Occitanosaurus Tournemiensis on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''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.
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 .
A juvenile plesiosaur from the Pliensbackian (Lower Jurassic) of Asturias, Spain
. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 28(1): 258–263
Plesiosaur.com 13 Oct 2006
Palæos.com 13 Oct 2006
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2462673 Plesiosauroids Early Jurassic plesiosaurs of Europe Toarcian genera Jurassic England Fossils of England Jurassic France Fossils of France Jurassic Germany Fossils of Germany Posidonia Shale Fossil taxa described in 1909 Sauropterygian genera
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 taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses. Biological Reviews It was later found to be a species of ''Microcleidus''. The followingcladogram
A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...
follows an analysis by Ketchum & Benson, 2011.
See also
* List of plesiosaur genera * Timeline of plesiosaur researchReferences
Bibliography
* Bardet, Nathalie; Fernandez, Marta; Garcia-Ramos, Jose Carlos; Superbiola, Xabier Pereda; Pinuela, Laura; Ruiz-Omenaca, Jose Ignacio; and Vincent, Peggy (2008).A juvenile plesiosaur from the Pliensbackian (Lower Jurassic) of Asturias, Spain
. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 28(1): 258–263
Plesiosaur.com 13 Oct 2006
Palæos.com 13 Oct 2006
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2462673 Plesiosauroids Early Jurassic plesiosaurs of Europe Toarcian genera Jurassic England Fossils of England Jurassic France Fossils of France Jurassic Germany Fossils of Germany Posidonia Shale Fossil taxa described in 1909 Sauropterygian genera