Prolacertiformes

Prolacertiformes Fossil range: Permian - Triassic
Macrocnemus basanii, a protorosaur from the Middle Triassic of Europe.
Scientific classification
Subclass:	Diapsida
Infraclass:	Archosauromorpha
Order:	Prolacertiformes
Families:	Protorosauridae Prolacertidae Sharovipterygidae Tanystropheidae

Prolacertiformes (sometimes called protorosaurs) were an order of archosauromorph reptiles that lived during the Permian and Triassic Periods. Many species seem to have been adapted for an arboreal lifestyle, including the "delta-winged glider" Sharovipteryx, while others, such as Tanystropheus, had extremely long, stiffened necks (possibly used to catch fish), and may have been at least partly aquatic.

Other enigmatic reptile groups have sometimes been assigned by some resarches to the Prolacertiformes, including the drepanosaurids, Longisquama, and the pterosaurs. Senter (2004) re-assigned the bizarre, arboreal drepanosaurids and Longisquama to a group of more primitive diapsids called Avicephala, though some researchers still place these forms among the prolacertiformes.

Classification

• Order Prolacertiformes
  • Gwyneddosaurus
  • Family Protorosauridae
    • Malerisaurus
    • Protorosaurus
  • Family Prolacertidae
    • Kadimakara
    • Pamelaria
    • Prolacerta

• • Jesairosaurus
  • Macrocnemus
  • Langobardisaurus
  • Boreopricea
  • Cosesaurus Ellenberger & Villalta, 1974

• • Family Sharovipterygidae
    • Sharovipteryx
  • Family Tanystropheidae
    • Tanytrachelos
    • Tanystropheus
    • Dinocephalosaurus

References

• Senter, P. (2004). "Phylogeny of Drepanosauridae (Reptilia: Diapsida)." Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 2 (3): 257-268.