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Plesiosauridae
Taxonomy
Plesiosauridae was named by Gray (1825). Its type is Plesiosaurus.
It was assigned to Enaliosaurii by Bonaparte (1850); to Sauropterygia by Cope (1871), Cope (1875), Lydekker (1889), Zittel (1890), Stefano (1903); to Plesiosauriformes by Hay (1930); to Plesiosauria by Hay (1902), White (1940); to Plesiosauria by Kuhn (1946); to Plesiosaurida by Kuhn (1971); and to Plesiosauroidea by Welles (1943), Delair (1960), Welles (1962), Persson (1963), Kuhn (1966), Brown (1981), Carroll (1988), Carpenter (1999), Ketchum and Benson (2010), Schwermann and Sander (2011), Ketchum and Benson (2011).
It was assigned to Enaliosaurii by Bonaparte (1850); to Sauropterygia by Cope (1871), Cope (1875), Lydekker (1889), Zittel (1890), Stefano (1903); to Plesiosauriformes by Hay (1930); to Plesiosauria by Hay (1902), White (1940); to Plesiosauria by Kuhn (1946); to Plesiosaurida by Kuhn (1971); and to Plesiosauroidea by Welles (1943), Delair (1960), Welles (1962), Persson (1963), Kuhn (1966), Brown (1981), Carroll (1988), Carpenter (1999), Ketchum and Benson (2010), Schwermann and Sander (2011), Ketchum and Benson (2011).
Subtaxa
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1825 | Plesiosauridae Gray |
| 1850 | Plesiosauridae Bonaparte p. 1 |
| 1861 | Crocodilus neogaeus Burmeister |
| 1871 | Plesiosauridae Cope p. 235 |
| 1875 | Plesiosauridae Cope p. 15 |
| 1889 | Plesiosauridae Lydekker p. 120 |
| 1890 | Plesiosauridae Zittel p. 486 |
| 1902 | Plesiosauridae Hay p. 455 |
| 1903 | Plesiosauridae Stefano p. 66 |
| 1927 | Plesiosaurus neogaeus Huene p. 7 |
| 1930 | Plesiosauridae Hay p. 115 |
| 1940 | Plesiosauridae White p. 460 figs. 6a-f |
| 1940 | Brancasauridae White p. 461 figs. 9a-c |
| 1940 | Muraenosauridae White p. 461 |
| 1940 | Tremamesacleididae White p. 463 fig. 9d |
| 1943 | Plesiosauridae Welles p. 212 |
| 1946 | Brancasauridae Kuhn p. 59 |
| 1946 | Muraenosauridae Kuhn p. 59 |
| 1946 | Plesiosauridae Kuhn p. 59 |
| 1946 | Tremamesacleididae Kuhn p. 59 |
| 1960 | Plesiosauridae Delair p. 53 |
| 1962 | Plesiosauridae Welles p. 3 |
| 1963 | Plesiosauridae Persson p. 7 |
| 1966 | Plesiosauridae Kuhn p. 116 |
| 1971 | Plesiosauridae Kuhn p. 20 |
| 1981 | Plesiosauridae Brown p. 340 |
| 1988 | Plesiosauridae Carroll |
| 1999 | Plesiosauridae Carpenter p. 168 fig. 15 |
| 2010 | Plesiosauridae Ketchum and Benson p. 15 |
| 2011 | Plesiosauridae Ketchum and Benson p. 126 |
| 2011 | Plesiosauridae Schwermann and Sander p. 49 |
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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.
