Recumbirostra

Recumbirostra is a clade of tetrapods which lived during the Carboniferous and Permian periods. They are thought to have had a fossorial (burrowing) lifestyle and the group includes both short-bodied and long-bodied snake-like forms.[1][2] At least one species, the long-bodied molgophid Nagini mazonense, lost its forelimbs entirely.[3] Recumbirostra includes the families Pantylidae, Gymnarthridae, Ostodolepidae, Rhynchonkidae and Brachystelechidae, with additional families such as Microbrachidae and Molgophidae being included by some authors.[4][5] Brachystelechidae and Molgophidae have also been grouped together in the suggested clade Chthonosauria.[6]

Recumbirostra Temporal range: Late Carboniferous - Early Permian,
Life restoration of the rhynchonkid Rhynchonkos
Life restoration of Batropetes, a brachystelechid
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Superclass:	Tetrapoda
Clade:	†Recumbirostra Anderson, 2007
Subgroups
see text

Recumbirostra was erected as a clade in 2007 to include many of the taxa traditionally grouped in "Microsauria", which has since been shown to be a paraphyletic or polyphyletic grouping.[7][8][9] Like other "microsaurs", the recumbirostrans have traditionally been considered to be members of the subclass Lepospondyli; however, many phylogenetic analyses conducted since the 2010s have recovered recumbirostrans as basal sauropsid amniotes instead.[10][7][5][3][11] Not all phylogenetic analyses recognize Recumbirostra as a valid grouping. An alternative clade called Tuditanomorpha is occasionally supported and includes many of the same taxa.[12]