Askeptosauridae

Askeptosauridae
Temporal range: Triassic
Skeleton of Askeptosaurus italicus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: †Thalattosauria
Superfamily: †Askeptosauroidea
Family: †Askeptosauridae
Kuhn-Schnyder, 1952
Genera

Askeptosauridae is a family of thalattosaurs within the superfamily Askeptosauroidea. Fossils have been found from Italy, Switzerland, and China. Askeptosaurids are distinguished from other thalattosaurs by their long necks and narrow skulls.[1]

Classification

Askeptosauridae was named in 1952 to include the genus Askeptosaurus.[2] In 2000, the genus Anshunsaurus, which includes two species, was added to the family.[3] In a 2005 phylogenetic analysis, Endennasaurus was included within Askeptosauridae.[4] Later that year a new study placed Endennasaurus outside Askeptosauridae as a basal member of Askeptosauroidea.[1] More recent studies have placed the genus Miodentosaurus from China in the family as well. Below is a cladogram modified from Wu et al. (2009) showing the phylogenetic relationships of askeptosaurids:[5]

Askeptosauroidea

Endennasaurus acutirostris

 Askeptosauridae 


Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis


Anshunsaurus wushaensis




Askeptosaurus italicus


Miodentosaurus brevis




References

  1. ^ a b Liu, J.; and Rieppel, O. (2005). "Restudy of Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis (Reptilia: Thalattosauria) from the Middle Triassic of Guizhou, China". American Museum Noviates 3488: 1–34. ISSN 0003-0082. http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/5657/1/N3488.pdf. 
  2. ^ Kuhn-Schnyder, E. (1952). "Die Triasfauna der Tessiner Kalkalpen. XVII. Askeptosaurus italicus Nopcsa.". Schweizerische Palaeontologische Abhandlungen 69: 1–52. 
  3. ^ Rieppel, O.; Liu, J.; and Bucher, H. (2000). "The first record of a thalattosaur reptile from the Late Triassic of southern China (Guizhou Province, PR China)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20 (3): 507–514. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0507:TFROAT]2.0.CO;2. 
  4. ^ Müller, J. (2005). "The anatomy of Askeptosaurus italicus from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio, and the interrelationships of thalattosaurs (Reptilia, Diapsida)". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 42: 1347–1367. doi:10.1139/E05-03. http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e05-030. 
  5. ^ Wu, X.-C.; Cheng, Y.-N.; Sato, T.; and Shan, H.-Y. (2009). "Miodentosaurus brevis Cheng et al., 2007 (Diapsida: Thalattosauria): its postcranial skeleton and phylogenetic relationships". Vertebrata PalAsiatica 47 (1): 1–20. http://www.ivpp.ac.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/xbwzxz/200902/W020090813372748918302.pdf.