Millerettidae

Last updated

Millerettidae
Temporal range: Middle-Late Permian, Capitanian–Changhsingian
Milleropsis pricei (skull reconstruction).jpg
Reconstructed skull of Milleropsis
Milleretta Gabriel Ugueto.png
Speculative life restoration of Milleretta
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Subclass: Parareptilia
Order: Millerosauria
Family: Millerettidae
Watson, 1957
Subgroups

See text

Millerettidae is an extinct family of early reptiles from the Middle Permian to the Late Permian period (Capitanian - Changhsingian stages) of South Africa. [1] Although they were interpreted as a group of 'parareptiles', [2] recent anatomical studies [3] [4] and phylogenetic analyses [5] have suggested that they are better interpreted as close relatives of the Neodiapsida as part of the larger clade Parapleurota. The millerettids were small insectivores and probably resembled modern lizards in appearance and lifestyle, even possessing a tympanum, or eardrum, on the side of their skull. [5]

The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic position of the Millerettidae within 'Parareptilia', from Ruta et al., 2011. [6]

Subsequent research by Jenkins and colleagues (2025) based on synchrotron data and an expansive phylogenetic dataset recovered the Millerettidae as the sister group to the Neodiapsida, closer to the reptile crown group. These results are displayed in the cladogram below, with taxa traditionally regarded as 'parareptiles' highlighted: [5]

Sauropsida

   former 'parareptiles'

References

  1. Gow, C. E. (1972). "The osteology and relationships of the Millerettidae (Reptilia: Cotylosauria)". Journal of Zoology. 167 (2): 219–264. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1972.tb01731.x. ISSN   1469-7998.
  2. Laurin, Michel; Reisz, Robert R. (February 1995). "A reevaluation of early amniote phylogeny". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 113 (2): 165–223. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1995.tb00932.x.
  3. Jenkins, Xavier A; Benson, Roger B J; Elliott, Maya; Jeppson, Gabriel; Dollman, Kathleen; Fernandez, Vincent; Browning, Claire; Ford, David P; Choiniere, Jonah; Peecook, Brandon R (2025-03-03). "New information on the anatomically derived millerettid Milleretta rubidgei from the latest Permian based on µCT data". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 203 (3). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf004. ISSN   0024-4082.
  4. Jenkins, Xavier A.; Benson, Roger B. J.; Ford, David P.; Browning, Claire; Fernandez, Vincent; Griffiths, Elizabeth; Choiniere, Jonah; Peecook, Brandon R. (2025-01-08). "Cranial osteology and neuroanatomy of the late Permian reptile Milleropsis pricei and implications for early reptile evolution". Royal Society Open Science. 12 (1): 241298. doi:10.1098/rsos.241298. PMC   11707879 . PMID   39780968.
  5. 1 2 3 Jenkins, Xavier A; Benson, Roger BJ; Ford, David P; Browning, Claire; Fernandez, Vincent; Dollman, Kathleen; Gomes, Timothy; Griffiths, Elizabeth; Choiniere, Jonah N; Peecook, Brandon R (2025-08-28). "Evolutionary assembly of crown reptile anatomy clarified by late Paleozoic relatives of Neodiapsida". Peer Community Journal . 5. e89. doi: 10.24072/pcjournal.620 . ISSN   2804-3871.
  6. Ruta, Marcello; Cisneros, Juan C.; Liebrecht, Torsten; Tsuji, Linda A.; Müller, Johannes (2011). "Amniotes through major biological crises: faunal turnover among Parareptiles and the end-Permian mass extinction". Palaeontology. 54 (5): 1117–1137. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01051.x. ISSN   1475-4983.