at the Oberperm site.
Milleretta was a moderately sized, lizard
-like animal, about 60 centimetres (23.6 in) in length. It was probably insectivorous and had acute hearing. Although once thought to have been ancestral to the diapsid
s, the group that includes lizards, the discovery of much older diapsid fossils has since ruled this possibility out.
There is only one representative of this genus.
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
that lived in the late Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
period of South Africa, 250 million years ago. Fossils have been found at the Oberperm site.
Milleretta was a moderately sized, lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
-like animal, about 60 centimetres (23.6 in) in length. It was probably insectivorous and had acute hearing. Although once thought to have been ancestral to the diapsid
Diapsid
Diapsids are a group of reptiles that developed two holes in each side of their skulls, about 300 million years ago during the late Carboniferous period. Living diapsids are extremely diverse, and include all crocodiles, lizards, snakes, and tuatara...
s, the group that includes lizards, the discovery of much older diapsid fossils has since ruled this possibility out.
There is only one representative of this genus.