Amniotes are tetrapod vertebrate animals belonging to the clade Amniota, a large group that comprises the vast majority of living terrestrial and semiaquatic vertebrates. Amniotes evolved from amphibian ancestors during the Carboniferous period and further diverged into two groups, namely the sauropsids and synapsids. They are distinguished from the other living tetrapod clade — the non-amniote lissamphibians — by the development of three extraembryonic membranes, thicker and keratinized skin, and costal respiration.
Diapsids are a clade of sauropsids, distinguished from more primitive eureptiles by the presence of two holes, known as temporal fenestrae, in each side of their skulls. The group first appeared about three hundred million years ago during the late Carboniferous period. All diapsids other than the most primitive ones in the clade Araeoscelidia are sometimes placed into the clade Neodiapsida. The diapsids are extremely diverse, and include birds and all modern reptile groups, including turtles, which were historically thought to lie outside the group. Although some diapsids have lost either one hole (lizards), or both holes, or have a heavily restructured skull, they are still classified as diapsids based on their ancestry. At least 17,084 species of diapsid animals are extant: 9,159 birds, and 7,925 snakes, lizards, tuatara, turtles, and crocodiles.
Neodiapsida is a clade, or major branch, of the reptilian family tree, typically defined as including all diapsids apart from some early primitive types known as the araeoscelidians. Modern reptiles and birds belong to the neodiapsid subclade Sauria.
Eureptilia is one of the two major subgroups of the clade Sauropsida, the other one being Parareptilia. Eureptilia includes Diapsida, as well as a number of primitive Permo-Carboniferous forms previously classified under Anapsida, in the old order "Cotylosauria".
Diadectomorpha is a clade of large tetrapods that lived in Euramerica during the Carboniferous and Early Permian periods and in Asia during Late Permian (Wuchiapingian), They have typically been classified as advanced reptiliomorphs positioned close to, but outside of the clade Amniota, though some recent research has recovered them as the sister group to the traditional Synapsida within Amniota, based on inner ear anatomy and cladistic analyses. They include both large carnivorous and even larger herbivorous forms, some semi-aquatic and others fully terrestrial. The diadectomorphs seem to have originated during late Mississippian times, although they only became common after the Carboniferous rainforest collapse and flourished during the Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian periods.
Hylonomus is an extinct genus of reptile that lived 312 million years ago during the Late Carboniferous period. It is the earliest unquestionable reptile. The only species is the type species Hylonomus lyelli. Despite being amongst the oldest known reptiles, it is not the most primitive member of group, being a eureptile more derived than either parareptiles or captorhinids.
Eupelycosauria is a large clade of animals characterized by the unique shape of their skull, encompassing all mammals and their closest extinct relatives. They first appeared 308 million years ago during the Early Pennsylvanian epoch, with the fossils of Echinerpeton and perhaps an even earlier genus, Protoclepsydrops, representing just one of the many stages in the evolution of mammals, in contrast to their earlier amniote ancestors.
Captorhinidae is an extinct family of tetrapods, typically considered primitive reptiles, known from the late Carboniferous to the Late Permian. They had a cosmopolitan distribution across Pangea.
Caseasauria is one of the two main clades of early synapsids, the other being the Eupelycosauria. Caseasaurs are currently known only from the Late Carboniferous and the Permian, and include two superficially different families, the small insectivorous or carnivorous Eothyrididae, and the large, herbivorous Caseidae. These two groups share a number of specialised features associated with the morphology of the snout and external naris.
Parareptilia ("near-reptiles") is a subclass or clade of basal sauropsids/reptiles, typically considered the sister taxon to Eureptilia. Parareptiles first arose near the end of the Carboniferous period and achieved their highest diversity during the Permian period. Several ecological innovations were first accomplished by parareptiles among reptiles. These include the first reptiles to return to marine ecosystems (mesosaurs), the first bipedal reptiles, the first reptiles with advanced hearing systems, and the first large herbivorous reptiles. The only parareptiles to survive into the Triassic period were the procolophonoids, a group of small generalists, omnivores, and herbivores. The largest family of procolophonoids, the procolophonids, rediversified in the Triassic, but subsequently declined and became extinct by the end of the period.
