PBDB Taxon

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Mesosauridae

Taxonomy

Mesosauridae was named by Baur (1889). It is not extant.

It was assigned to Proganosauria by Zittel (1890); to Pelycosauria by Huene (1941); to Mesosauria by Haughton and Brink (1954) and Carroll (1988); to Parareptilia by Gauthier et al. (1988); to Sauropsida by Laurin and Reisz (1995); to Amniota by Rossmann (2000); to Proganosauria by Baur (1889), Gürich (1889), Kuhn (1946) and Sedor and Ferigolo (2001); and to Mesosauria by Karl et al. (2007).

Subtaxa

Brazilosaurus, Mesosaurus (syn. Ditrochosaurus), Mesosaurus pleurogaster, Noteosaurus, Noteosaurus africanus, Stereosternum

Synonyms

Noteosaurus was named by Broom (1913). It is not extant.

It was considered an invalid subgroup of Mesosauridae by Modesto (1996); it was synonymized subjectively with Mesosaurus by Karl et al. (2007).

It was assigned to Mesosauria by Broom (1913).
Noteosaurus africanus was named by Broom (1913). Its type specimen is SAM 2358, a partial skeleton (pes, partial pelvis and caudal vertebrae), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Victoria West District, which is in an Artinskian marine horizon in the Whitehill Formation of South Africa.

It was considered a nomen dubium by Modesto (1996).
Mesosaurus pleurogaster was named by Seeley (1892). Its type specimen is a series of syntypes (BMNH 49971 to 49974) and is a mold. Its type locality is Kimberley, which is in an Artinskian offshore shale/shale in the Whitehill Formation of South Africa.

It was considered a nomen dubium by Rossmann (2000).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1889	Mesosauridae Baur p. 311
1889	Mesosauridae Gürich p. 652
1890	Mesosauridae Zittel p. 598
1892	Mesosaurus pleurogaster Seeley p. 857 figs. 1-4 Pl. XVIII
1905	Mesosaurus pleurogaster Broom p. 103
1908	Mesosaurus pleurogaster Broom p. 380
1913	Noteosaurus Broom p. 358
1913	Noteosaurus africanus Broom p. 359 figs. p. 358
1914	Mesosaurus pleurogaster Stromer p. 532
1941	Mesosauridae Huene p. 56
1946	Mesosauridae Kuhn p. 58
1954	Mesosauridae Haughton and Brink p. 3
1988	Mesosauridae Carroll
1988	Mesosauridae Gauthier et al. p. 139 fig. 4.4
1995	Mesosauridae Laurin and Reisz pp. 171, 172 fig. 2
2000	Mesosauridae Rossmann p. 15
2001	Mesosauridae Sedor and Ferigolo p. 151
2007	Mesosauridae Karl et al. p. 67

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)

Rank	Name	Author
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
family	Mesosauridae
family	Mesosauridae

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. †Mesosauridae Baur 1889

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G. †Brazilosaurus Shikama and Ozaki 1966

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†Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis Shikama and Ozaki 1966

G. †Mesosaurus Gervais 1865

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†Mesosaurus tenuidens Gervais 1865

Invalid names: Ditrochosaurus capensis Gürich 1889 [synonym], Mesosaurus brasiliensis Mac Gregor 1908 [synonym]

Invalid names: Ditrochosaurus Gürich 1889 [synonym]

G. †Stereosternum Cope 1885

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†Stereosternum tumidum Cope 1885

Invalid names: Mesosaurus pleurogaster Seeley 1892 [nomen dubium], Noteosaurus Broom 1913 [invalid subgroup], Noteosaurus africanus Broom 1913 [nomen dubium]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available