Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Lower classifications Pareiasaur, Kapes | Clade †Parareptilia Rank Order | |
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Procolophonomorpha is an order or clade of early reptiles that appeared during the Middle Permian. It constitutes a diverse assemblage that includes a number of lizard-like forms, as well as more diverse types such as the pareiasaurs. The most important subclade, Procolophonia, is traditionally thought to be ancestral to (and hence to include) turtles. Lee 1995, 1996, 1997 argues that turtles evolved from pareiasaurs, but this view is by no means held unanimously. Rieppel and deBraga 1996 and deBraga and Rieppel, 1997 argue that turtles evolved from sauropterygians.
Classification
The following cladogram is simplified after the phylogenetic analysis of MacDougall and Reisz (2014) and shows the placement of Procolophonomorpha within Parareptilia and its interrelationships. Relationships within bolded terminal clades are not shown.