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Pliosauridae

Reptilia - Plesiosauria - Pliosauridae

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1869Pliosaurus sterrodirus Seeley p. 98
1869Pliosaurus evansi Seeley p. 116
1871Pliosaurus evansi Phillips p. 317
1871Pliosaurus aequalis Phillips p. 365 fig. 164
1874Pliosauridae Seeley
1889Pliosaurus evansi Lydekker pp. 128-129 fig. 39
1889Peloneustes aequalis Lydekker p. 152 fig. 50
1890Peloneustes evansi Lydekker p. 273
1903Pliosauridae Williston p. 12
1913Pliosauridae Andrews p. 1
1913Peloneustes evansi Andrews p. 71
1940Pliosauridae White p. 465 figs. 11a-d
1943Pliosauridae Welles p. 212
1946Pliosauridae Kuhn p. 59
1960Pliosauridae Delair p. 69
1960Pliosauridae Tarlo p. 152
1962Pliosauridae Welles p. 4
1963Pliosauridae Persson p. 6
1966Pliosauridae Kuhn p. 115
1981Pliosauridae Brown p. 341
1986Pliosauridae Wiffen and Moisley p. 243
1988Pliosauridae Carroll
1991Pliosauridae Bardet et al. p. 1346
1993Pliosauridae Gasparini and Spalletti p. 249
1994Pliosauridae Cruickshank p. 153
1996Pliosauridae Cruickshank pp. 109-113
1997Pliosauridae Cruickshank p. 210
1997Pliosauridae Gasparini p. 136
2001Pliosauridae O'Keefe p. 19 fig. 20
2005Pliosauridae Schumacher and Everhart p. 36
2008Pliosauridae Araujo et al. p. 25 fig. 6
2010Pliosauridae Ketchum and Benson p. 15 fig. 6
2011Pliosauridae Gomez-Perez and Noe
2011Pliosauridae Ketchum and Benson p. 126
2012Pliosauridae Benson et al.
2013Pliosauridae Benson et al.
2014Pliosauridae Benson and Druckenmiller figs. 2-3
2014Pliosauridae Cau and Fanti
2014Pliosauridae Gasparini and O'Gorman
2016Pliosauridae O'Gorman p. 38
2018Pliosauridae O’Gorman et al.
2018Pliosauridae Páramo-Fonseca et al.
2020Pliosauridae Zverkov and Pervushov
2023Pliosauridae Páramo-Fonseca et al. p. 2

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
RankNameAuthor
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
suborderSauropterygia
orderPlesiosauriade Blainville 1835
superfamilyPliosauroideaWelles 1943
familyPliosauridaeSeeley 1874
familyPliosauridaeSeeley 1874

