Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles exchanges and international cooperative efforts for study and publications. The society was founded as a regional organization, The Ohio Herpetological Society (OHS), by two young but serious-minded amateurs, Kraig Adler and David M. Dennis, then 16 and 17 years of age respectively. They decided in the fall of 1957 to formalize interactions amongst a small group of amateur herpetologists throughout Ohio and began publishing a combined journal and newsletter (called the "Trimonthly Report") in January 1958. The name of the society was changed to The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles on January 1, 1967. The SSAR publishes
Evolution of reptiles 320–310 million years ago, in the swamps of the late Carboniferous period, when the first reptiles evolved from advanced reptiliomorph labyrinthodonts. The oldest known animal that may have been an amniote, a reptile rather than an amphibian, is "Casineria" (though it has also been argued to be a temnospondyl amphibian). A series of footprints from the fossil strata of Nova Scotia, dated to 315 million years, show typical reptilian toes and imprints of scales. The tracks are attributed to "Hylonomus", the oldest unquestionable reptile known. It was a small, lizard-like animal, about 20 to 30 cm (8–12 in) long, with