Leptocleididae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Leptocleididae Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Berriasian–Albian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leptocleidus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Node: | †Leptocleidia |
| Family: | †Leptocleididae White, 1940 |
Leptocleididae is a family of small-sized plesiosaurs that lived during the Early Cretaceous period (early Berriasian to early Albian stage).[1] Leptocleidus and Umoonasaurus had round bodies and triangle shaped heads. Hilary F. Ketchum and Roger B. J. Benson (2010), transferred Brancasaurus, Kaiwhekea, Nichollssaura and Thililua to this family.[2] However, Ketchum and Benson (2011) reassigned Kaiwhekea and Thililua to their original positions, as an elasmosaurid and a polycotylid, respectively.[1]
Phylogeny
Head of Kaiwhekea katiki, once though to be a leptocleidid
| Leptocleididae |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
Cladogram based on Ketchum and Benson (2011):[1]
| Leptocleididae |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hilary F. Ketchum and Roger B. J. Benson (2011). "A new pliosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Oxford Clay Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of England: evidence for a gracile, longirostrine grade of Early-Middle Jurassic pliosaurids". Special Papers in Palaeontology 86: 109–129. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01083.x.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ketchum, H. F., and Benson, R. B. J. (2010). "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses". Biological Reviews 85: 361–392. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00107.x. PMID 20002391.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.