The pelycosaur group died out at the end of the Permian, but another group
of synapsids, the cynodonts, went on to give rise to the mammals eventually.
The pelycosaurs were smallish to large (up to 3 meters or more) primitive Late Paleozoic
synapsid reptiles.
With the aid of photogrammetry and computer imaging techniques, the scientists produced a 3D database for skeletons of dinosaurs, reptiles, birds, mammals and
fossil synapsids (mammal - like reptiles).
But if there is a direct link between nocturnality in
early synapsids and mammals, we may have misunderstood why mammals adapted to night life.
With Kenneth Angielczyk at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, he found
many synapsids were most active at night.
Or take a look at an early mammal
like synapsid and then look at yourself.
He
thinks synapsids, too, probably used cover of darkness to kill, not to escape being killed.
So Lars Schmitz at the W.M. Keck Science Department in Claremont, California studied the bony rings of 300 - million - year -
old synapsid fossils.
The early Triassic (approx. 230 mya) herbivore Kannemeyeria was the size of an ox.4 Another, earlier herbivore, Moschops of the late Permian (approx. 260 mya), was even bigger — 16 feet long.5 Contemporary with Moschops were smaller, doglike,
carnivorous synapsids (Lycaenops) with long canine teeth and running legs.
The reptiles were
mainly synapsids (Pelycosaurs and Therapsids) that appeared in the Upper Carboniferous, and were bulky, cold - blooded animals with small brains Towards the very end of the Permian the first archosaurs appear, the ancestors of the soon to follow Triassic dinosaurs.
Like other
non-mammalian synapsids, therocephalians are described as mammal - like reptiles, although in fact, Therocephalia is the group most closely related to the cynodonts, which gave rise to the mammals.
«We have identified footprints of pelycosaurs, a group
of synapsids that could reach four metres in length and which, in some cases, featured a sail along the spine whose function we do not know,» explains Dr Mujal.
When mammals appeared 100 million years later, they may have inherited their nocturnal ways
from synapsids.
In many vertebrates, ranging from fish to
early synapsids (ancestors of mammals), denticles are commonly found in dense concentrations on the bones of the hard palate (roof of the mouth).
Dinosaurs only appeared 240 million years ago, so it's unlikely
the synapsids became nocturnal to avoid being eaten.
Mammals don't have this ring, but it was present in the mammal - like reptiles or «
synapsids» they evolved from.
In fact many nocturnal
synapsids were top predators, like Dimetrodon, a 4.5 - metre beast with a prominent fin on its back.
Dimetrodon was
a synapsid, sometimes called a proto - mammal or a mammal - like reptile.
Synapsids were the largest land animals during the Permian Era but were hit hard by the mass extinction at the Permian - Triassic boundary, the largest «great dying» Earth has ever known.
The synapsids that did survive were tiny, highly specialized insect - eaters; their descendants would evolve to one day rule the world, and write stories about dinosaurs in science magazines.
Certainly, many different kinds of
synapsids are known.
The Archosauromorph reptiles, and most notably the archosaurs, diapsid reptiles that first appeared during the late Permian, inexorably displaced
the synapsids that had dominated the land during the Permian.
This will be followed by Karen Tang's artist talk about current sculpture commission, «
Synapsid».
Karen Tang was on BBC Radio Devon, Simon Bates Breakfast Show, this morning to talk about the move of her VITRINE commissioned Public Sculpture «
Synapsid» to KARST Plymouth next month.
Wall Street International published an article about Karen Tang and her «
Synapsid», the first commission of «Sculpture At Bermondsey Square» launched by Vitrine.
The Plymouth Herald have published a further piece covering the move of Karen Tang's VITRINE - commissioned sculpture «
Synapsid» to KARST, Plymouth in an article published in their Friday edition.
Karen Tang spoke on Radio Devon on 21 October about the move of her VITRINE - commissioned public sculpture «
Synapsid» to Karst, Plymouth.
The Plymouth Herald have have covered the move of Karen Tang's VITRINE - commissioned sculpture «
Synapsid» to KARST, Plymouth.
Karen Tang's public sculpture «
Synapsid» & Blue Curry's exhibtion «Souvenir» featured on Pauls Art World's «Choices».