Protorothyrididae

Taxobox
name = Protorothyridids
fossil_range = Late Carboniferous - Early Permian

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image_caption = "Hylonomus".
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
classis = Anapsida
ordo = Captorhinida
subordo = Captorhinomorpha
familia = Protorothyrididae
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision =
* "Anthracodromeus"
* "Archerpeton"
* "Brouffia"
* "Coelostegus"
* "Hylonomus"
* "Paleothyris"
* "Protorothyris"

Protorothyrididae was a clade of small, lizard-like reptiles, possibly the ancestors of turtles and tortoises. Their skulls did not have fenestra, as is also true of modern turtles and tortoises. Protorothyridids lived from the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian periods, in what is now North America and Europe. One member of this family is "Hylonomus" from the early Late Carboniferous, so far the earliest confirmed reptile.