Amniote

Clade of tetrapods including reptiles, birds and mammals

Not to be confused with

Ammonite

.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Amniote" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Amniotes Temporal range: Pennsylvanian–Present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N (Possible Mississippian record)
From top to bottom and left to right, examples of amniotes: synapsids), king cobra and a white-headed buffalo weaver (two sauropsids ).
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Superclass:	Tetrapoda
Clade:	Reptiliomorpha
Clade:	Amniota Haeckel, 1866
Clades
Synapsida Sauropsida incertae sedis †Casineria?[1] †Kraterokheirodon[2] †Diadectomorpha? †Varanopidae

Amniotes are

lissamphibians (frogs/toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians) — by the development of three extraembryonic membranes (amnion for embryonic protection, chorion for gas exchange, and allantois for metabolic waste disposal or storage), thicker and keratinized skin, and costal respiration (breathing by expanding/constricting the rib cage).^[3][4][5][6]

All three main amniote features listed above, namely the presence of an amniotic buffer, water-impermeable

dry land by either laying shelled eggs (reptiles, birds and monotremes) or nurturing fertilized eggs within the mother (marsupial and placental mammals), unlike anamniotes (fish and amphibians) that have to spawn in or closely adjacent to aquatic environments. Additional unique features are the presence of adrenocortical and chromaffin tissues as a discrete pair of glands^[7]: 600 near their kidneys, which are more complex,^[7]: 552 the presence of an astragalus for better extremity range of motion,^[8] and the complete loss of metamorphosis (which includes an egg and aquatic larval stage), gill and skin breathing, and any lateral line system.^[7]

^: 694

The first amniotes, referred to as "basal amniotes", resembled small lizards and evolved from semiaquatic

period. After the Carboniferous rainforest collapse, amniotes spread around Earth's land and became the dominant land vertebrates,^[9] and soon diverged into the synapsids and sauropsids, whose lineages both still persist today. The oldest known fossil synapsid is Protoclepsydrops from about 312 million years ago,^[9] while the oldest known sauropsid are probably Hylonomus and Paleothyris in the order Captorhinida, from the Middle Pennsylvanian epoch (c. 306–312 million years ago). Older sources, particularly before the 20th century, may refer to amniotes as "higher vertebrates" and anamniotes as "lower vertebrates", based on the antiquated idea of the evolutionary great chain of being

.

Etymology

The term amniote comes from the amnion, which derives from Greek ἀμνίον (amnion), which denoted the membrane that surrounds a fetus. The term originally described a bowl in which the blood of sacrificed animals was caught, and derived from ἀμνός (amnos), meaning "lamb".^[10]

Description

Cuticula

Zoologists characterize amniotes in part by

Features of amniotes evolved for survival on land include a sturdy but porous leathery or hard eggshell and an allantois that facilitates respiration while providing a reservoir for disposal of wastes. Their kidneys (metanephros) and large intestines are also well-suited to water retention. Most mammals do not lay eggs, but corresponding structures develop inside the placenta.

The ancestors of true amniotes, such as Casineria kiddi, which lived about 340 million years ago, evolved from amphibian reptiliomorphs and resembled small lizards. At the late Devonian mass extinction (360 million years ago), all known tetrapods were essentially aquatic and fish-like. Because the reptiliomorphs were already established 20 million years later when all their fishlike relatives were extinct, it appears they separated from the other tetrapods somewhere during Romer's gap, when the adult tetrapods became fully terrestrial (some forms would later become secondarily aquatic).^[12] The modest-sized ancestors of the amniotes laid their eggs in moist places, such as depressions under fallen logs or other suitable places in the Carboniferous swamps and forests; and dry conditions probably do not account for the emergence of the soft shell.^[13] Indeed, many modern-day amniotes require moisture to keep their eggs from desiccating.^[14] Although some modern amphibians lay eggs on land, all amphibians lack advanced traits like an amnion.

