PBDB Taxon

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Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Leptocleidus

Osteichthyes - Plesiosauria - Leptocleididae

Taxonomy

Leptocleidus was named by Andrews (1922) [Sepkoski's age data: K Nc K Barr]. Its type is Leptocleidus superstes.

It was assigned to Dolichorhynchopidae by Welles (1962); to Polycotylidae by Thurmond (1968); to Pliosauridae by Carroll (1988), Cruickshank (1997); to Rhomaleosauridae by Persson (1963), O'Keefe (2001); to Plesiosauria by Andrews (1922), Sepkoski (2002); to Leptocleididae by White (1940), Ketchum and Benson (2010), Ketchum (2011), Hampe (2013), Benson and Druckenmiller (2014); and to Leptocleidia by Poropat et al. (2023).

Species

L. capensis, L. clemai, L. superstes (type species)

Synonyms

Peyerus was named by Stromer (1935) [Sepkoski's age data: K l]. It is not extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Leptocleidus by Persson (1963).

It was assigned to Dolichorhynchopidae by Welles (1962); to Pliosauridae by Carroll (1988); and to Plesiosauria by Sepkoski (2002).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1922	Leptocleidus Andrews p. 296
1935	Peyerus Stromer
1940	Leptocleidus White p. 465
1962	Peyerus Welles pp. 4 & 40
1962	Leptocleidus Welles p. 40
1963	Leptocleidus Persson p. 19
1968	Leptocleidus Thurmond p. 1296
1988	Leptocleidus Carroll
1988	Peyerus Carroll
1997	Leptocleidus Cruickshank p. 210
2001	Leptocleidus O'Keefe p. 19 fig. 20
2002	Leptocleidus Sepkoski
2002	Peyerus Sepkoski
2010	Leptocleidus Ketchum and Benson p. 15
2011	Leptocleidus Ketchum p. 292 fig. 22.4
2013	Leptocleidus Hampe fig. 9
2014	Leptocleidus Benson and Druckenmiller figs. 2-3
2023	Leptocleidus Poropat et al. p. 151

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

Rank	Name	Author
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()
suborder	Sauropterygia
order	Plesiosauria	de Blainville 1835
superfamily	Plesiosauroidea	Welles 1943
—	Leptocleidia
family	Leptocleididae
genus	Leptocleidus

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.

G. †Leptocleidus Andrews 1922

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†Leptocleidus capensis Andrews 1911

†Leptocleidus clemai Cruickshank and Long 1997

†Leptocleidus superstes Andrews 1922

Invalid names: Peyerus Stromer 1935 [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteo

Environment:

marineo

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

aquatico

Depth habitat:

surfaceo

Diet:

carnivoreo

Reproduction:

viviparouso

Created:

2009-07-20 06:05:48

Modified:

2011-08-12 01:58:15

Source: o = order

Reference: Kiessling 2004

Age range: base of the Berriasian to the top of the Early/Lower Aptian or 143.10000 to 119.57000 Ma

Collections (6 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Late/Upper Jurassic - Early/Lower Cretaceous	161.5 - 100.5	Australia (Queensland)	L. sp. (99161)
Berriasian	143.1 - 137.05	Australia (Western Australia)	L. sp. (110534)
Late/Upper Valanginian	137.05 - 132.6	South Africa (Eastern Cape)	Plesiosaurus sp. (117446)
Barremian	125.77 - 121.4	United Kingdom (England)	L. superstes (117445)
Late/Upper Barremian - Early/Lower Aptian	125.77 - 119.57	Australia (Western Australia)	L. sp., L. clemai (55309)
Aptian - Albian	121.4 - 100.5	Australia (South Australia)	L. sp. (102987)