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Lepidosauromorpha

Lizards, snakes, Sphenodon, and their extinct relatives

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Vine Snake with captured anole
taxon links [up-->]Squamata extinct icon extinct icon extinct icon extinct icon [down<--]Diapsida Interpreting the tree
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This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

example of a tree diagram

You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

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Tree after Gauthier et al. 1988.
Containing group: Diapsida

Other Names for Lepidosauromorpha

References

Carroll, R. L. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman, New York.

Carroll, R. L. 1988. Late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic lepidosauromorphs and their relation to lizard ancestry. Pages 99-118 in The Phylogenetic Relationships of the Lizard Families. (R. Estes and G. Pregill, eds.). Stanford University Press, Palo Alto.

deBraga, M. and O. Rieppel. 1997. Reptile phylogeny and the interrelationships of turtles. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 120:281-354.

Gauthier, J., R. Estes and K. de Queiroz. 1988. A phylogenetic analysis of Lepidosauromorpha. Pages 15-98 in The Phylogenetic Relationships of the Lizard Families. (R. Estes and G. Pregill, eds.). Stanford University Press, Palo Alto.

Hedges S. B. and L. L. Poling. 1999. A molecular phylogeny of reptiles. Science 283: 998-1001.

Rest, J. S., J. C. Ast., C. C. Austin, P. J. Waddell, E. A. Tibbetts, J. M. Hay, and D. P. Mindell. 2003. Molecular systematics of primary reptilian lineages and the tuatara mitochondrial genome. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29(2):289-297.

Rieppel, O. 1994. The Lepidosauromorpha: an overview with special emphasis on the Squamata. Pages 23-37 in In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. (N. C. Fraser and H.-D. Sues, eds.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

One squamate eating another: Vine Snake, Oxybelis brevirostris, with captured anole, Norops sp.
La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica.
Photograph copyright © 2000 Greg and Mary Beth Dimijian.

Vine Snake with captured anole
Copyright © 2000 Greg and Marybeth Dimijian
Copyright © 2010 Sid Mosdell
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Citing this page:

Tree of Life Web Project. 1995. Lepidosauromorpha. Lizards, snakes, Sphenodon, and their extinct relatives. Version 01 January 1995 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Lepidosauromorpha/14917/1995.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

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