Procolophonia is an extinct suborder (clade) of herbivorous reptiles that lived from the Middle Permian till the end of the Triassic period. They were originally included as a suborder of the Cotylosauria but are now considered a clade of Parareptilia. They are closely related to other generally lizard-like Permian reptiles such as the Millerettidae, Bolosauridae, Acleistorhinidae, and Lanthanosuchidae, all of which are included under the Anapsida or "Parareptiles".
Younginiformes is a group of diapsid reptiles known from the Permian-Triassic of Africa and Madagascar. It has been used as a replacement for "Eosuchia". Younginiformes were historically suggested to be lepidosauromorphs, but were later suggested to be basal non-saurian neodiapsids. The group is sometimes divided into two families, Tangasauridae and Younginidae. The monophyly of the group is disputed. A 2009 study found them to be an unresolved polytomy at the base of Neodiapsida, while a 2011 study recovered the group as paraphyletic. A 2022 study recovered the Younginiformes as a monophyletic group of basal neodiapsid reptiles, also including Claudiosaurus and Saurosternon as part of the group. Some younginiforms like Hovasaurus and Acerosodontosaurus are thought to have had an amphibious lifestyle, while others like Kenyasaurus, Thadeosaurus and Youngina were probably terrestrial.
Araeoscelidia or Araeoscelida is a clade of extinct diapsid reptiles superficially resembling lizards, extending from the Late Carboniferous to the Early Permian. The group contains the genera Araeoscelis, Petrolacosaurus, the possibly aquatic Spinoaequalis, and less well-known genera such as Kadaliosaurus and Zarcasaurus. This clade is usually considered to be the sister group to all later diapsids.
Colobomycter is an extinct genus of lanthanosuchoid parareptile known from the Early Permian of Oklahoma.
Eunotosaurus is an extinct genus of amniote, possibly a close relative of turtles. Eunotosaurus lived in the late Middle Permian and fossils can be found in the Karoo Supergroup of South Africa. Eunotosaurus resided in the swamps of southern Africa. Its ribs were wide and flat, forming broad plates similar to a primitive turtle shell, and the vertebrae were nearly identical to those of some turtles. Accordingly, it is often considered as a possible transitional fossil between turtles and their prehistoric ancestors. However, it is possible that these turtle-like features evolved independently of the same features in turtles, since other anatomical studies and phylogenetic analyses suggest that Eunotosaurus may instead have been a parareptile, an early-diverging neodiapsid unrelated to turtles, or a synapsid.
Coelostegus is an extinct genus of Late Carboniferous basal reptile known from Pilsen of Czech Republic. It is known from the holotype ČGH 3027, a partial skeleton of an immature individual. It was collected in the Nýřany site from the Nýřany Member of the Kladno Formation. It was first named by Robert L. Carroll and Donald Baird in 1972 and the type species is Coelostegus prothales. The most recent phylogenic study of primitive reptile relationships found Coelostegus to be the basalmost known eureptile.
Cephalerpeton is an extinct genus of "protorothyridid" eureptile known from the Late Carboniferous of Illinois.
Euconcordia is an extinct genus of Late Carboniferous captorhinid known from Greenwood County, Kansas of the United States.
Thuringothyris is an extinct genus of Early Permian eureptiles known from the Thuringian Forest in central Germany.
Carbonodraco is an extinct genus of acleistorhinid parareptile known from the Late Carboniferous of Ohio. It contains a single species, Carbonodraco lundi. It was closely related to Colobomycter, a parareptile from the early Permian of Oklahoma. Carbonodraco is the oldest known parareptile, and is slightly older than Erpetonyx, the previously oldest known parareptile. Specimens of Carbonodraco are limited to skull and jaw fragments found at the Ohio Diamond Coal mine in Linton, Ohio. These include the holotype specimen and two referred specimens. Several of the Carbonodraco specimens were previously referred to the Carboniferous eureptile Cephalerpeton by Reisz & Baird (1983). They were recognized as a distinct species in a 2019 study by Mann et al.
