EUPARKERIA

extinct genus of reptiles that may have been ancestral to the major reptilian groups of the Mesozoic era; specimens are found as fossils in Early Triassic rocks of South Africa (245 to 240 million years ago). Euparkeria was about 1 m (3 feet) long and lightly built. It probably was equally adept at progressing on all four limbs or with the body balanced on the hind legs; the hind limbs were longer and stronger than the forelimbs. Many of the bones were hollow; the very long tail served as a counterbalance when the animal stood upright. The skull was slender and light, with many sharp, well-developed teeth in the margins of the jaws and on the palate as well, a primitive feature.