There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
Amniotes (tetrapod vertebrate animals with a terrestrially adapted eggs) are traditionally divided into three categories:
Anapsids - Animals with a box-like skull without openings. This group includes the early reptiles of the Carboniferous and Permian periods (and to a limited extent the Triassic period), and includes animals such Scutosaurus. This group may also include turtles, however many scientists believe that turtles are actually descended from Diapsid reptiles which lost their skull openings.
Diapsids - Reptiles with two temporal holes (fenestra) in their skulls, and their descendents. This group includes archosaurs (including crocodilians, dinosaur species and birds), as well as lepidosaurs such as lizards, snakes, and sphenodonts - even though many of these groups have lost one hole (lizards), both holes (snakes), or have heavily modified skulls (birds).
Synapsids (also sometimes known as "Theropsids") - Animals with a single temporal opening (fenestra) in theirn skull behind each eye. This group includes many reptiles, known as "mammal-like reptiles", as well as mammals. Some examples of mammal-like reptiles include Cynodonts, Dicynodonts, Gorgonopsians (including Lystrosaurs),Dinocephalians like Estemmenosuchus, Moschops and Struthiocephalus, as well as Pelycosaurs like Dimetrodon, Edaphosaurus, Sphenacodon, and Varanosaurus.
