Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles 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 organizations, and herpetologists worldwide. The committee serves
Evolution of reptiles that looked like modern mammals and, by the Middle Jurassic, the lineages leading to the three extant mammal groups — the monotremes, the marsupials, and the placentals — had diverged. Near the end of the Carboniferous, while the terrestrial reptiliomorph labyrinthodonts were still present, the synapsids evolved the first fully terrestrial large vertebrates, the pelycosaurs such as "Edaphosaurus". In the mid-Permian period, the climate turned drier, resulting in a change of fauna: The primitive pelycosaurs were replaced by the more advanced therapsids. The anapsid reptiles, whose massive skull roofs had no postorbital holes, continued and flourished throughout the Permian. The