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Pelycosaur
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Pelycosaur ( ) is an older term for basal or primitive Late Paleozoic synapsids, excluding the therapsids and their descendants. Previously, the term mammal-like reptile was used, and Pelycosauria was considered an order, but this is now thought to be incorrect and outdated. The terms stem mammals, protomammals, and basal or primitive synapsids are instead used where needed.
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 210 inbound references to Pelycosaur, and connects out to Synapsida, paraphyly and Therapsida.
It is catalogued under topics including Paraphyletic groups, Synapsida and Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope.
Vinony links it to 41 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
- Parent taxon
- Synapsida
- Image
- Dimetrodon milleri (1).jpg
Show 6 more facts
- topic's main category
- Category:Pelycosauria
- taxon name
- Pelycosauria
- Commons category
- Synapsida
- taxon rank
- order
- start time
- 308000000-
- end time
- 260400000-
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
8 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Evolutionary history
- Description
- Taxonomy
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
Pelycosaur ( ) is an older term for basal or primitive Late Paleozoic synapsids, excluding the therapsids and their descendants. Previously, the term mammal-like reptile was used, and Pelycosauria was considered an order, but this is now thought to be incorrect and outdated. The terms stem mammals, protomammals, and basal or primitive synapsids are instead used where needed.
Because Pelycosaur excludes its own descendants, the advanced synapsid group Therapsida, the term is paraphyletic and contrary to modern formal naming practice. Thus the name pelycosaurs, similar to the term mammal-like reptiles, fell out of favor among scientists by the 21st century, and is only used informally, if at all, in the modern scientific literature.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Pelycosaur” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.