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Peloneustes philarchus

Reptilia - Plesiosauria - Pliosauridae

Taxonomy
Plesiosaurus philarchus was named by Seeley (1869). Its type specimen is CAMSM J.46913, a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Peterborough area, Porter Collection, which is in a Callovian offshore mudstone in the Oxford Clay Formation of the United Kingdom. It is the type species of Peloneustes.

It was recombined as Thaumatosaurus philarchus by Lydekker (1888); it was recombined as Peloneustes philarchus by Lydekker (1889), Lydekker (1889), Andrews (1913), Swinton (1934), Tarlo (1960), O'Keefe (2001), Araujo et al. (2008) and Ketchum and Benson (2011).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1869Plesiosaurus philarchus Seeley p. 139
1888Thaumatosaurus philarchus Lydekker p. 353
1889Peloneustes philarchus Lydekker p. 49 figs. 4-9
1913Peloneustes philarchus Andrews p. 62
1934Peloneustes philarchus Swinton p. 61
1960Peloneustes philarchus Tarlo pp. 169-171 figs. 9 & pl. 26
2001Peloneustes philarchus O'Keefe p. 13
2008Peloneustes philarchus Araujo et al. p. 25 fig. 6
2011Peloneustes philarchus Ketchum and Benson figs. Text-figs. 1-14; Pls. 1-3

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

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.

†Peloneustes philarchus Seeley 1869
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
H. F. Ketchum and R. B. J. Benson 2011"Pliosaurid with one autapomorphy: interdentary symphysis is raised dorsally on a narrow platform."
"The following combination of character states is unique to P. philarchus (modified from Tarlo (1960, p. 169)): six teeth in the premaxilla; diastema between maxillary and premaxillary teeth narrow; frontal enters orbit margin and contacts external naris; palatine contacts the internal naris; elongate cultriform process of the parasphenoid exposed on the ventral surface of the palate; mandibular symphysis incorporates 13–15 pairs of teeth; mandibular symphysis incorporates the coronoids; 36–44 teeth in each dentary; dentary alveoli 2–7 enlarged relative to more posterior alveoli mandibular symphysis widest at tooth position 5–6; teeth circular in cross-section with the entire circumference of tooth crown ornamented with ridges extending from the base of the enamel, ridges slightly more widely spaced on the convex edge than on the concave edge of the crown with short, medium and long ridges quite regularly spaced with few reaching the apex of the crown; axis intercentrum sub-rectangular and obscures atlas centrum from the ventral surface of complex; laterally compressed cervical neural spines."