Varanopidae

Varanopidae
Temporal range: Late Carboniferous - Middle Permian, 309–260 Ma
Fossil skeleton of Varanops brevirostris in the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Family: †Varanopidae
Romer and Price, 1940
Genera

See below

Varanopidae is an extinct family of amniotes known from the Late Carboniferous to Middle Permian that resembled monitor lizards (with the name of the group deriving from the monitor lizard genus Varanus) and may have filled a similar niche. Typically, they are considered to be relatively basal synapsids (and thus more closely related to mammals than to reptiles), although some studies from the late 2010s recovered them being taxonomically closer to diapsid reptiles,[1][2][3] recent studies from the early 2020s support their traditional placement as synapsids on the basis of high degree of bone labyrinth ossification, maxillary canal morphology and phylogenetic analyses.[4][5][6] A varanopid from the latest Middle Permian Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone is the youngest known varanopid and the last member of the "pelycosaur" group of synapsids.[7]

  1. ^ Ford, David P.; Benson, Roger B. J. (2018). "A redescription of Orovenator mayorum (Sauropsida, Diapsida) using high‐resolution μCT, and the consequences for early amniote phylogeny". Papers in Palaeontology. 5 (2): 197–239. doi:10.1002/spp2.1236. S2CID 92485505.
  2. ^ Modesto, Sean P. (December 23, 2019). "Rooting about reptile relationships". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 4 (1): 10–11. doi:10.1038/s41559-019-1074-0. ISSN 2397-334X. PMID 31900449. S2CID 209672518.
  3. ^ MacDougall, Mark J.; Modesto, Sean P.; Brocklehurst, Neil; Verrière, Antoine; Reisz, Robert R.; Fröbisch, Jörg (2018). "Commentary: A Reassessment of the Taxonomic Position of Mesosaurs, and a Surprising Phylogeny of Early Amniotes". Frontiers in Earth Science. 6. doi:10.3389/feart.2018.00099. ISSN 2296-6463.
  4. ^ Bazzana, K. D.; Evans, D. C.; Bevitt, J. J.; Reisz, R. R. (2021). "Neurosensory anatomy of Varanopidae and its implications for early synapsid evolution". Journal of Anatomy. 240 (5): 833–849. doi:10.1111/joa.13593. PMC 9005680. PMID 34775594. S2CID 244116303.
  5. ^ Benoit, J.; Ford, D. P.; Miyamae, J. A.; Ruf, I. (2021). "Can maxillary canal morphology inform varanopid phylogenetic affinities?". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 66 (2): 389–393. doi:10.4202/app.00816.2020. S2CID 237333701.
  6. ^ Simões, T.; Kammerer, C. (August 2022). "Successive climate crises in the deep past drove the early evolution and radiation of reptiles". Science Advances. 08 (33): eabq1898. Bibcode:2022SciA....8.1898S. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abq1898. PMC 9390993. PMID 35984885. S2CID 251694019.
  7. ^ Modesto, S.P.; Smith, R.M.H.; Campione, N.E.; Reisz, R.R. (2011). "The last "pelycosaur": a varanopid synapsid from the Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone, Middle Permian of South Africa". Naturwissenschaften. 98 (12): 1027–1034. Bibcode:2011NW.....98.1027M. doi:10.1007/s00114-011-0856-2. PMID 22009069. S2CID 27865550.