Tetrapods (Greek τετραποδηδόν tetrӑpodēdón, "on all fours"); (Greek τετραπόδηs tetrӑpódēs, correspondent to Latin quadruped, "four-footed") are vertebrate animals having four limbs. Amphibians, sauropsids and mammals are tetrapods. The ancestors of snakes, glass lizards and other limbless amphibians and sauropsids are tetrapods. The earliest tetrapods evolved from the lobe-finned fishes in the Devonian. They are now a dominant part of the terrest...
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Tetrapods (Greek τετραποδηδόν tetrӑpodēdón, "on all fours"); (Greek τετραπόδηs tetrӑpódēs, correspondent to Latin quadruped, "four-footed") are vertebrate animals having four limbs. Amphibians, sauropsids and mammals are tetrapods. The ancestors of snakes, glass lizards and other limbless amphibians and sauropsids are tetrapods. The earliest tetrapods evolved from the lobe-finned fishes in the Devonian. They are now a dominant part of the terrestrial fauna, representing all known larger land animals. Some groups have even returned to an aquatic existence, including the largest animal known, the blue whale.
Tetrapoda includes four classes: amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds. Overall the biodiversity of tetrapods has grown exponentially over time from a single amphibian group sometime in the Devonian to many thousands of species today. The overall composition of biodiversity was driven primarily by amphibians in the Palaeozoic, dominated by reptiles in the Mesozoic and expanded by...
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