The Plesiosauridae are a monophyletic

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

plesiosaurs The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an Order (biology), order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period (geology), Period, possibly in the Rhaetian st ...

named by

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for a z ...

in 1825.Ketchum, H. F., and Benson, R. B. J., 2010. "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses". ''Biological Reviews'', v. 85, p. 361-392 John Edward Gray, 1825, "A Synopsis of the Genera of Reptiles and Amphibia, with a Description of some new Species", ''Annals of Philosophy'' 10: 193–217

References

Plesiosaurs Jurassic plesiosaurs Hettangian first appearances Late Jurassic extinctions Taxa named by John Edward Gray it:Plesiosauridae {{plesiosaur-stub