What did the archosaurs evolve from?

The first known archosaurs appeared in the Middle Triassic Period (about 246 million to 229 million years ago). They evolved from an earlier group of diapsid reptiles, diapsids having two openings in the skull behind the eye.

Where did lizards evolve from?

Squamata (“scaly”) arose in the late Permian; extant species include lizards and snakes. They are most closely-related to tuataras; both groups evolved from a lepidosaurian ancestor.

Are lizards ancestors of dinosaurs?

Answer 1: The only animals living today that are thought to have descended from the dinosaurs are birds. Dinosaurs are in the reptile group, which includes turtles, crocodiles, birds, lizards, and snakes.

What is the origin of reptiles?

The origin of the reptiles lies about 310–320 million years ago, in the steaming swamps of the late Carboniferous period, when the first reptiles evolved from advanced reptiliomorphs. The oldest known animal that may have been an amniote is Casineria (though it may have been a temnospondyl).

Are dinosaurs Amniotes?

AMNIOTES (REPTILES, DINOSAURS, BIRDS, MAMMALS)

Are dinosaurs extinct?

Dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago (at the end of the Cretaceous Period), after living on Earth for about 165 million years.

Why did lizards evolve into snakes?

Scientists believe that the lizard-to-snake transition was the result of ecological natural selection and gradual morphogenesis, the biological process that causes an organism to develop into its shape. In this case, the shape was legless and long.

Which is the most recent ancestor of archosaurs?

Archosaurs are a group of diapsid amniotes whose living representatives consist of birds and crocodilians. This group also includes all extinct dinosaurs, extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosauria, the archosaur clade, is a crown group that includes the most recent common ancestor…

Which is the only living member of the diapsid Archosauria?

Archosauria (“ruling reptiles”) is a clade of diapsids, with birds and crocodilians as the only living representatives. Archosaurs are broadly classified as reptiles, in the cladistic sense of term which includes birds. Extinct archosaurs include non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and extinct relatives of crocodilians.

How did the antorbital fenestrae help the archosaur?

Antorbital fenestrae reduced the weight of the skull, which was relatively large in early archosaurs, rather like that of modern crocodilians. Mandibular fenestrae may also have reduced the weight of the jaw in some forms.

What was the first diversification of archosaurs?

The Triassic saw the first broad diversification of archosaurs, and, although most groups became extinct by the end of that period, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and pterosaurs survived and proliferated during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.