Procolophonomorpha is an order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 or clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 of early reptile

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...

s that appeared during the Middle Permian. It constitutes a diverse assemblage that includes a number of lizard-like forms, as well as more diverse types like the pareiasaurs. The most important subclade, Procolophonia

Procolophonia

The Procolophonia are a suborder of herbivorous reptiles that lived from the Middle Permian till the end of the Triassic period. They were originally included as a suborder of the Cotylosauria but are now considered a clade of Parareptilia...

, is traditionally thought to be ancestral to (and hence to include) turtles. Lee 1995, 1996, 1997 argues that turtles evolved from pareiasaurs, but this view is by no means held unanimously. Rieppel and deBraga 1996 and deBraga & Rieppel, 1997 argue that turtles evolved from sauropterygia

Sauropterygia

Sauropterygia were a group of very successful aquatic reptiles that flourished during the Mesozoic before they became extinct at the end of the era. They were united by a radical adaptation of their shoulder, designed to support powerful flipper strokes...

ns

Taxonomy

The following is based on a phylogenetic analysis by Jalil and Janvier in 2005, which focused on the pareiasaurs and their relatives. Note that the exact placement of Testudines (the turtle

Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...

s) is controversial.

• Procolophonomorpha (= Ankyramorpha deBraga & Reisz, 1996)
  • Nyctiphruretia
    • Family Nycteroleteridae
    • Family Nyctiphruretidae
  • Procolophonia
    Procolophonia
    The Procolophonia are a suborder of herbivorous reptiles that lived from the Middle Permian till the end of the Triassic period. They were originally included as a suborder of the Cotylosauria but are now considered a clade of Parareptilia...
    
    
    • Superfamily Procolophonoidea
      Procolophonoidea
      Procolophonoidea is an extinct superfamily of procolophonian parareptiles. Members were characteristically small, stocky, and lizard-like in appearance. Fossils have been found worldwide from many continents including Antarctica. The first members appeared during the Late Permian in the Karoo Basin...
      
      
      • Genus Barasaurus
      • Genus Owenetta
        Owenetta
        Owenetta is an extinct genus of basal procolophonian parareptile. Fossils have been found from the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. Although most procolophonians lived during the Triassic, Owenetta existed during the Wuchiapingian and Changhsingian stages of the Late Permian as...
        
        
      • Family Procolophonidae
    • Hallucicrania
      • Family Lanthanosuchidae
      • Superfamily Pareiasauroidea
        • Genus Sclerosaurus
          Sclerosaurus
          Sclerosaurus is an extinct genus of sauropsid....
          
          
        • Pareiasauria
          • Velosauria
            • Therischia
            • Pumiliopareiasauria
              • Testudines

External links

• Procolophonomorpha - Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
  Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
  Mikko's Phylogeny Archive is an amateur paleontology website maintained by Mikko Haaramo, a student at the University of Helsinki's Department of Geology, Division of Geology and Palaeontology....
  
  
• Basal Anapsids - Palaeos
  Palaeos
  Palaeos.com is a web site on biology, paleontology, cladistics and geology and which covers the history of Earth. The site is well respected and has been used as a reference by professional paleontologists such as Michael J. Benton, the professor of vertebrate palaeontology in the Department of...