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Thalassophonea

Reptilia - Plesiosauria - Pliosauridae

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1822Plesiosaurus recentior Parkinson p. 302
1840Plesiosaurus brachyspondylus Owen p. 78
1845Spondylosaurus frearsi Fischer de Waldheim
1846Pliosaurus wosinskii Fischer de Waldheim
1860Pliosaurus worinskii Owen p. 235
1869Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Seeley p. 97
1871Pliosaurus nitidus Phillips pp. 360-361 figs. CLVI-CLVIII
1872Polyptychodon archiaci Deslongchamps figs. pl. 5, figs 1-2
1959Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Tarlo pp. 284-285 figs. plates 51-52
1960Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Delair pp. 70-71
1960Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Tarlo p. 156
1989Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Halstead p. 38
1993Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Bardet et al. p. 390
1993Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Taylor and Cruickshank
2012Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Knutsen p. 267
2013Thalassophonea Benson et al.
2014Thalassophonea Benson and Druckenmiller figs. 2-3
2014Thalassophonea Gasparini and O'Gorman
2018Thalassophonea O’Gorman et al. p. 242
2020Thalassophonea Zverkov and Pervushov
2023Thalassophonea Páramo-Fonseca et al. p. 2

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Life
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
Thalassophonea
Thalassophonea

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.

Unr. †Thalassophonea Benson and Druckenmiller 2014
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Subfm. †Brachaucheninae Williston 1925
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G. †Brachauchenius Williston 1903
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Brachauchenius lucasi Williston 1903
G. †Discosaurus Leidy 1851
G. †Kronosaurus Longman 1924
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Kronosaurus boyacensis Hampe 1992
G. †Luskhan Fischer et al. 2017
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Luskhan itilensis Fischer et al. 2017
G. †Megacephalosaurus Schumacher et al. 2013
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Megacephalosaurus eulerti Schumacher et al. 2013
G. †Sachicasaurus Páramo-Fonseca et al. 2018
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Sachicasaurus vitae Páramo-Fonseca et al. 2018
G. †Gallardosaurus Gasparini 2009
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Gallardosaurus iturraldei Gasparini 2009
G. †Liopleurodon Sauvage 1873
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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
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Makhaira rossica Fischer et al. 2015
G. †Peloneustes Lydekker 1889
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Peloneustes philarchus Seeley 1869
G. †Pliosaurus Owen 1841
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Pleiosaurus macromerus Phillips 1871
Pliosaurus almanzaensis O’Gorman et al. 2018
Pliosaurus andrewsi Tarlo 1960
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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
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Simolestes indicus Lydekker 1877
Simolestes keileni Godefroit 1994
Simolestes vorax Andrews 1909
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Invalid names: Thaumatosaurus calloviensis Bogolubov 1912 [synonym]
Invalid names: Pliosaurus brachyspondylus Owen 1840 [nomen dubium], Pliosaurus macromerus Phillips 1871 [nomen dubium]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
R. B. J. Benson and P. S. Druckenmiller 2014Pliosaurids with the following unique unambiguous synapomorphy: anteroposterior expansion of the dorsal part of the ilium large, expanded to more than 2.5 times the minimum anteroposterior width of the shaft (character 224.3); and these non-unique, unambiguous synapomorphies: medial portion of squamosal arch with anteroposteriorly compressed cross section (54.1; reversed in Brachacheninae, also present in Muraenosaurus leedsii, some polycotylids and elasmosaurids), ventral keel on mandibular symphysis (114.1), heterodont premaxillary dentition (132.1), axial rib articulates with atlantal centrum (142.1; in addition to the axial centrum, with which it articulates primitively), mediolaterally oriented buttress on ventral surface of coracoid absent (216.1), propodials with dorsoventrally compressed, ‘flange’-like pre- and postaxial distal extensions (238.1; reversed in Pliosaurus +Brachaucheninae; also present in some polycotylids), humerus length to width ratio 1.7–2.2 (244.2), preaxial margin of humerus concave with a small anterodistal expansion (245.1), femoral length to width ratio 1.55–2.00 (251.2). Numerous additional cranial synapomorphies are optimised only under DELTRAN because of the relatively high proportion of missing data (72.1%) for the cranial skeleton of Marmornectes candrewi, the sister taxon of Thalassophonea (see online Appendix S1).