Microcleidus

Microcleidus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic
Fossil M. homalospondylus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Plesiosauria
Suborder: Plesiosauroidea
Genus: Microcleidus
Species
  • M. homalospondylus
  • M. macropterus
  • M. tournemirensis Sciau et al., 1990
Synonyms

Occitanosaurus tournemirensis Plesiosaurus tournemirensis

Microcleidus is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the plesiosaur suborder. It was about the size of a medium sized dolphin, reaching a length of 3 metres (9.8 ft). The species has 40 neck vertebrae and a short tail of 28 vertebrae.

Classification

Restoration
Fossil M. homalospondylus

Species include: Microcleidus homalospondylus (Owen 1865) and Microcleidus macropterus (Seeley 1865).

Occitanosaurus tournemirensis (originally "Plesiosaurus" tournemirensis), was named by Sciau et al. in 1990, based on a nearly complete skeleton of an animal approximately 4 meters (13 ft) long.[1] It was later found to be a specie sof Microcleidus.

The following cladogram follows an analysis by Ketchum & Benson, 2011.[2]


See also

References

  1. Ketchum HF, Benson RBJ. Global interrelationships of Plesiosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses. Biological Reviews
  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.