Editing Vertebrate (section)

=== Mesozoic: from reptiles to mammals and birds ===

[[File:Hyperodapedon BW2 white background.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|''[[Hyperodapedon]]'', a [[diapsid]] reptile of the [[Triassic]], {{circa}} 230 mya]]

At the onset of the Mesozoic, all larger vertebrate groups were devastated after the [[Permian-Triassic extinction event|largest mass extinction in earth history]]. The following [[Triassic|recovery phase]] saw the emergence of many new vertebrate groups that are still around today, and this time has been described as the origin of modern ecosystems. On the continents, the ancestors of modern [[lissamphibia]]ns, [[turtle]]s, [[crocodilia]]ns, [[lizard]]s, and mammals appeared, as well as [[dinosaur]]s, which gave rise to birds later in the Mesozoic. In the seas, various groups of marine reptiles evolved, as did new groups of fish.<ref name="benton2014"/> At the end of the Mesozoic, [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|another extinction event]] extirpated dinosaurs (other than birds) and many other vertebrate groups.<ref name="Fortey 1999">{{cite book |last=Fortey |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Fortey |title=[[Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth]] |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |year=1999 |pages=238–260 |isbn=978-0-375-70261-7}}</ref>