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PALAEONTOLOGY

Rooting about reptile relationships

A group of early terrestrial vertebrates called varanopids, long regarded as mammal-line amniotes, is placed wholesale with reptiles in a new analysis of early amniote relationships. Meanwhile, a new species of varanopid from Canada provides the oldest evidence for extended parental care in terrestrial vertebrates.

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Fig. 1: A new hypothesis of relationships among early amniote groups and implications for amniote palaeobiology.

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Correspondence to Sean P. Modesto.

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Modesto, S.P. Rooting about reptile relationships. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 10–11 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-1074-0

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