The amniotic egg formed through a series of evolutionary steps. After internal fertilization and the habit of laying eggs in terrestrial environments became a reproduction strategy amongst the amniote ancestors, the next major breakthrough appears to have involved a gradual replacement of the gelatinous coating covering the amphibian egg with a fibrous shell membrane. This allowed the egg to increase both its size and in the rate of gas exchange, permitting a larger, metabolically more active embryo to reach full development before hatching. Further developments, like extraembryonic membranes (amnion, chorion, and allantois) and a calcified shell, were not essential and probably evolved later.^[15] It has been suggested that shelled terrestrial eggs without extraembryonic membranes could still not have been more than about 1 cm (0.4-inch) in diameter because of diffusion problems, like the inability to get rid of carbon dioxide if the egg was larger. The combination of small eggs and the absence of a larval stage, where posthatching growth occurs in anamniotic tetrapods before turning into juveniles, would limit the size of the adults. This is supported by the fact that extant squamate species that lay eggs less than 1 cm in diameter have adults whose snout-vent length is less than 10 cm. The only way for the eggs to increase in size would be to develop new internal structures specialized for respiration and for waste products. As this happened, it would also affect how much the juveniles could grow before they reached adulthood.^[16]

A similar pattern can be seen in modern amphibians. Frogs that have evolved terrestrial reproduction and direct development have both smaller adults and fewer and larger eggs compared to their relatives that still reproduce in water.^[17]

The egg membranes

Fish and amphibian eggs have only one inner membrane, the embryonic membrane. Evolution of the amniote egg required increased exchange of gases and wastes between the embryo and the atmosphere. Structures to permit these traits allowed further adaption that increased the feasible size of amniote eggs and enabled breeding in progressively drier habitats. The increased size of eggs permitted increase in size of offspring and consequently of adults. Further growth for the latter, however, was limited by their position in the terrestrial

Amniotes

Archaeothyris, one of the most basal synapsids, first appears in the fossil records about 306 million years ago.^[20]

By the Mesozoic, 150 million years ago, sauropsids included the largest animals anywhere. Shown are some late Jurassic dinosaurs, including the early bird Archaeopteryx perched on a tree stump.

Traditional classification

Older classifications of the amniotes traditionally recognised three classes based on major traits and physiology:^{[21][22][23][24]}

• Class Reptilia (reptiles)
  • Subclass Anapsida ("proto-reptiles", possibly including turtles)
  • Subclass Diapsida (majority of reptiles,^[25] progenitors of birds)
  • Subclass
    ichthyosaurs
    )
  • Subclass Synapsida (stem or proto-mammals, progenitors of mammals)
• Class Aves (birds)
  • Subclass Archaeornithes (reptile-like birds, progenitors of all other birds)
  • Subclass Enantiornithes (early birds with an alternative shoulder joint)^[26]
  • Subclass Hesperornithes (toothed aquatic flightless birds)
  • Subclass Ichthyornithes (toothed, but otherwise modern birds)
  • Subclass
    Neornithes
    (all living birds)
• Class Mammalia (mammals)
  • Subclass Prototheria (Monotremata, egg-laying mammals)
  • Subclass
    placental mammals
    ))

This rather orderly scheme is the one most commonly found in popular and basic scientific works. It has come under critique from cladistics, as the class Reptilia is paraphyletic—it has given rise to two other classes not included in Reptilia.

Most species described as microsaurs, formerly grouped in the extinct and prehistoric amphibian group lepospondyls, has been placed in the newer clade Recumbirostra, and shares many anatomical features with amniotes which indicates they were amniotes themselves.^[27]

Classification into monophyletic taxa

A different approach is adopted by writers who reject paraphyletic groupings. One such classification, by Michael Benton, is presented in simplified form below.^[28]

