List of plesiosaur genera

This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Plesiosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful (nomen dubium), or were not formally published (nomen nudum), as well as junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that are no longer considered plesiosaurs.

Scope and terminology

There is no official, canonical list of plesiosaur genera but one of the most thorough attempts can be found on the Plesiosauria section of Mikko Haaramo's Phylogeny Archive;[1] also pertinent is the Plesiosaur Genera section at Adam Stuart Smith's Plesiosaur Directory.[2]

Naming conventions and terminology follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Technical terms used include:

The list

Genus Authors Year Status Age Location Notes
Abyssosaurus[3] Berezin
2011 Valid. eK Europe
Albertonectes[4] Kubo

Mitchell
Henderson

2012 Valid. lK North America

Alexeyisaurus

Sennikov
Arkhangelsky

2010

Valid.

lT

Europe

"Alzadasaurus"

Welles

1943

Anningasaura[5] Vincent

Benson

2012 Valid. eJ Europe

Apatomerus

Williston

1903

Valid.

eK

Aphrosaurus

Welles

1943

Valid.

lK

"Apractocleidus"

Smellie

1916

Disputed. possible synonym of Cryptocleidus

Aptychodon

Reuss

1855

Valid.

lK

Archaeonectrus

Owen

1865

Valid.

eJ

Aristonectes

Cabrera

1941

Valid.

lK

Chubut, Argentina

Attenborosaurus

Bakker

1993

Valid.

eJ

Augustasaurus

Sander
Rieppel
Bucher

1997

Valid.

mT

Avalonnectes[6] Benson

Evans
Druckenmiller

2012 Valid. eJ Europe

Bathyspondylus

Delair

1982

Valid.

lJ

Bishanopliosaurus

Dong

1980

Valid.

eJ

Bobosaurus

Dalla Vecchia

2006

Valid.

lT

Borealonectes

Sato
Wu

1980

Valid.

mJ

Brachauchenius

Williston

1903

Valid.

eK to lK

Brancasaurus

Wegner

1914

Valid.

eK

Brimosaurus

Leidy

1855

Valid.

lK

Callawayasaurus

Carpenter

1999

Valid.

eK

Ceraunosaurus

Thurmond

1968

Jr. synonym

junior synonym of Trinacromerum

Chinchenia

Young

1965

Valid.

mT

Cimoliasaurus

Leidy

1851

Valid.

lK

Colymbosaurus

Seeley

1874

Valid.

lJ

Crymocetus

Cope

1869

Valid.

eK

Cryonectes[7]

Vincent

Bardet
Mattioli

2013 Valid. eJ Europe

Cryptocleidus

Seeley

1892

Valid.

Cryptoclidus

Phillips

1871

Valid.

mJ

Cymatosaurus

Fritsch

1894

Valid.

mT

Discosaurus

Leidy

1851

Valid.

Djupedalia[8] Knutsen

Druckenmiller
Hurum

2012 in paleontology Valid. lJ Europe

Dolichorhynchops

Williston

1903

Valid.

Dravidosaurus

Yadagiri
Ayyasami

1979

Valid.

Edgarosaurus

Druckenmiller

2002

Valid.

Elasmosaurus

Cope

1868

Valid.

Eoplesiosaurus[6] Benson

Evans
Druckenmiller

2012 Valid. eJ Europe

Eopolycotylus[9]

Albright
Gillette
Titus

2007

Valid.

Eretmosaurus

Seeley

1874

Valid.

Eromangasaurus

Kear

2005

Valid.

Eurycleidus

Andrews

1922

Valid.

Eurysaurus

Gaudry

1878

Valid.

Fresnosaurus

Welles

1943

Valid.

Futabasaurus

Sato
Hasegawa
Manabe

2006

Valid.

also a theropod nomen nudum ("Futabasaurus")

Gallardosaurus

Gasparini

2009

Valid.

Georgia

Otschev

1976

Preoccupied. preoccupied by a genus of mollusk

Georgiasaurus

Otschev

1878

Valid.

Goniosaurus

Meyer

1860

Valid.

Gronausaurus[10]

Hampe 2013 Valid. eK Europe
Hastanectes[11] Benson

et al.

2012 Valid. eK Europe

Hauffiosaurus

O'Keefe

2001

Valid.

Hydralmosaurus

Welles

1943

Valid.

Hydrorion

Grobmann

2006

Valid.

Hydrotherosaurus

Welles

1943

Valid.

Ischyrodon

von Meyer

1838

Jr. synonym

junior synonym of Liopleurodon

Kaiwhekea

Cruickshank
Fordyce

2002

Valid.

Kimmerosaurus

Brown

1981

Valid.

Kronosaurus

Longman

1924

Valid.

Leptocleidus

Andrews

1922

Valid.

Leurospondylus

Brown

1913

Valid.

Libonectes

Carpenter

1997

Valid.

Liopleurodon

Sauvage

1873

Valid.

Luetkesaurus

Kiprijanoff

1883

Valid.

Lusonectes

Smith
Araújo
Mateus

2011

Valid.

eJ

Europe

Macroplata

Swinton

1930

Valid.

