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Supraprimates, AKA Euarchontaglires, including rodents, rabbits and primates.

In the Clades game, the mammals of the land are represented by suprapimates, also known as Euarchontoglires. A squirrel represents rodents, a rabbit represents lagomorphs, and a child represents primates. Like most sorts of mammals, these animals diversified soon after the non-bird dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago. Rodents and lagomorphs are together in a clade called Glires, which is distinguished by front teeth that keep growing and growing. This adaptation allows these animals to chew through seed shells and wood without wearing out their teeth. More than any other order of mammals, rodents have diversified into many species, including unusual types such as flying squirrels, beavers, porcupines, capybaras, and naked mole rats. The sister clade to Glires is Euarchonta, which includes three tree-dwelling clades: tree shrews, colugos, and primates. Some primates live exclusively in the trees, while others climb trees to avoid predators. Two million years ago, however, our lineage lost its apelike shoulders, suggesting a shift away from tree-climbing to a life fully on the ground. Those Homo erectus ancestors gave rise to several species of human that spread out across the continents, including our species, which appeared in Africa 200 thousand years ago. We are the most successful large animal on Earth, at least for now.

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Dolphin, blue whale, and hippopotamus: whippomorphs

The mammals of the water are whippomorphs, represented by a blue whale, a dolphin, and a hippopotamus. The term “whippomorph” means “whale-hippo shape”, and it proves that scientists have a sense of humor. As with many sorts of modern mammal, the earliest whippomorphs appeared shortly after the non-bird dinosaurs were wiped out 66 million years ago. These ancestors were apparently large, semiaquatic mammals. The clade soon split into two clades, one clade including today’s hippos, and the other including today’s whales and dolphins. The whale-dolphin clade is Cetacea, meaning “whales”. Blue whales and other baleen whales have no teeth, and instead they have baleen bristles that filter plankton as a food source. Dolphins are technically toothed whales, like sperm whales are. They prey on fish, like the earliest whales probably did. Air-breathing gives toothed whales an advantage over their water-breathing prey because air has much more oxygen in it than water does.

In Clades, the sauropsids of the earth are squamates, comprising all lizards and snakes. “Squamate” means scaly, and their scales distinguish them from turtles, birds, and crocodiles. These other sauropsids have scutes, which are made of bone and horn, but they don’t have scales. The earliest modern lizards lived almost 200 million years ago and resembled geckos. That was about 50 million years after the earliest dinosaurs appeared. The common ancestor of all lizards and snakes could unhinge its jaw to swallow large prey, as can today’s squamates, especially snakes. In Clades, the three squamates are a gecko, a snake, and a chameleon. Scientists propose that snakes and chameleons are together in a “venom clade” called Toxicofera. This clade also includes iguanas, gila monsters, and related lizards.