Synapsida

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Related to Synapsida: Diapsids

Synapsida

(in the taxonomy of reptiles), a subclass fossil form, having a single inferior temporal FOSSA on each side of the skull. These are the Theromorphs from which mammals probably evolved. The term is sometimes extended to include the mammals.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005

References in periodicals archive ?

Affinities of ?Scalenodontoides plemmyridon Hopson, 1984 (Synapsida: Cynodontia) from the Upper Triassic of Nova Scotia.

Stratigraphic and temporal context and faunal diversity of Permian-Jurassic continental Tetrapod assemblages from the Fundy rift basin, eastern Canada

Synapsida includes a number of extinct lineages that dominated the communities on land in the Late Permian (260-252 million years ago), as well as living mammals and their direct ancestors.