| Varanopidae Temporal range: Late Carboniferous to early Late Permian |
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|---|---|
| Varanops brevirostris | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Superclass: | Tetrapoda |
| Class: | Synapsida |
| Order: | Pelycosauria |
| (unranked): | Eupelycosauria |
| Family: | Varanopidae |
| Groups | |
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See "taxonomy" |
|
Varanopidae was a family of synapsid "pelycosaurs" that resembled monitor lizards and might have had the same lifestyle, hence their name. No known varanopids developed a sail like Dimetrodon. Their size varied from lizard-sized to dog-sized creatures. Varanopids already showed some advanced characteristics of true pelycosaurs such as their deep, narrow, elongated skulls. Their jaws were long and their teeth were sharp. However, they were still primitive by mammalian standards. Like many other pelycosaur families, they evolved from an Archaeothyris-like synapsid in the Late Carboniferous. They had long tails, lizard-like body, and thin legs. The varanopids were mostly carnivorous, but as they were reduced in size, their diets changed from a carnivorous to an insectivorous lifestyle. Compared to the other animals in Early Permian, varanopids were agile creatures. But the last of the varanopids were outcompeted, having been replaced by the evolving diapsids and by the end of the Middle Permian, they became extinct. A varanopid from the latest Middle Permian Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone is the youngest known varanopid and the last member of the "pelycosaur" group of synapsids.[1]