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Millerettidae is an extinct family of early reptiles from the Middle Permian to the Late Permian period (Capitanian - Changhsingian stages) of South Africa. Although they were interpreted as a group of 'parareptiles', recent anatomical studies and phylogenetic analyses have suggested that they are better interpreted as close relatives of the Neodiapsida as part of the larger clade Parapleurota. The millerettids were small and probably resembled modern in appearance and lifestyle, even possessing a tympanum, or eardrum, on the side of their skull.
The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic position of the Millerettidae within 'Parareptilia', from Ruta et al., 2011.
Subsequent research by Jenkins and colleagues (2025) based on synchrotron data and an expansive phylogenetic dataset recovered the Millerettidae as the sister group to the Neodiapsida, closer to the reptile crown group. These results are displayed in the cladogram below, with taxa traditionally regarded as 'parareptiles' highlighted:
former 'parareptiles'
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