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Macroplata tenuiceps

Reptilia - Plesiosauria - Rhomaleosauridae

Taxonomy
Macroplata tenuiceps was named by Swinton (1930). Its type specimen is BMNH R5488, a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Harbury Cement Works, Leamington Spa (owned by Greaves, Bull, and Lakin), which is in a Hettangian carbonate limestone in the Blue Lias Formation of the United Kingdom. It is the type species of Macroplata.

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1930Macroplata tenuiceps Swinton
2001Macroplata tenuiceps O'Keefe p. 13
2010Macroplata tenuiceps Ketchum and Smith p. 1070 figs. 1-7

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—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
familyRhomaleosauridaeNopcsa 1928
genusMacroplataSwinton 1930
speciestenuicepsSwinton 1930

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.

†Macroplata tenuiceps Swinton 1930
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
Swinton 1930Sauropterygian with a long skull and a long neck tapering from back to front. Cervical vertebrae moderately long, centra broader than high and narrow across the neurapophyses. Articular faces only slightly concave, and the anterior and posterior margins of the centrum rugose. Dorsals smooth and with constricted centra; articular faces not deeply concave; neural spines moderately high; transverse processes wholly supported by the arch. Sacral vertebrae with large rib-facets on the centra, and large and stout ribs. Caudals with rugose anterior and posterior margins to centra, articular faces more deeply cupped than the other vertebrae.
H. F. Ketchum and A. S. Smith 2010A plesiosaurian with the following autapomorphies: posterior convergence of the long axes of the posterior interpterygoid vacuities; triangular emargination in the posterior border of the coracoid; triangular emargination in the posterior border of the ischium.
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: Late/Upper Hettangian or 201.30000 to 196.50000 Ma

Collections: one only


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Late/Upper Hettangian201.3 - 196.5United Kingdom (England) Macroplata tenuiceps (type locality: 118315)