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Occitanosaurus
''Microcleidus'' is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the Plesiosauroidea. The species has 40 neck vertebrae and a short tail of 28 vertebrae. Fossils of the genus have been found in France, the Posidonia Shale in Germany and Luxembourg, and the Alum Shale Formation of England. Description The type species, ''M. homalospondylus'', was the largest, measuring long and weighing . Other species were smaller: ''M. tournemirensis'' was about long and weighed , and ''M. melusinae'' was about long and weighed . Classification Species include: ''Microcleidus homalospondylus'' (Owen 1865) and ''Microcleidus macropterus'' (Seeley 1865). ''Occitanosaurus tournemirensis'' (originally ''"Plesiosaurus" tournemirensis''), was named by Sciau ''et al.'' in 1990, based on a nearly complete skeleton of an animal approximately 4 meters (13 ft) long.Ketchum HF, Benson RBJ. Global interrelationships of Plesiosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Occitanosaurus Tournemiensis
''Microcleidus'' is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the Plesiosauroidea. The species has 40 neck vertebrae and a short tail of 28 vertebrae. Fossils of the genus have been found in France, the Posidonia Shale in Germany and Luxembourg, and the Alum Shale Formation of England. Description The type species, ''M. homalospondylus'', was the largest, measuring long and weighing . Other species were smaller: ''M. tournemirensis'' was about long and weighed , and ''M. melusinae'' was about long and weighed . Classification Species include: ''Microcleidus homalospondylus'' (Owen 1865) and ''Microcleidus macropterus'' (Seeley 1865). ''Occitanosaurus tournemirensis'' (originally ''"Plesiosaurus" tournemirensis''), was named by Sciau ''et al.'' in 1990, based on a nearly complete skeleton of an animal approximately 4 meters (13 ft) long.Ketchum HF, Benson RBJ. Global interrelationships of Plesiosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microcleidus Homalospondylus
''Microcleidus'' is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the Plesiosauroidea. The species has 40 neck vertebrae and a short tail of 28 vertebrae. Fossils of the genus have been found in France, the Posidonia Shale in Germany and Luxembourg, and the Alum Shale Formation of England. Description The type species, ''M. homalospondylus'', was the largest, measuring long and weighing . Other species were smaller: ''M. tournemirensis'' was about long and weighed , and ''M. melusinae'' was about long and weighed . Classification Species include: ''Microcleidus homalospondylus'' (Owen 1865) and ''Microcleidus macropterus'' (Seeley 1865). ''Occitanosaurus tournemirensis'' (originally ''"Plesiosaurus" tournemirensis''), was named by Sciau ''et al.'' in 1990, based on a nearly complete skeleton of an animal approximately 4 meters (13 ft) long.Ketchum HF, Benson RBJ. Global interrelationships of Plesiosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elasmosauridae
Elasmosauridae, often called elasmosaurs or elasmosaurids, is an extinct family of plesiosaurs that lived from the Hauterivian stage of the Early Cretaceous to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period (c. 130 to 66 mya). The taxon was initially erected in 1869 by Edward Drinker Cope to include the type genus '' Elasmosaurus'' with the related '' Cimoliasaurus'', although he did not argued in detail why. Over the following years, many authors recognized this classification on the basis of predominantly postcranial features, becoming one of the three groups in which plesiosaurs were often classified during the 19th century, along with the Pliosauridae and the Plesiosauridae. However, most of these traits led to many genera since recognized as belonging to other plesiosaur families being classified as elasmosaurids. Another family historically considered as distinct, the Cimoliasauridae, has since 2009 been recognized as a junior synonym of the Elasmosauridae. Along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiosaurus Dolichodeirus
''Plesiosaurus'' (Greek: ' ('), near to + ' ('), lizard) is a genus of extinct, large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the Early Jurassic. It is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias Group, Lias of England. It is distinguishable by its small head, long and slender neck, broad turtle-like body, a short tail, and two pairs of large, elongated paddles. It lends its name to the order Plesiosauria, of which it is an early, but fairly typical member. It contains only one species, the type species, type, ''Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus''. Other species once assigned to this genus, including ''P. brachypterygius'', ''P. guilielmiimperatoris'', and ''P. tournemirensis'' have been reassigned to new genera, such as ''Hydrorion'', ''Seeleyosaurus'' and ''Occitanosaurus, Microcleidus''. Discovery The first complete skeleton of ''Plesiosaurus'' was discovered by early paleontologist and fossil hunter Mary Anning in Sinemurian (Early Jurassic)-age rocks of the lower L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Plesiosaur Genera
This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Plesiosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful (''nomen dubium''), or were not formally published (''nomen nudum''), as well as junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that are no longer considered plesiosaurs. The list currently includes genera. Scope and terminology There is no official, canonical list of plesiosaur genera but one of the most thorough attempts can be found on the Plesiosauria section of Mikko Haaramo's Phylogeny Archive; also pertinent is the Plesiosaur Genera section at Adam Stuart Smith's Plesiosaur Directory.See Smith, ''Plesiosaur Genera''. Naming conventions and terminology follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Technical terms used include: * Junior synonym: A name which describes the same taxon as a previously ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pistosaurus
''Pistosaurus'' (exact etymology uncertain) is an extinct genus of aquatic sauropterygian reptile closely related to plesiosaurs. Fossils have been found in France and Germany, and date to the Middle Triassic. It contains a single species, ''Pistosaurus longaevus. Pistosaurus'' is known as the oldest "subaquatic flying" reptile on earth. The skull of ''Pistosaurus'' generally resembles that of other Triassic sauropterygians. However, there are several synapomorphies that make ''Pistosaurus'' distinguished: the long, slender, snout; the possession of splint-like nasals that are excluded from the external naris; and the posterior extension of the premaxilla to the frontals. Based on synapomorphies such as the small nasals size and the presence of interpterygoid vacuity, ''Pistosaurus'' is more closely related to Plesiosauria than to '' Nothosaurus''. ''Pistosaurus'' is often mistaken with ''Nothosaurus'' and Plesiosauria. ''Nothosaurus'' belongs to the clade Nothosauroidea from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seeleyosaurus Guilelmiimperatoris
