Varanopidae
Varanopidae is an extinct family of amniotes that resembled monitor lizards and may have filled a similar niche, hence the name. Typically, they are considered synapsids that evolved from an Archaeothyris-like synapsid in the Late Carboniferous. However, some recent studies have recovered them being taxonomically closer to diapsid reptiles. A varanopid from the latest Middle Permian Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone is the youngest known varanopid and the last member of the "pelycosaur" group of synapsids.
| Varanopidae Temporal range: Late Carboniferous - Middle Permian, | |
|---|---|
| Fossil skeleton of Varanops brevirostris in the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Amniota |
| Family: | †Varanopidae Romer and Price, 1940 |
| Genera | |
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See below | |
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