The recent expansion of a variety of morphometric tools has brought about a revolution in
the comparison of morphology in the context of the size and shape in various fields including …

All modern mammals are descendants of the paraphyletic non-mammaliaform Synapsida,
colloquially referred to as the “mammal-like reptiles.” It has long been assumed that these …

Mammals are arguably the most conspicuous tetrapods in the modern biota. Although there
are fewer extant mammal species (~ 5,500) than birds (~ 10,000) or squamates (~ 10,000) …

For over a century, researchers have assumed that the plane of the lateral semicircular
canal of the inner ear lies parallel to the horizon when the head is at rest, and used this …

In mammals, the infraorbital canal provides a passage for the infraorbital ramus of the
maxillary branch of the trigeminal nerve. The infraorbital nerve ensures tactile sensitivity of …

In the past few years, new fossil finds and novel methodological approaches have prompted
intensive discussions about the phylogenetic affinities of turtles and rekindled the debate on …

Gorgonopsians are among the most recognizable groups of synapsids from the Permian
period and have an extensive but mostly cranial fossil record. By contrast, relatively little is …

The origin of cynodonts, the group ancestral to and including mammals, is one of the major
outstanding problems in therapsid evolution. One of the most troubling aspects of the …

Emydopoidea is one of the major dicynodont subclades and includes some purported
fossorial taxa. Various cranial and postcranial adaptations for fossoriality have long been …

Nythosaurus larvatus was one of the first non-mammalian cynodonts to be described, and
has played a prominent role in the history of paleoneurology as one of the only …