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The synapsids were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates during the Permian period, and are so again today. Their survival into the Triassic through the most severe mass extinction of all time, and then later outliving the dinosaurs through the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, has allowed them to diversify into more than 3500 species today. They bear little resemblance to their ancient scaled-skinned counterparts, but are the result of the evolution of Synapsida as masters of thermoregulation. Click the links below to find out more...
Author: Charlotte Miller
Last updated: 13 November 2004
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