''Seeleyosaurus'' is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from Germany and possibly also Russia. Two species were known: the type, ''S. guilelmiimperatoris'', and the now obsolete species ''S. holzmadensis'',White, T. E. (1940). Holotype of ''Plesiosaurus longirostris'' Blake and classification of the plesiosaurs. ''Journal of Paleontology'' 14(5):451-467 which has since been absorbed into ''S. guilelmiimperatoris''. Discovery and naming The holotype is MB.R.1992, a large almost complete skeleton from the Upper Lias (Toarcian) Lias Group Formations of Württemberg, Germany. It was offered for sale by Bernard Hauff and it was purchased by the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in August 1893.Dames, H. W. (1895). Die Plesiosaurier der süddeutschen Liasformation. ''Abhandlungen der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin'' 2:1-83 It preserved soft tissue that was painted over around ten years later and a cast of the holotype was described in by Ketchum & Benson (2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiosauria
The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period, possibly in the Rhaetian stage, about 203 million years ago. They became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until their disappearance due to the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period, about 66 million years ago. They had a worldwide oceanic distribution, and some species at least partly inhabited freshwater environments. Plesiosaurs were among the first fossil reptiles discovered. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, scientists realised how distinctive their build was and they were named as a separate order in 1835. The first plesiosaurian genus, the eponymous '' Plesiosaurus'', was named in 1821. Since then, more than a hundred valid species have been described. In the early twenty-first century, the number of discoveries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thalassiodracon Hawkinsii
''Thalassiodracon'' (tha-LAS-ee-o-DRAY-kon) is an extinct genus of plesiosauroid from the Pliosauridae that was alive during the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic (Rhaetian-Hettangian) and is known exclusively from the Lower Lias of England. The type and only species, is ''Thalassiodracon'' (''Plesiosaurus'') ''hawkinsii'' (Owen, 1838). Owen, R. (1838). A description of Viscount Cole's specimen of '' Plesiosaurus macrocephalus'' ( Conybeare). ''Proceedings of the Geological Society of London 2'', 663-666. Discovery and naming left, Sculpture in Crystal Palace Park ''Thalassiodracon hawkinsii'' is known from a number of complete skeletons (lectotype: NHMUK PV OR 2018) acquired by the fossil collector Thomas Hawkins in Somerset, England during the early 1830s, before 1834. Hawkins, an eccentric Pre-Adamite who had his fossils heavily restored and illustrated by distinguished artists in expensive editions to propagate his ideas, named these ''Plesiosaurus triotarsostinus'' in 1834 an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augustasaurus Hagdorni
''Augustasaurus'' is an extinct genus of sauropterygians that lived during the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic in what is now North America. Only one species is known, ''A. hagdorni'', described in 1997 from fossils discovered in the Favret Formation, Nevada, USA. ''Augustasaurus'' is a pistosauroid estimated to be long. The skull has fang-like teeth, indicating a diet of fish and squid. Its postcranial anatomy is similar to that of future plesiosaurs, with which it visibly shares a common ancestor according to the most recent phylogenetic analyses. The Favret Formation, from which ''Augustasaurus'' is known, contains numerous fossils of marine reptiles dating from the Middle Triassic. The fossils mainly include ichthyosaurs, ''Augustasaurus'' being the only sauropterygian to have been identified in the area. Discovery and naming The first known fossil of ''Augustasaurus'' was discovered in 1993 in Muller Canyon, in the Augusta Mountains located in Nevada, United States. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeonectrus Rostratus
''Archaeonectrus'' is an extinct genus of pliosaur from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian) of what is now southeastern England. The type species is ''Archaeonectrus'' (originally ''"Plesiosaurus"'') ''rostratus'', first named by Sir Richard Owen in 1865, which was moved to its own genus by N.I. Novozhilov in 1964. It was a relatively small plesiosaur, measuring long. Classification The cladogram below shows ''Archaeonectrus'' phylogenetic position among other plesiosaurs, following Benson ''et al.'' (2012). See also * Timeline of plesiosaur research * List of plesiosaur genera This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Plesiosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered inv ... References * Sepkoski, J.J. (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". ''Bulletins of American Paleontology'' 363: 1-560. External links ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiosauroidea
Plesiosauroidea (; Greek: 'near, close to' and 'lizard') is an extinct clade of carnivorous marine reptiles. They have the snake-like longest neck to body ratio of any reptile. Plesiosauroids are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. After their discovery, some plesiosauroids were said to have resembled "a snake threaded through the shell of a turtle", although they had no shell. Plesiosauroidea appeared at the Early Jurassic Period (late Sinemurian stage) and thrived until the K-Pg extinction, at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The oldest confirmed plesiosauroid is ''Plesiosaurus'' itself, as all younger taxa were recently found to be pliosauroids. While they were Mesozoic diapsid reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs, they did not belong to the latter. Gastroliths are frequently found associated with plesiosaurs. History of discovery The first complete plesiosauroid skeletons were found in England by Mary Anning, in the early 19th century, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
