Tetrapods include all extant and extinct amphibians and amniotes, with the latter in turn evolving into two major clades, the sauropsids (reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids …

In a strict evolutionary sense, all tetrapods are essentially “limbed fish,” because their ultimate vertebrate ancestor is a fish. All tetrapods share a variety of morphological features.

Dec 12, 2025 · Tetrapods are characterized by having four limbs: a pair of forelimbs and a pair of hindlimbs. Each limb features a sturdy bone attached to the body at one end and two long bones at …

Tetrapods evolved from a finned organism that lived in the water. However, this ancestor was not like most of the fish we are familiar with today. Most animals we call fishes today are ray-finned fishes, …

Dec 4, 2025 · Tetrapods are a superclass of vertebrate animals that includes all amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, encompassing the vast majority of familiar terrestrial life. Derived from Greek …

May 4, 2025 · Tetrapods are vertebrates with four limbs or ancestors that had four limbs. Tetrapods vary greatly in size and occupy diverse habitats on land and in water. Tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned …

Tetrapods and their closest fish relatives belong to a taxonomic group called the Sarcopterygii, the “lobe-finned vertebrates.” Besides tetrapods, extant sarcopterygians are the coelacanths (actinistians) and …

All modern-day tetrapods share a common ancestry that begins with the fish. It is likely that some ancestral fishes evolved the capacity to breathe air and to move out of the water.

Amphibians, reptiles (including dinosaurs and birds) and mammals are the major groups of the Tetrapoda. Tetrapods include all land-living vertebrates, such as frogs, turtles, hawks, and lions.

Tetrapods today can be found in nearly every environment. Unfortunately, as the world continues to change, the numbers of many types of tetrapods are declining. With increasing habitat loss and …