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diapsid

  (dī-ăp'sĭd) pronunciation
n.

Any of various reptiles having a skull with two pairs of temporal openings and including the lizards, snakes, crocodiles, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs.

[New Latin Diapsida, former subclass name : DI–1 + Greek hapsis, hapsid-, loop, arch; see apsis.]

diapsid di·ap'sid adj.
 
 
WordNet: diapsid
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: reptile having a pair of openings in the skull behind each eye
  Synonym: diapsid reptile
  Antonym: anapsid (meaning #1)


 
Wikipedia: diapsid
Diapsids
Fossil range: Carboniferous-Recent
the diapsid skull
the diapsid skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
(unranked) Eureptilia
Subclass: Diapsida
Osborn, 1903
Groups

See text

Diapsids ("two arches") are a group of tetrapod animals that developed two holes (temporal fenestra) in each side of their skulls, about 300 million years ago during the late Carboniferous period. Living diapsids are extremely diverse, and include all birds, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, tuatara, and possibly even turtles. While some lost either one hole (lizards), or both holes (snakes), or even have a much more restructured skull (modern birds), they are still classified as diapsids based on their ancestry. There are 14,600 species of diapsid existing in environments around the world today, including most flying and venomous vertebrates.

The ancestral openings are above and below the eye. This arrangement allows for the attachment of larger, stronger, jaw muscles and enables the jaw to open more widely. A more obscure ancestral characteristic is a relatively long lower arm bone (radius), compared to the upper arm bone (humerus). Extinct groups include the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, and many more obscure lineages. The classification of most of the early groups is fluid and subject to change.

Taxonomy

Classification

Phylogeny

Diapsida
|--Araeoscelida
|-?Sphodrosaurus
|-?Palacrodon
|-?Omphalosaurus
`--+--Avicephala
    `--Neodiapsida
          |--Apsisaurus
          `--Eosuchia
                 |-?Younginiformes
                 `--+-?Claudiosaurus
                       |-?Ichthyopterygia
                       `--Sauria
                              |-?Thalattosauriformes
                              |--Lepidosauromorpha
                              `--Archosauromorpha

See also

External links

  • Diapsida. Michel Laurin and Jacques A. Gauthier. Tree of Life Web Project. June 22, 2000.

 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Diapsid" Read more

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