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Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus

Reptilia - Plesiosauria - Rhomaleosauridae

Taxonomy
Plesiosaurus megacephalus was named by Stutchbury (1846). Its type specimen is BRSMG Cb2335 (holotype, destoryed); LEICS G221.1851 (neotype), a skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Street-on-the-Fosse (Pylle), ~4 km south of Shepton Mallet, which is in a Hettangian marine horizon in the Blue Lias Formation of the United Kingdom.

It was recombined as Thaumatosaurus megacephalus by Lydekker (1889); it was recombined as Eurycleidus megacephalus by Andrews (1922), Delair (1960); it was recombined as Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus by Cruickshank (1994), O'Keefe (2001); it was recombined as Atychodracon megacephalus by Smith (2015).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1846Plesiosaurus megacephalus Stutchbury
1869Plesiosaurus megacephalus Seeley p. 142
1881Plesiosaurus megacephalus Sollas pp. 472-476 figs. 8-13
1889Thaumatosaurus megacephalus Lydekker p. 166
1922Eurycleidus megacephalus Andrews p. 29
1948Plesiosaurus megacephalus Swinton pp. 350-356
1960Eurycleidus megacephalus Delair p. 59
1994Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus Cruickshank p. 250
2001Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus O'Keefe p. 12
2015Atychodracon megacephalus Smith

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
RankNameAuthor
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
suborderSauropterygia
orderPlesiosauriade Blainville 1835
familyRhomaleosauridaeNopcsa 1928
genusRhomaleosaurus
speciesmegacephalus()

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

†Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus Stutchbury 1846
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Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatiteo
Environment: marineo
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: aquatico
Depth habitat: surfaceo
Diet: carnivoreo
Reproduction: viviparouso
Created: 2009-07-20 06:05:48
Modified: 2011-08-12 01:58:15
Source: o = order
Reference: Kiessling 2004

Age range: base of the Rhaetian to the top of the Early/Lower Hettangian or 208.50000 to 196.50000 Ma

Collections (4 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Rhaetian208.5 - 201.3United Kingdom (England) Plesiosaurus megacephalus (96612)
Early/Lower Hettangian201.3 - 196.5United Kingdom (England) Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus (119083 119284 type locality: 119285)