Editing Reptile (section)

===Origin of the reptiles===
[[File:Hylonomus BW.jpg|thumb|An early reptile ''[[Hylonomus]]'']]
[[File:Europasaurus holgeri Scene 2.jpg|thumb|Mesozoic scene showing typical reptilian megafauna: [[dinosaur]]s including ''[[Europasaurus holgeri]]'', [[iguanodont]]s, and ''[[Archaeopteryx lithographica]]'' perched on the foreground tree stump]]

The origin of the reptiles lies about 310–320 million years ago, in the steaming swamps of the late [[Carboniferous]] period, when the first reptiles evolved from advanced [[Reptiliomorpha|reptiliomorphs]].<ref name="Laurin 95">
{{Cite journal |author1=Laurin, M. |author2=Reisz, R.R. |year=1995 |title=A reevaluation of early amniote phylogeny |journal=[[Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society]] |volume=113 |issue=2 |pages=165–223 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1995.tb00932.x |doi-access=free |url=http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Articles/Laurin_and_Reisz_1995.pdf}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=May 2023|reason=Couldn't validate "310 million years ago"}}

The oldest known animal that may have been an [[amniote]] is ''[[Casineria]]'' (though it may have been a [[Temnospondyli|temnospondyl]]).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Paton | first1 = R.L. | last2 = Smithson | first2 = T.R. | last3 = Clack | first3 = J.A. | year = 1999 | title = An amniote-like skeleton from the Early Carboniferous of Scotland | journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume = 398 | issue = 6727| pages = 508–513 | doi=10.1038/19071| bibcode = 1999Natur.398..508P | s2cid = 204992355 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Monastersky |first1=R |year=1999 |title=Out of the Swamps, How early vertebrates established a foothold – with all 10 toes – on land |url=http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc99/5_22_99/bob1.htm |journal=Science News |volume=155 |issue=21 |pages=328–330 |doi=10.2307/4011517 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604220710/http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc99/5_22_99/bob1.htm |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |jstor=4011517 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |section=Chapter&nbsp;6: Walking with early tetrapods: evolution of the postcranial skeleton and the phylogenetic affinities of the Temnospondyli (Vertebrata: Tetrapoda) |first=Kat |last=Pawley |year=2006 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/1959.9/57256 |title=The postcranial skeleton of temnospondyls (Tetrapoda: temnospondyli) |degree=PhD |publisher=La Trobe University |place=Melbourne, AU |hdl=1959.9/57256}}</ref> A series of footprints from the fossil strata of [[Nova Scotia]] dated to {{val|315|ul=Ma}} show typical reptilian toes and imprints of scales.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Falcon-Lang | first1 = H.J. | last2 = Benton | first2 = M.J. | last3 = Stimson | first3 = M. | year = 2007 | title = Ecology of early reptiles inferred from Lower Pennsylvanian trackways | journal = [[Journal of the Geological Society]] | volume = 164 | issue = 6| pages = 1113–1118 | doi=10.1144/0016-76492007-015| citeseerx = 10.1.1.1002.5009 | s2cid = 140568921 }}</ref> These tracks are attributed to ''[[Hylonomus]]'', the oldest unquestionable reptile known.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sflorg.com/sciencenews/scn101707_01.html |title=Earliest Evidence For Reptiles |publisher=Sflorg.com |date=2007-10-17 |access-date=March 16, 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716044246/http://www.sflorg.com/sciencenews/scn101707_01.html |archive-date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref>
It was a small, lizard-like animal, about {{convert|20|to|30|cm}} long, with numerous sharp teeth indicating an insectivorous diet.<ref name=EoDP>{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 62|isbn= 978-1-84028-152-1}}</ref> Other examples include ''[[Westlothiana]]'' (for the moment considered a [[Reptiliomorpha|reptiliomorph]] rather than a true [[amniote]])<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Ruta | first1 = M. | last2 = Coates | first2 = M.I. | last3 = Quicke | first3 = D.L.J. | year = 2003 | title = Early tetrapod relationships revisited | url = http://pondside.uchicago.edu/oba/faculty/coates/5.RutCoaQuick2003.pdf | journal = Biological Reviews | volume = 78 | issue = 2 | pages = 251–345 | doi = 10.1017/S1464793102006103 | pmid = 12803423 | s2cid = 31298396 | access-date = 2010-08-19 | archive-date = 2008-05-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080522124644/http://pondside.uchicago.edu/oba/faculty/coates/5.RutCoaQuick2003.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> and ''[[Paleothyris]]'', both of similar build and presumably similar habit.

However, [[microsaur]]s have been at times considered true reptiles, so an earlier origin is possible.<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal|title=The First Age of Reptiles? Comparing Reptile and Synapsid Diversity, and the Influence of Lagerstätten, During the Carboniferous and Early Permian|first=Neil|last=Brocklehurst|date=July 31, 2021|journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution|volume=9|doi=10.3389/fevo.2021.669765|doi-access=free}}</ref>