• Series Amniota
  • (Class) Clade Synapsida
    • A series of unassigned families, corresponding to
      †
    • (Order) Clade Therapsida
      • Class Mammalia – mammals
  • (Class) Clade Sauropsida
    • Subclass
      †
      • Family
        †
      • Family
        †
      • Family
        †
      • Family
        †
      • Order Pareiasauromorpha
        • Family
          †
        • Family
          †
    • (Subclass) Clade Eureptilia
      • Family
        †
      • (Infraclass) Clade
        Diapsida
        • Family
          †
        • Family
          †
        • Order
          †
        • (Infraclass) Clade Neodiapsida
          • Order Testudinata
            • Suborder
              Testudines
              – turtles
          • Infraclass Lepidosauromorpha
            • Unnamed infrasubclass
              • Infraclass
                †
              • Order
                †
              • Superorder
                Lepidosauriformes
                • Order
                  Sphenodontida
                  – tuatara
                • Order Squamata – lizards and snakes
            • Infrasubclass
              †
              • Order
                †
              • Order
                †
                • Suborder
                  †
                • Suborder
                  †
              • Order
                †
          • (Infraclass) Clade Archosauromorpha
            • Family
              †
            • Order
              †
            • Order
              †
            • Division Archosauriformes
              • Subdivision
                Archosauria
                • Infradivision Crurotarsi
                  • Order
                    Phytosauria
                    †
                  • Family
                    †
                  • Family
                    †
                  • Family
                    †
                  • Superfamily
                    †
                  • Superorder Crocodylomorpha
                    • Order Crocodylia – crocodilians
                • Infradivision Avemetatarsalia
                  • Infrasubdivision
                    Ornithodira
                    • Order
                      †
                    • Family
                      †
                    • Family
                      †
                    • (Superorder) Clade
                      Dinosauria
                      – dinosaurs
                      • Order
                        †
                      • (Order) Clade Saurischia
                        • (Suborder) Clade Theropoda – theropods
                          • Class
                            Aves
                            – birds

Phylogenetic classification

With the advent of cladistics, other researchers have attempted to establish new classes, based on

The cladogram covers the group as defined under Gauthier's definition.

Reptiliomorpha	†Diadectomorpha Amniota Synapsida (mammals and their extinct relatives) Sauropsida † Mesosauridae Reptilia Parareptilia † Millerettidae unnamed † Pareiasauria unnamed †Procolophonoidea Eureptilia †Captorhinidae Romeriida †Protorothyrididae turtles, crocodiles, dinosaurs, birds, etc.)

Following studies in 2022 and 2023,

†Seymouriamorpha Amniota? †Diadectomorpha † Araeoscelida †Captorhinidae †Protorothyris Amniota Synapsida Caseasauria ⊞ ⊟ †Vaughnictis †Eothyris †Caseidae †Oedaleops Eupelycosauria ⊞ ⊟ † Varanopsidae Metopophora †Ophiacodontidae Sphenacomorpha †Edaphosauridae Sphenacodontia †Haptodus Sphenacodontoidea †Sphenacodontidae Therapsida Sauropsida †Acleistorhinidae †Microleter †Australothyris †Millerettidae † Mesosauria Neoreptilia †Procolophonia Neodiapsida †Orovenator †Lanthanolania †Younginiformes †Eunotosaurus Sauria Lepidosauromorpha ⊞ ⊟ †Kuehneosauridae †Pamelina †Sophineta Lepidosauria Avicephala? ⊞ ⊟ † Drepanosauromorpha †Weigeltisauridae †Choristodera Archelosauria Pantestudines ⊞ ⊟ †Pappochelys †Odontochelys Testudinata Archosauromorpha ⊞ ⊟ †Aenigmastropheus †Protorosaurus †Tanystropheidae †Prolacertidae †Allokotosauria † Rhynchosauria Archosauriformes sensu stricto †Thalattosauria Ichthyosauromorpha ⊞ ⊟ †Hupehsuchia †Ichthyosauriformes Sauropterygiformes ⊞ ⊟ †Helveticosaurus †Sauropterygia †Eusaurosphargis †Palatodonta (crown group)

References