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Microcleididae
Taxonomy
Microcleididae was named by Benson et al. (2012) [urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5FC5F46D-6A91-4453-8F03-F55B31A74BCD]. It was considered monophyletic by Benson et al. (2012).
It was assigned to Plesiosauroidea by Benson et al. (2012), Benson and Druckenmiller (2014) and Vincent et al. (2019).
It was assigned to Plesiosauroidea by Benson et al. (2012), Benson and Druckenmiller (2014) and Vincent et al. (2019).
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2012 | Microcleididae Benson et al. |
| 2014 | Microcleididae Benson and Druckenmiller figs. 2-3 |
| 2019 | Microcleididae Vincent et al. |
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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.
Fm. †Microcleididae Benson et al. 2012
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G. †Microcleidus Watson 1909
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†Microcleidus brachypterygius Huene 1923
†Microcleidus homalospondylus Owen 1865
†Microcleidus macropterus Seeley 1865
†Microcleidus melusinae Vincent et al. 2019
†Microcleidus tournemirensis Sciau et al. 1990
Invalid names: Occitanosaurus Bardet et al. 1999 [synonym]
G. †Seeleyosaurus White 1940
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†Seeleyosaurus guilelmiimperatoris Dames 1895
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Invalid names: Seeleyosaurus holzmadensis White 1940 [synonym]
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| R. B. J. Benson et al. 2012 | Microcleidus homalospondylus and all taxa more closely related to it than to Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, Cryptoclidus eurymerus, Elasmosaurus platyurus, Leptocleidus superstes, Pliosaurus brachydeirus or Polycotylus latipinnis.
Diagnosis. Plesiosauroids possessing: widely separated posterior cervical rib facets (character 123.1 in the Phylogenetic analysis; below); posteriormost dorsal rib facets split between centrum and neural arch (‘sacralised’, but bearing a dorsal rib) (146.1); medial surface of the iliac blade anteroposteriorly concave (178.0; also present in some rhomaleosaurids); and a prominent flange extends anteriorly from the proximal half of the radius (197.1; also present in Hauffiosaurus and some rhomaleosaurids). This diagnosis focuses on unambiguous postcranial synapomorphies because cranial material of basal microcleidids is unknown. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: o = order | |||||
| Reference: Kiessling 2004 | |||||
Age range: base of the Falciferum to the top of the Late/Upper Toarcian or 183.00000 to 175.60000 Ma
Collections (9 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falciferum | Germany (Baden-Württemberg) | Plesiosaurus brachypterygius (90421) | |
| Falciferum | Luxembourg | Microcleidus melusinae (106696) | |
| Falciferum | Germany (Baden-Württenburg) | Hydrorion brachypterygius (138730) Hydrorion brachypterygius, Plesiosaurus guilelmiimperatoris (132865) Plesiosaurus guilelmiimperatoris (138586) | |
| Falciferum - Bifrons | United Kingdom (England) | Plesiosaurus homalospondylus, Microcleidus macropterus (90459) | |
| Bifrons | United Kingdom (England) | Microcleidus homalospondylus (118829) Plesiosaurus homalospondylus (118471) | |
| Late/Upper Toarcian | France (Midi-Pyrenees) | Plesiosaurus tournemirensis (90424) |