Synapsids
Synapsids -
mammals and their extinct relatives
| Sarcopterygii; Tetrapoda; Amniota; Syanpsida |
The primary dichotomy within the amniotes is that between the Reptilia, or Sauropsida (see amniote groups
above - turtles through to birds), and the Synapsida, thought to have
diverged sometime during the Carboniferous (approx. 360 - 300 million years
ago). Thus, the Synapsida is one of the two major lineages of amniotes, containing the mammals plus all extinct amniotes more closely related to mammals than to reptiles.
The following
webpages outline the diversity of the living representatives of the synapsids - the
class Mammalia. The extant mammals are divided into three major lineages:
- Monotremata - monotremes
- Marsupialia - marsupials
- Eutheria - placental
mammals
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