Fm. †Plesiosauridae Gray 1825
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G. †Hydrorion Grossmann 2007
G. †Thaumatosaurus Meyer 1841
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†Thaumatosaurus oolithicus Meyer 1841
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Invalid names: Liopleurodon bucklandi Sauvage 1873 [synonym]
Invalid names: Brancasauridae White 1940 [synonym], Muraenosauridae White 1940 [synonym], Plesiosaurus neogaeus Burmeister 1861 [nomen vanum], Tremamesacleididae White 1940 [synonym]
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| R. Lydekker 1889 | In the skull (when known) the pterygoids diverging posteriorly; a small infraorbital foramen on either side of the palate. Pectoral vertebrae with a single costal articulation lying partly on the arch and partly on centrum ; dorsals with long transverse processes. Scapulas with large ventral (precoracoidal) plates ; coracoids with very long median symphysis, extending up to or in advance of scapular articulation. Pubis without foramen. Humerus and femur of moderate length and much expanded distally, without foramen or groove ; both these bones (propodials) much larger than epipodials (radius and ulna, and tibula and fibula), which are more or less laterally expanded ; phalangeals increased beyond the normal number, without terminal claws. Limbs probably invested in a common integument, and serving as paddles. | |
| T. E. White 1940 | "Brachycephalic to dolicocephalic; 23 to 38 cervical vertebrae, 20 to 28 dorsals, 2 to 4 sacrals, 30 + caudals; cervical ribs single- or double-headed or fused to the centra; pectoral girdle usually with the full complement of bones; scapula and coracoid not meeting medial to scapulo-coracoid fenestra; posterolateral angles of coracoids not produced. | |
| T. E. White 1940 (Muraenosauridae) | "Brachycephalic; 28 to 44 cervical vertebrae, 22 to 25 dorsals, 3 to 4 sacrals, 30 + caudals; cervical ribs single-headed; posterolateral angles of coracoids produced; clavicles absent or reduced to narrow rods of bone; interclavicle undergoing reduction in the family (absent in Colymbosaurus); scapula meeting coracoid medial to scapulocoracoid fenestra, and the two forming a narrow bar between the fenestrae." | |
| T. E. White 1940 (Brancasauridae) | "Brachycephalic; 27 to 37 cervical vertebrae, 19 to 22 dorsal, 2 to 3 sacral, and 25 to 43 caudal; cervical ribs single- or doubleheaded; clavicles and interclavicle present and well developed; interclavicle with posterior process; scapula meeting coracoid medial to scapulo-coracoid fenestra; fenestra small and with a broad bar between; one or two openings in the girdle anterior to scapulo-coracoid fenestrae." | |
| T. E. White 1940 (Tremamesacleididae) | "Brachycephalic; 38 cervical vertebrae, 21 dorsal, 14 + caudal; cervical ribs singleheaded; clavicles and interclavicle present and well developed; interclavicle enclosing a foramen; scapula meeting coracoid medial to scapulo-coracoid fenestra and forming a narrow bar between the fenestrae." | |
| D. S. Brown 1981 | Plesiosauroidea with five pairs of premaxillary teeth; about 24 pairs of dentary teeth; teeth ornamented with numerous longitudinal ridges; occipital condyle formed from the basioccipital only; overall length not known to exceed 3 m; not more than 32 cervical vertebrae; cervical centra of moderate relative length; cervical ribs double-headed; ventral rami of the scapulae remaining relatively narrow; epipodials longer than broad; the fifth metapodial retained in the metapodial row; hyperphalangy limited to about ten phalanges in the longest digit. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: o = order | |||||
| Reference: Kiessling 2004 | |||||
Age range: base of the Sinemurian to the top of the Early/Lower Maastrichtian or 199.30000 to 66.00000 Ma
Collections (12 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinemurian | Canada (Alberta) | Plesiosauridae indet. (106321) | |
| Toarcian | Portugal | Lusonectes sauvagei (128627) | |
| Bathonian | France | Thaumatosaurus oolithicus (131997) | |
| Middle Bathonian | France (Basse-Normandie) | Liopleurodon bucklandi (49334) | |
| Late/Upper Berriasian | United Kingdom (England) | Plesiosauridae indet. (80516) | |
| Late/Upper Valanginian | United Kingdom (England) | Plesiosauridae indet. (96621) | |
| Late/Upper Campanian - Early/Lower Maastrichtian | Egypt (Aswan) | Plesiosauridae indet. (60599) | |
| Late/Upper Campanian - Early/Lower Maastrichtian | Egypt (Al Bahr Al Ahmar) | Plesiosauridae indet. (60607 60608) | |
| Late/Upper Campanian - Early/Lower Maastrichtian | Argentina (Río Negro) | Plesiosauridae indet. (96099 96100 96111) |