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Plesiosaurus
Taxonomy
Plesiosaurus was named by de la Beche and Conybeare (1821) [Sepkoski's age data: Tr Rhae J Toar]. Its type is Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus. It is the type genus of Plesiosauroidea, Plesiosauridae.
It was assigned to Ichthyosauroidea by Fitzinger (1826); to Enaliosauri by Parkinson (1822) and Owen (1840); to Nexipodes by Meyer (1845); to Ichthyosauridae by d'Orbigny (1849); to Sauropterygia by Owen (1860); to Sauropterygia by Owen (1859), Owen (1861), Owen (1864), Owen (1865), Hector (1874) and Tate and Blake (1876); to Dolichodeira by Seeley (1892); to Plesiosauria by Williston (1903), Storrs (1997) and Sepkoski (2002); to Plesiosauridae by Cope (1871), Cope (1875), Lydekker (1889), Hay (1902), Hay (1930), White (1940), Delair (1960), Persson (1963), Kuhn (1966), Kuhn (1971), Brown (1981), Carroll (1988) and Ketchum and Benson (2010); and to Plesiosauroidea by O'Keefe (2001), Gasparini et al. (2002), Benson et al. (2012) and Benson and Druckenmiller (2014).
It was assigned to Ichthyosauroidea by Fitzinger (1826); to Enaliosauri by Parkinson (1822) and Owen (1840); to Nexipodes by Meyer (1845); to Ichthyosauridae by d'Orbigny (1849); to Sauropterygia by Owen (1860); to Sauropterygia by Owen (1859), Owen (1861), Owen (1864), Owen (1865), Hector (1874) and Tate and Blake (1876); to Dolichodeira by Seeley (1892); to Plesiosauria by Williston (1903), Storrs (1997) and Sepkoski (2002); to Plesiosauridae by Cope (1871), Cope (1875), Lydekker (1889), Hay (1902), Hay (1930), White (1940), Delair (1960), Persson (1963), Kuhn (1966), Kuhn (1971), Brown (1981), Carroll (1988) and Ketchum and Benson (2010); and to Plesiosauroidea by O'Keefe (2001), Gasparini et al. (2002), Benson et al. (2012) and Benson and Druckenmiller (2014).
Species
P. bavaricus, P. bitractensis, P. carinatus, P. cliduchus, P. coelospondylus, P. costatus, P. dolichodeirus (syn. P. macromus, P. homei) (type species), P. elasmosaurus, P. exarsostinus, P. grandis, P. hesternus, P. houzeaui, P. macrocephalus (syn. P. brachycephalus), P. macrodeirus, P. mexicanus, P. nitidus, P. platydeirus, P. priscus, P. rostratus, P. subconcavus, P. subtrigonus, P. tessarestarsostinus, P. trigonus
Species lacking formal opinion data
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1821 | Plesiosaurus de la Beche and Conybeare p. 581 |
| 1822 | Plesiosaurus Parkinson p. 300 |
| 1822 | Plesiosaurus priscus Parkinson p. 301 |
| 1826 | Plesiosaurus Fitzinger p. 9 |
| 1840 | Plesiosaurus Owen p. 49–50 |
| 1845 | Plesiosaurus Meyer p. 281 |
| 1849 | Plesiosaurus d'Orbigny p. 210 |
| 1859 | Plesiosaurus Owen p. 146 |
| 1860 | Plesiosaurus Owen p. 223 |
| 1861 | Plesiosaurus Owen p. 243 |
| 1864 | Plesiosaurus Owen p. 1 |
| 1865 | Plesiosaurus Owen pp. 1-11 |
| 1871 | Plesiosaurus Cope p. 235 |
| 1874 | Plesiosaurus Hector p. 337 |
| 1875 | Plesiosaurus Cope p. 15 |
| 1876 | Plesiosaurus Tate and Blake p. 246 |
| 1889 | Plesiosaurus Lydekker p. 251 |
| 1892 | Plesiosaurus Seeley p. 151 |
| 1902 | Plesiosaurus Hay p. 456 |
| 1902 | Plesiosaurus priscus Huene p. 47 |
| 1903 | Plesiosaurus Williston p. 7 |
| 1930 | Plesiosaurus Hay p. 115 |
| 1940 | Plesiosaurus White p. 461 |
| 1960 | Plesiosaurus Delair pp. 53-54 |
| 1963 | Plesiosaurus Persson p. 8 |
| 1964 | Plesiosaurus elasmosaurus Finzel |
| 1966 | Plesiosaurus Kuhn p. 117 |
| 1971 | Plesiosaurus Kuhn p. 20 |
| 1981 | Plesiosaurus Brown p. 340 |
| 1988 | Plesiosaurus Carroll |
| 1997 | Plesiosaurus Storrs p. 149 |
| 2001 | Plesiosaurus O'Keefe p. 19 fig. 20 |
| 2002 | Plesiosaurus Gasparini et al. |
| 2002 | Plesiosaurus Sepkoski |
| 2010 | Plesiosaurus Ketchum and Benson p. 15 |
| 2012 | Plesiosaurus Benson et al. fig. 4 |
| 2014 | Plesiosaurus Benson and Druckenmiller figs. 2-3 |
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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. †Plesiosaurus de la Beche and Conybeare 1821
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†Plesiosaurus bavaricus Dames 1895
†Plesiosaurus bitractensis Sauvage 1883
†Plesiosaurus carinatus Cuvier 1824
†Plesiosaurus cliduchus Seeley 1865
†Plesiosaurus coelospondylus Owen 1865
†Plesiosaurus costatus Owen 1840
†Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus Conybeare 1824
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Invalid names: Plesiosaurus homei Gray 1831 [synonym], Plesiosaurus macromus Owen 1840 [synonym]
†Plesiosaurus exarsostinus Hawkins 1834
†Plesiosaurus grandis Owen 1840
†Plesiosaurus hesternus Welles 1953
†Plesiosaurus houzeaui Dollo 1909
†Plesiosaurus macrocephalus Owen 1840
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Invalid names: Plesiosaurus brachycephalus Owen 1840 [synonym]
†Plesiosaurus macrodeirus Seeley 1869
†Plesiosaurus mexicanus Wieland 1910
†Plesiosaurus nitidus Phillips 1871
†Plesiosaurus platydeirus Owen 1854
†Plesiosaurus rostratus Owen 1865
†Plesiosaurus subconcavus Duff 1842
†Plesiosaurus subtrigonus Owen 1840
†Plesiosaurus tessarestarsostinus Hawkins 1834
†Plesiosaurus trigonus Cuvier 1824
Invalid names: Plesiosaurus elasmosaurus Finzel 1964 [nomen nudum], Plesiosaurus priscus Parkinson 1822 [nomen dubium]
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| J. Hector 1874 | "Centrum of dorsal vertebrae short as compared with its width, which is greater than its height; flat, or only slightly concave at goth ends. Humerus prismatic, with a round proximal surface; distal end expanded and flat." | |
| H. G. Seeley 1892 | "in which the carpus is weakly ossified" |