Manemergus

Buchy
Metayer
Frey

2005

Valid.

Maresaurus

Gasparini

1997

Valid.

Marmornectes

Ketchum
Benson

2011

Valid.

mJ

Europe

Mauisaurus

Hector

1874

Valid.

Megacephalosaurus[12]

Schumacher
Carpenter
Everhart

2013

Valid.

lK

N. America

Megalneusaurus

Knight

1898

Valid.

Meyerasaurus

Smith
Vincent

2010

Valid.

eJ

Europe

Microcleidus

Watson

1911

Valid.

Morenosaurus

Welles

1943

Valid.

Morturneria

Chatterjee
Creisler

1994

Valid.

lK Seymour Island, Antarctica Possible junior synonym of Aristonectes

Muraenosaurus

Seeley

1874

Valid.

Nichollssaura[13]

Druckenmiller
Russell

2009

Valid.

Nichollsia

Druckenmiller
Russell

2008

Preoccupied

Preoccupied by a genus of isopod, renamed Nichollssaura.

Occitanosaurus

Bardet
Fernandez
Garcia-Ramos
Superbiola
Pinuela
Ruiz-Omenaca
Vincent

2008

Valid.

Ogmodirus

Williston
Moodie

1917

Valid.

Orophosaurus

Cope

1851

Valid.

Opallionectes

Kear

2006

Valid.

Pachycostasaurus

Cruickshank
Martill

1996

Valid.

Pahasapasaurus

Schumacher

2007

Valid.

Palmula[9]

Albright
Gillette
Titus

2007

Valid.

Preoccupied by a genus of foraminifer, renamed Palmulasaurus.

Palmulasaurus

Albright
Gillete
Titus

2007

Valid.

Pantosaurus

Marsh

1893

Valid.

Peloneustes

Lydekker

1889

Valid.

Peyerus

Stromer

1935

Jr. synonym

junior synonym of Leptocleidus

Picrocleidus

Andrews

1909

Jr. synonym

junior synonym of Muraenosaurus

Piptomerus

Cope

1887

Valid.

Piratosaurus

Leidy

1865

Valid.

Plesiopleurodon

Carpenter

1996

Valid.

Plesiopterys

O'Keefe

2004

Valid.

Plesiosaurus

Conybeare

1821

Valid.

Pliosaurus

Owen

1841

Valid.

Polycotylus

Cope

1869

Valid.

Polyptychodon

Owen

1841

Valid.

Procotylus

Korotneff

1908

Valid.

Rhomaleosaurus

Seeley

1871

Valid.

Scanisaurus

Persson

1959

Valid.

Seeleyosaurus

White

1940

Valid.

Simolestes

Andrews

1909

Valid.

Sinopliosaurus

Young

1944

Valid.

eK

Spitrasaurus[14] Knutsen

Druckenmiller
Hurum

2012 Valid. lJ Europe

Spondylosaurus

Fisher

1845

Jr. synonym

junior synonym of Pliosaurus

Stratesaurus[6] Benson

Evans
Druckenmiller

2012 Valid. eJ Europe

Sulcusuchus

Gasparini
Spalletti

1992

Valid.

lK

Rio Negro and Chubut Province, Argentina

Stereosaurus

Seeley

1869

Valid.

Sthenarosaurus

Watson

1911

Valid.

eJ

"Stretosaurus"

Tarlo

1959

Nomen dubium

type specimen is undiagnostic and should be assigned to Thalassophonea indeterminate[15][16]

Strongylokrotaphus

Novozhilov

1964

Jr. synonym

junior synonym of Pliosaurus

Styxosaurus

Welles

1952

Valid.

lK

Taphrosaurus

Cope

1870

Valid.

lK

"Tatenectes"[17]

Knight

1900

Valid.

Terminonatator

Sato

2003

Valid.

lK

Thalassiodracon

Storrs
Taylor

1996

Valid.

lT-eJ

Thalassiosaurus

Welles

1953

Valid.

junior synonym of Styxosaurus

Thalassomedon

Welles

1943

Valid.

lK

Thalassonomosaurus

Welles

1943

Jr. synonym

junior synonym of Styxosaurus

"Thaumatosaurus"

Meyer

1841

Valid.

Thililua

Bardet
Suberbiola
Jalil

2003

Valid.

lK

"Tremamesacleis"

White

1940

Valid.

lJ

possible junior synonym of Muraenosaurus

Tricleidus

Andrews

1909

Valid.

Trinacromerum

Cragin

1888

Valid.

lK

Tuarangisaurus

Wiffen
Moisley

1986

Valid.

lK

Turneria

Chatterjee
Small

1989

Preoccupied.

Preoccupied by a genus of ant

Umoonasaurus

Kear
Schroeder
Lee

2006

Valid.

eK

Uronautes[18]

Cope

1870

Valid.

lK

Vectocleidus[11] Benson

et al.

