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( Archosaur)
Archosaurs (Greek for 'ruling lizards') are a group of diapsid reptiles represented by modern birds and crocodilians. This group also includes extinct non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs and relatives of crocodiles. There is some debate about when archosaurs first appeared. Those who classify the Permian reptiles Archosaurus rossicus and/or Protorosaurus speneri as true archosaurs maintain that archosaurs first appeared in the late Permian. Those who classify both Archosaurus rossicus and Protorosaurus speneri as archosauriformes (not true archosaurs but very closely related) maintain that archosaurs first evolved from Archosauriform ancestors during the Olenekian (early Triassic Period). The simplest and most widely-agreed synapomorphies of archosaurs are The Synapsida (informally known as "mammal-like reptiles") were the dominant land vertebrates throughout the Permian, but most perished in the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Lystrosaurus (a herbivorous mammal-like reptile) was the only large land animal to survive the event, becoming the most populous land animal on the planet for a time.[1]
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