Amniotes first appeared in the fossil record about 318 million years ago and their early evolution, diversification, ecology and phylogenetic relationships have received considerable and increasing interest and research attention over the past decades.

What were the first amniotes?

The first amniotes, referred to as "basal amniotes", resembled small lizards and evolved from the amphibian reptiliomorphs about 312 million years ago, in the Carboniferous geologic period. Amniotes spread around Earth's land and became the dominant land vertebrates.

Are humans Amniote?

Amniotes are a clade of tetrapod vertebrates comprising the reptiles, birds, and mammals. ... In eutherian mammals (such as humans), these membranes include the amniotic sac that surrounds the fetus. These embryonic membranes and the lack of a larval stage distinguish amniotes from tetrapod amphibians.