Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles a number of books and series including: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) is an international herpetological society. It is a non-profit organization supporting education, conservation, and research related to reptiles and amphibians. Regular publications include the "Journal of Herpetology" and "Herpetological Review". It is the largest international herpetological society, and is recognized worldwide for having the most diverse program of publications, meetings, and other activities. The SSAR Conservation Committee brings conservation issues that affect reptiles and amphibians to the attention of state and federal government agencies, non-government
Evolution of reptiles ecological niches throughout the Paleogene and Neogene eras. Some reached enormous sizes and almost as wide a variation as the dinosaurs once did. Nevertheless, mammalian megafauna never quite reached the skyscraper heights of some sauropods. Nonetheless, large reptiles still composed important megafaunal components, such as giant tortoises, large crocodilians and, more locally, large varanids. Testudines, or turtles, may have evolved from anaspids, but their exact origin is unknown and heavily debated. Fossils date back to around 220 million years ago and share remarkably similar characteristics. These first turtles retain the same body plan as do all modern testudines and are