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Varanopseidae (named after their monitor lizard-like features) was a group of synapsid pelycosaurs that resemble monitor lizards and may have had the same lifestyle. No varanopseids developed a sail like Dimetrodon. Most varanopseids were small ranging from mouse-sized to the size of a dog. Varanopseids already showed some advanced characteristics of true pelycosaurs such as deep, narrow, elongated skulls. Their jaws were long, and the teeth were sharp. But they are still primitive. Like many other pelycosaur families, they might have evolved from a small primitive synapsid from the Late Carboniferous. They have long tails, lizard-like body, and thin legs. The varanopseids were mostly carnivorous, but as they got smaller they changed their diet from meat to insects. The varonopseids may be small, but they were very agile during the Early Permian period. But the last varanopseids were outcompeted, they were replaced by the evolving diapsids, and by early Late Permian, they became extinct.
[edit] Taxonomy and Phylogeny
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