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Microsauria Fossil range: Late Carboniferous
Pantylus
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Amphibia Subclass: †Lepospondyli Order: †Microsauria
families
†Microbrachidae †Pantylidae

Microsauria is an extinct Order of lepospondyl amphibians from the Carboniferous period and survived into early Permian. This group was composed of the most varied group of "lepospondyls," with terrestrial types that lived like lizards, burrowing types with legs, and aquatic types that kept their larval gills into adult life. Notwithstanding this diversity, all microsaurs or "small lizards" had small legs and short tails. They may have been the ancestors of newts and salamanders.

[edit] References

• Palmer, Douglas. Ed. The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. A VIsual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life. Pg. 45. Great Britain: Marshall Editions Development Limited. 1999.