Microsauria

<p>Microsauria is an <a href="/facts/Extinction/24p5NP2q">extinct</a>, possibly polyphyletic <a href="/facts/Order_(biology)/GKLJvIpt">order</a> of <a href="/facts/Tetrapod/vWpAxzAW">tetrapods</a> from the late <a href="/facts/Carboniferous/BRKlkYyd">Carboniferous</a> and early <a href="/facts/Permian/CYgLgu5u">Permian</a> periods. It is the most diverse and species-rich group of <a href="/facts/Lepospondyl/oyFEtCSx">lepospondyls</a>. Recently, Microsauria has been considered <a href="/facts/Paraphyletic/tmTWjACz">paraphyletic</a>, as several other non-microsaur lepospondyl groups such as <a href="/facts/Lysorophia/6Twhq1JS">Lysorophia</a> seem to be nested in it. Microsauria is now commonly used as a collective term for the <a href="/facts/Evolutionary_grade/ssv1Meoz">grade</a> of lepospondyls that were originally classified as members of Microsauria.
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<p>The microsaurs all had short tails and small legs, but were otherwise quite varied in form. The group included lizard-like animals that were relatively well-adapted to living on dry land, burrowing forms, and others that, like the modern <a href="/facts/Axolotl/2UDp9cvb">axolotl</a>, retained their gills into adult life, and so presumably never left the water. Their skeleton was heavily ossified, and their development was likely gradual with no metamorphosis.
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Microsauria open-in-new

Microsauria