Pareiasauria

Pareiasauria
Temporal range: Middle Permian - Late Permian, 265–252 Ma
Skeleton of Scutosaurus karpinskii in the American Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Parareptilia
Order: Procolophonomorpha
Node: Ankyramorpha
Suborder: Procolophonia
Clade: Pareiasauromorpha
Superfamily: Pareiasauroidea
Clade: Pareiasauria
Seeley, 1888
Genera

Pareiasaurs (meaning "cheek lizards") are an extinct clade of large, herbivorous parareptiles. Members of the group were armoured with osteoderms which covered large areas of the body. They first appeared in southern Pangea during the Middle Permian, before becoming globally distributed during the Late Permian. Pareiasaurs were the largest reptiles of the Permian, reaching sizes equivalent to those of contemporary therapsids. Pareiasaurs became extinct in the Permian–Triassic extinction event.