Pareiasauria

Pareiasauria
Temporal range: Middle Permian - Late Permian,
Skeleton of Scutosaurus karpinskii in the American Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Parareptilia
Order: Procolophonomorpha
Clade: Ankyramorpha
Suborder: Procolophonia
Clade: Pareiasauromorpha
Superfamily: Pareiasauroidea
Clade: Pareiasauria
Seeley, 1888
Genera
Synonyms
  • Pareiasauridae?

Pareiasaurs (meaning "cheek lizards") are an extinct clade of large, herbivorous parareptiles. Members of the group were armoured with osteoderms which covered large areas of the body. They first appeared in southern Pangea during the Middle Permian, before becoming globally distributed during the Late Permian. Pareiasaurs were the largest reptiles of the Permian, some reaching sizes over 1 tonne (2,200 lb), equivalent to the largest contemporary therapsids. Pareiasaurs became extinct in the end-Permian mass extinction event.