times considered true reptiles, so an earlier origin is possible. Rise of the reptiles The earliest amniotes, including stem-reptiles (those amniotes closer to modern reptiles than to mammals), were largely overshadowed by larger stem-tetrapods, such as Cochleosaurus, and remained a small, inconspicuous part of the fauna until the Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse. This sudden collapse affected several large groups. Primitive tetrapods were particularly devastated, while stem-reptiles fared better, being ecologically adapted to the drier conditions that followed. Primitive tetrapods, like modern amphibians, need to return to water to lay eggs; in contrast, amniotes, like modern reptiles – whose eggs possess a shell that allows them to be laid on land – were better adapted to the new conditions. Amniotes acquired new niches at a faster rate than before the collapse and at a much faster rate than primitive tetrapods. They acquired new feeding strategies including herbivory and carnivory, previously only having been insectivores and piscivores. From this point forward, reptiles dominated communities and had a greater diversity than primitive tetrapods, setting the stage for the Mesozoic (known as the Age of Reptiles). One of the best known early stem-reptiles is Mesosaurus, a genus from the Early Permian that had returned to water, feeding on fish. A 2021 examination of reptile diversity in the Carboniferous and Permian suggests a much higher degree of diversity than previously thought, comparable or even exceeding that of synapsids. Thus, the "First Age of Reptiles" was proposed. Anapsids, synapsids, diapsids, and sauropsids It was traditionally assumed that the first reptiles retained an anapsid skull inherited from their ancestors. This type of skull has a skull roof with only holes for the nostrils, eyes and a pineal eye. The discoveries of synapsid-like openings (see below) in the skull roof of the skulls of several members of Parareptilia (the clade containing most of the amniotes traditionally referred to as "anapsids"), including lanthanosuchoids, millerettids, bolosaurids, some nycteroleterids, some procolophonoids and at least some mesosaurs made it more ambiguous and it's currently uncertain whether the ancestral amniote had an anapsid-like or synapsid-like skull. These animals are traditionally referred to as "anapsids", and form a paraphyletic basic stock from which other groups evolved. Very shortly after the first amniotes appeared, a lineage called Synapsida split off; this group was characterized by a temporal opening in the skull behind each eye to give room for the jaw muscle to move. These are the