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. †Pliosauridae Seeley 1874
show all | hide all
G. †Acostasaurus Gomez-Perez and Noe 2011
+
†Acostasaurus pavachoquensis Gomez-Perez and Noe 2011
G. †Anguanax Cau and Fanti 2016
+
†Anguanax zignoi Cau and Fanti 2016
G. †Arminisaurus Sachs and Kear 2017
+
†Arminisaurus schuberti Sachs and Kear 2017
G. †Attenborosaurus Bakker 1993
+
+
Invalid names: Plesiosaurus laticeps Owen 1867 [synonym]
G. †Cryonectes Vincent et al. 2013
+
†Cryonectes neustriacus Vincent et al. 2013
G. †Hauffiosaurus O'Keefe 2001
+
†Hauffiosaurus longirostris Tate and Blake 1876
†Hauffiosaurus tomistomimus Benson et al. 2011
†Hauffiosaurus zanoni O'Keefe 2001
G. †Marmornectes Ketchum and Benson 2011
+
†Marmornectes candrewi Ketchum and Benson 2011
G. †Pachycostasaurus Cruickshank et al. 1996
+
†Pachycostasaurus dawni Cruickshank et al. 1996
+
†Polyptchodon rugosus Emmons 1858
G. †Sinopliosaurus Young 1944
+
G. †Stenorhynchosaurus Páramo-Fonseca et al. 2016
+
†Stenorhynchosaurus munozi Páramo-Fonseca et al. 2016
G. †Strongylokrotaphus Novozhilov 1964
G. †Thalassiodracon Storrs and Taylor 1996
+
+
Invalid names: Plesiosaurus eleutheraxon Seeley 1865 [synonym], Plesiosaurus etheridgei Huxley 1858 [synonym], Plesiosaurus etheridgii Huxley 1858 [synonym]
Invalid names: Plesiosaurus hexatarsostinus Hawkins 1840 [nomen oblitum], Plesiosaurus pentetarsostinus Hawkins 1834 [nomen oblitum], Plesiosaurus triatarsostinus Hawkins 1834 [nomen oblitum]
Unr. †Thalassophonea Benson and Druckenmiller 2014
+
Subfm. †Brachaucheninae Williston 1925
+
G. †Brachauchenius Williston 1903
+
†Brachauchenius lucasi Williston 1903
G. †Discosaurus Leidy 1851
G. †Kronosaurus Longman 1924
+
†Kronosaurus boyacensis Hampe 1992
G. †Luskhan Fischer et al. 2017
+
†Luskhan itilensis Fischer et al. 2017
G. †Megacephalosaurus Schumacher et al. 2013
+
†Megacephalosaurus eulerti Schumacher et al. 2013
G. †Sachicasaurus Páramo-Fonseca et al. 2018
+
†Sachicasaurus vitae Páramo-Fonseca et al. 2018
G. †Gallardosaurus Gasparini 2009
+
†Gallardosaurus iturraldei Gasparini 2009
G. †Liopleurodon Sauvage 1873
+
†Liopleurodon ferox Sauvage 1873
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Invalid names: Thaumatosaurus mosquensis Kiprijanoff 1883 [synonym]
†Liopleurodon pachydeirus Seeley 1869
G. †Makhaira Fischer et al. 2015
+
†Makhaira rossica Fischer et al. 2015
G. †Peloneustes Lydekker 1889
+
†Peloneustes philarchus Seeley 1869
G. †Pliosaurus Owen 1841
+
†Pleiosaurus macromerus Phillips 1871
†Pliosaurus almanzaensis O’Gorman et al. 2018
†Pliosaurus andrewsi Tarlo 1960
+
Invalid names: Peloneustes sterrodeirus Seeley 1869 [synonym]
†Pliosaurus carpenteri Benson et al. 2013
†Pliosaurus funkei Knutsen et al. 2012
†Pliosaurus gamma Phillips 1871
†Pliosaurus grandis Owen 1840
†Pliosaurus grossouvrei Sauvage 1873
†Pliosaurus kevani Benson et al. 2013
†Pliosaurus patagonicus Gasparini and O'Gorman 2014
†Pliosaurus rossicus Novozhilov 1948
†Pliosaurus westburyensis Benson et al. 2013
Invalid names: Cetiosaurus rigauxi Sauvage 1874 [nomen dubium], Ischyrodon Merian 1838 [synonym], Plesiosaurus giganteus Conybeare 1824 [nomen oblitum], Pliosaurus irgisensis Novozhilov 1948 [nomen dubium], Pliosaurus portentificus Noè et al. 2004 [nomen dubium], Spondylosaurus Fischer 1845 [synonym], Stretosaurus Tarlo 1959 [synonym]
G. †Simolestes Andrews 1909
+
†Simolestes indicus Lydekker 1877
†Simolestes keileni Godefroit 1994
†Simolestes vorax Andrews 1909
+
Invalid names: Thaumatosaurus calloviensis Bogolubov 1912 [synonym]
Invalid names: Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Owen 1840 [nomen dubium], Pliosaurus macromerus Phillips 1871 [nomen dubium]
Invalid names: Pliosaurus aequalis Phillips 1871 [nomen dubium], Pliosaurus evansi Seeley 1869 [nomen dubium], Simolestinae Nopcsa 1923 [empty]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
S. W. Williston 1903"Skull depressed; no parietal crest; palatines broadly contiguous in the middle line; pterygoids with a prominent ridge and abutting mandibular process. Neck short; cervical ribs single or double headed; all vertebrae without infracentral vascular foramina."
T. E. White 1940"Dolichocephalic; 11 to 30 cervical vertebrae, 19 to 37 dorsals, 25 to 30 caudals; cervical ribs double- or single-headed; clavicles absent; interclavicle known only in Peloneustes; scapula meeting coracoid medial to scapulo-coracoid fenestra; fenestrae small and separated by a broad bar equal in width to twice the diameter of one fenestra; posterior lateral angles of coracoids not produced."
D. S. Brown 1981Plesiosauria with relatively large skulls; premaxillae bear 5 pairs of teeth; mandibular symphysis long, extending back between several pairs of alveoli which bear enlarged teeth; from 25 to 40 pairs of dentary teeth; teeth broad and strong and frequently show wear on their tips; teeth ornamented with longitudinal ridges and may also be keeled; occipital condyle formed by the basioccipital only; overall length from 3 m in primitive forms to about 12 m in some advanced forms; number of cervical vertebrae primitively about 30 and reducing to a minimum of 13 in advanced forms; except for some primitive forms, cervical centra relatively short; cervical ribs double-headed in Jurassic forms, becoming single-headed in Cretaceous forms; ventral rami of the scapulae usually remaining narrow; ischia relatively long anteroposteriorly; propodials slender, the femur larger than the humerus; epipodials primitively longer than broad, becoming broader than long in advanced forms; the fifth metapodial shifting proximally from the metapodial row in primitive forms to the distal mesapodial row in advanced forms; hyperphalangy of up to 16 phalanges in the longest digit.
F. R. O'Keefe 2001"Preorbital skull length longer than postorbital skull length; rostrum elongate; no contact between premaxilla and external naris; distinct postero-lateral process of frontal absent (reversal); anterior interpterygoid vacuity absent (reversal); vomer reaches past internal nares and meets pterygoid in wide interdigitating suture; mandibular symphysis long; number of maxillary teeth between twenty and thirty; humerus not angled."