PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

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

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Ontogeny:

addition of parts, modification of partsf

Environment:

coastal, marine, brackishf

Locomotion:

actively mobilef

Life habit:

amphibiousf

Diet:

piscivoref

Dispersal:

direct/internalf

Created:

2009-07-20 08:24:16

Modified:

2009-08-20 11:46:24

Source: f = family, subp = subphylum

References: Carroll 1988, Rossmann 2002

Age range: Artinskian or 290.10000 to 279.30000 Ma

Collections (38 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	Brazil (Ceará)	Stereosternum tumidum (90216)
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	Namibia (Karas)	Mesosaurus sp. (90780) Mesosaurus sp., Mesosaurus tenuidens (90755)
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	Paraguay (Guairá)	Mesosauridae indet., Mesosaurus tumidus (90832)
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	Brazil (São Paulo)	Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis (90214) Mesosauridae indet. (90358) Mesosauridae indet., Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis, Stereosternum tumidum (90429) Mesosauridae indet., Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis, Stereosternum tumidum, Mesosaurus tenuidens (90193) Mesosauridae indet., Stereosternum tumidum (90226) Mesosaurus tenuidens (90339) Stereosternum tumidum (90192 90217) Stereosternum tumidum, Mesosaurus brasiliensis (90215)
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	South Africa (Northern Cape)	Ditrochosaurus capensis (89799) Mesosaurus sp., Mesosaurus pleurogaster (90257) Mesosaurus tenuidens (90303 90311 90312 90345) Noteosaurus africanus (13083)
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	Namibia (Erongo)	Mesosaurus tenuidens (28468 28469 28470 28471)
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	Brazil (Paraná)	Mesosauridae indet., Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis, Stereosternum tumidum (90227) Mesosauridae indet., Mesosaurus tenuidens (90190) Mesosaurus brasiliensis (90341 90573) Mesosaurus tenuidens (90344 90423) Mesosaurus tenuidens, Mesosaurus brasiliensis (90323)
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	Uruguay (Cerro Largo)	Mesosaurus sp., Mesosaurus brasiliensis (90863 90865)
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul)	Mesosauridae indet. (79927) Stereosternum tumidum, Mesosaurus tenuidens (90191)
Artinskian	290.1 - 279.3	Brazil (Goiás)	Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis, Stereosternum tumidum (89833) Mesosauridae indet., Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis, Stereosternum tumidum, Mesosaurus tenuidens (89839)
Artinskian - Kungurian	290.1 - 272.3	Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul)	Mesosauridae indet. (230311)