Neodiapsida

Neodiapsids Temporal range: Cisuralian–Present, 289–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skull of Orovenator, the earliest known neodiapsid
Skeleton of Megalancosaurus, a drepanosaur
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Diapsida
Clade:	Neodiapsida Benton, 1985
Subgroups and genera
†Acallosuchus †Claudiosaurus †Kenyasaurus †Lanthanolania †Maiothisavors †Longisquama †Orovenator †Palacrodon †Palaeagama †Protoavis (dubious) †Saurosternon †Avicephala (possibly non-monophyletic) †Drepanosauromorpha †Weigeltisauridae †Longisquama? †Ichthyosauromorpha †Sauropterygia †Tangasauridae †Thalattosauria †Younginidae †Choristodera Sauria

Neodiapsida is a clade, or major branch, of the reptilian family tree, typically defined as including all diapsids apart from some early primitive types known as the araeoscelidians. Modern reptiles and birds belong to the neodiapsid subclade Sauria.

The oldest known neodiapsid is generally considered to be Orovenator from the Early Permian of North America, around 290 million years old.^[1]

Basal-non saurian neodiaspids were ancestrally lizard-like, but basal non-saurian neodiapsids also include specialised swimming forms (Hovasaurus)^[2] the gliding lizard-like Weigeltisauridae,^[3] as well as the Triassic chameleon-like drepanosaurs.^[4] The position of the highly derived Mesozoic marine reptile groups Thalattosauria, Ichthyosauromorpha and Sauropterygia within Neodiapsida is uncertain, and they may lie within Sauria.^[5]