2012 Valid. eK Europe

Vinialesaurus[19]

Gasparini
Bardet
Vinent
Iturralde

2002

Valid.

lJ

Westphaliasaurus

Schwermann
Sander

2011

Valid.

eJ

Europe

Woolungasaurus

Persson

1960

Valid.

eK

Yuzhoupliosaurus[20]

Zhang

1985

Valid.

mJ[20]

Zarafasaura

Vincent
Pereda-Suberbiola
Bouya
Amaghzaz
Meslouh

2011

Valid.

lK

Africa

Seeleysaurus.

See also

  • List of dinosaurs
  • List of ichthyosaurs
  • List of mosasaurs
  • List of pterosaurs

Footnotes

  1. See Haaramo, Plesiosauria.
  2. See Smith, Plesiosaur Genera.
  3. A. Yu. Berezin (2011). "A new plesiosaur of the family Aristonectidae from the early cretaceous of the center of the Russian platform". Paleontological Journal 45 (6): 648–660. doi:10.1134/S0031030111060037.
  4. Tai Kubo, Mark T. Mitchell and Donald M. Henderson (2012). "Albertonectes vanderveldei, a new elasmosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32 (3): 557–572. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.658124.
  5. Peggy Vincent and Roger B. J. Benson (2012). "Anningasaura, a basal plesiosaurian (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Lower Jurassic of Lyme Regis, United Kingdom". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32 (5): 1049–1063. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.686467.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Roger B. J. Benson, Mark Evans and Patrick S. Druckenmiller (2012). "High Diversity, Low Disparity and Small Body Size in Plesiosaurs (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary". PLoS ONE 7 (3): e31838. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031838. PMC 3306369. PMID 22438869.
  7. Peggy Vincent, Nathalie Bardet and Emanuela Mattioli (2013). "A new pliosaurid from the Pliensbachian (Early Jurassic) of Normandy (Northern France)". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. in press. doi:10.4202/app.2011.0113.
  8. Espen M. Knutsen, Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Jørn H. Hurum (2012). "A new plesiosauroid (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Agardhfjellet Formation (Middle Volgian) of central Spitsbergen, Norway". Norwegian Journal of Geology 92 (2–3): 213–234.
  9. 9.0 9.1 PLESIOSAURS FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS (CENOMANIAN–TURONIAN) TROPIC SHALE OF SOUTHERN UTAH, PART 2: POLYCOTYLIDAE L. Barry Albright Iii, David D. Gillette, and Alan L. Titus, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2007, 27(1):41-58
  10. Oliver Hampe (2013). "The forgotten remains of a leptocleidid plesiosaur (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauroidea) from the Early Cretaceous of Gronau (Münsterland, Westphalia, Germany)". Paläontologische Zeitschrift 87 (4): 473–491. doi:10.1007/s12542-013-0175-3.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Roger B. J. Benson, Hilary F. Ketchum, Darren Naish and Langan E. Turner (2012). "A new leptocleidid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Vectis Formation (Early Barremian–early Aptian; Early Cretaceous) of the Isle of Wight and the evolution of Leptocleididae, a controversial clade". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. in press. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.634444.
  12. Bruce A. Schumacher, Kenneth Carpenter and Michael J. Everhart (2013). "A new Cretaceous Pliosaurid (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Carlile Shale (middle Turonian) of Russell County, Kansas". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33 (3): 613–628. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.722576.
  13. Druckenmiller, Patrick S.; Russell, Anthony P. (2009). "The new plesiosaurian genus Nichollssaura from Alberta, Canada: replacement name for the preoccupied genus Nichollsia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29 (1): 276. doi:10.1080/02724634.2009.10010379.
  14. Espen M. Knutsen, Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Jørn H. Hurum (2012). "Two new species of long-necked plesiosaurians (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Upper Jurassic (Middle Volgian) Agardhfjellet Formation of central Spitsbergen". Norwegian Journal of Geology 92 (2–3): 187–212.
  15. Espen M. Knutsen (2012). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Pliosaurus (Owen, 1841a) Owen, 1841b". Norwegian Journal of Geology 92 (2–3): 259–276. ISSN 0029-196X. Low resolution pdf High resolution pdf
  16. Benson, R. B. J.; Evans, M.; Smith, A. S.; Sassoon, J.; Moore-Faye, S.; Ketchum, H. F.; Forrest, R. (2013). "A Giant Pliosaurid Skull from the Late Jurassic of England". In Butler, Richard J. PLoS ONE 8 (5): e65989. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065989. edit
  17. O'Keefe, F.R. & Street, H.P. 2009; "Osteology of the Cryptocleidoid Plesiosaur Tatenectes laramiensis, with Comments on the Taxonomic Status of the Cimoliasauridae" Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(1):48–57
  18. E. D. Cope. 1876. On some extinct reptiles and Batrachia from the Judith River and Fox Hills Beds of Montana. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 28:340-359
  19. Gasparini, Z., Bardet, N., and Iturralde-Vinent, M. (2002). "A new cryptoclidid plesiosaur from the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) of Cuba". Geobios 35(2): 201-211.
  20. 20.0 20.1 Zhang, Y (1985). A new plesiosaur from Middle Jurassic of Sichuan Basin. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 23: 235-240.

References