Captorhinidae

<center><big><big><big>Captorhinids</big></big></big></center>
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<center>[[Image:Captorhinus.jpg]]</center>
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<tr><th bgcolor="#CCCCCC" colspan="2">'''Captorhinidae Case 1911'''</th></tr>
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<td align="center" width="200" valign="top" >'''Linnaean Hierarchy'''</td>
<td align="center" width="400" valign="top" >'''Local Cladogram'''</td>
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[[Domain]]: [[Eukarya]]<br />
[[Kingdom]]: '''[[Metazoa]]'''
[[Phylum]]: '''[[Chordata]]'''
[[Class]]: '''[[Reptilia]]'''
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[[Genus|Genera]]:
*†''[[Acrodenta]]''
*†''[[Baeotherates]]''
*†''[[Captorhinikos]]''
*†''[[Captorhinoides]]''
*†''[[Captorhinus]]''
*†''[[Concordia]]''
*†''[[Eocaptorhinus]]''
*†''[[Gecatogomphius]]''
*†''[[Kahneria]]''
*†''[[Labidosaurus]]''
*†''[[Labidosaurikos]]''
*†''[[Moradisaurus]]''
*†''[[Puercosaurus]]''
*†''[[Protocaptorhinus]]''
*†''[[Rhiodenticulatus]]''
*†''[[Riabininus]]''
*†''[[Romeria]]''
*†''[[Rothianiscus]]''
*†''[[Saurorictus]]''
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 o [[Eureptilia]]
 |--[[Romeriida|o]]-- [[Diapsida]]
 |  `== †"[[Protorothyrididae]]"
 `--+-- †''[[Thuringothyris]]''
    `--o <b>†Captorhinidae</b>
       |-- †''[[Concordia]]''
       `--+--o †''[[Romeria]]''
          |  `--+-- †''[[Romeria texana|R. texana]]''
          |     `-- †''[[Romeria prima|R. prima]]''
          `--+-- †''[[Protocaptorhinus]]''
             `--+-- †''[[Rhiodenticulatus]]''
                `--+-- †''[[Saurorictus]]''
                   |[[Uncertain placement|?]]- †''[[Acrodenta]]''
                   |[[Uncertain placement|?]]- †''[[Baeotherates]]''
                   `--+--o †''[[Captorhinus]]''
                      |  `--+-- †''[[Captorhinus laticeps|C. laticeps]]''
                      |     `--+-- †''[[Captorhinus aguti|C. aguti]]''
                      |        `-- †''[[Captorhinus magnus|C. magnus]]''
                      `--+-- †''[[Captorhinikos]]''
                         `--+-- †''[[Labidosaurus]]''
                            `--o †[[Moradisaurinae]]
                               |-- †''[[Labidosaurikos]]''
                               `--+-- †''[[Gecatogomphius]]''
                                  |-- †''[[Kahneria]]''
                                  |[[Uncertain placement|?]]- †''[[Rothianiscus]]''
                                  `-- †''[[Moradisaurus]]''
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'''Stratigraphic Range:''' [[Late Carboniferous]] - [[Permian]] 
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<p align="justify"> The '''Captorhinidae''' (in former times considered as 'stem reptiles') were one of the earliest and most primitive [[Reptilia|reptiles]]. They first occured in the [[Late Carboniferous]] of North America. In Upper Permian times they spread throughout the world but dissapeared from the North American fossil record, and finally they became extinct by the end of the [[Permian]]. Captorhinid fossils today are known from all continents with the exception of Antarctica and Australia. <br>
Captorhinids have an anapsid skull which is triangular in dorsal view and more or less heavily ornamented with a honeycomb-like pattern of ridges and pits, similar to that of numerous Late [[Paleozoic]] [[amphibia]]ns or, to a certain degree, modern [[Crocodilia|crocodiles]]. Their body size ranges from that of a modern [[Squamata|lizard]] up to that of a medium-sized modern [[alligator]] or the large [[Varanus komodoensis|Komodo Island monitor]].<br>
It has been mistakenly said that multiple tooth rows are a characteristic trait of captorhinids. This is not true and related to the fact that ''[[Captorhinus aguti]]'', a representative with multiple rows of teeth, is the by far most common captorhinid. In reality captorhinids are divided into basal, rather small, lightly built forms with single rows of teeth, and into derived, larger forms with multiple rows of teeth. The most derived multiple-tooth-rowed forms form a [[clade]] referred to as subfamily [[Moradisaurinae]]. Cladistic analyses reveal that the evolution of multiple tooth rows took place at least three times independently within captorhinids: in ''[[Captorhinus]]'', ''[[Captorhinikos]]'' and within the moradisaurines.<br>
There is little doubt that the basal single-tooth-rowed forms were most likely feeding on insects and/or small vertebrates. The more robust built multiple-tooth-rowed forms seem to have fed on fibrous plants but an omnivorous diet or a diet consisting of hard-shelled invertebrates, such as clams or crabs, cannot be ruled out.</p>
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{| align="center" id="toc" style="margin: 1 1 5em 5em;"
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| '''Captorhinidae'''
|- style align="center" | 
| '''[[Captorhinid scientific history|Scientific history]]''' | '''[[Captorhinid fossil record|Fossil record]]''' | '''[[Captorhinid evolution|Evolution]]''' | '''[[Captorhinid phylogeny|Phylogeny]]''' | '''[[Captorhinid taxonomy|Taxonomy]]''' | '''[[Captorhinid characteristics|Characteristics]]''' | '''[[Captorhinid ecology|Ecology and Lifestyle]]''' | '''[[Captorhinid links|Links]]''' | '''[[Captorhinid references|References]]''' 
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