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The earliest known proto-reptiles originated from the Carboniferous period, having evolved from advanced reptiliomorph tetrapods which became increasingly adapted to life on dry land. The earliest known eureptile ("true reptile") was Hylonomus , a small and superficially lizard-like animal which lived in Nova Scotia during the Bashkirian age of ...
For instance, descendants of the first reptiles include modern reptiles, mammals and birds; the agnathans have given rise to the jawed vertebrates; the bony fishes have given rise to the land vertebrates; a group of amphibians, the labyrinthodonts, have given rise to the reptiles (traditionally including the mammal-like synapsids), which in ...
The skull of Python reticulatus.. The skull of a snake is a very complex structure, with numerous joints to allow the snake to swallow prey far larger than its head.. The typical snake skull has a solidly ossified braincase, with the separate frontal bones and the united parietal bones extending downward to the basisphenoid, which is large and extends forward into a rostrum extending to the ...
The earliest marine reptiles arose in the Permian. During the Mesozoic many groups of reptiles became adapted to life in the seas, including ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, nothosaurs, placodonts, sea turtles, thalattosaurs and thalattosuchians. Marine reptiles were less numerous after mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.
The oldest known animal that may have been an amniote, a reptile rather than an amphibian, is Casineria [3] [4] (though it has also been argued to be a temnospondyl amphibian). [5] A series of footprints from the fossil strata of Nova Scotia, dated to 315 million years, show typical reptilian toes and imprints of scales. [6]
Scientists consider the blue whale, which grows up to 110 feet (33.5 meters) long, to be the largest known animal ever to exist on the planet. But it’s possible that the 202 million-year-old ...
Marco Aurelio Severino also compared various animals, including birds, in his Zootomia democritaea, one of the first works of comparative anatomy. In the 18th and 19th century, great anatomists like George Cuvier , Richard Owen and Thomas Henry Huxley revolutionized our understanding of the basic build and systematics of vertebrates , laying ...
Compared with more traditional types of companion animal, snakes can be very low-maintenance pets; they require minimal space, as most common species do not exceed 5 feet (1.5 m) in length, and can be fed relatively infrequently—usually once every five to fourteen days. Certain snakes have a lifespan of more than 40 years if given proper care.