List of plesiosaur genera

This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Plesiosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful (nomen dubium), or were not formally published (nomen nudum), as well as junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that are no longer considered plesiosaurs. The list currently includes 190 genera.

Scope and terminology

There is no official, canonical list of plesiosaur genera but one of the most thorough attempts can be found on the Plesiosauria section of Mikko Haaramo's Phylogeny Archive;[1] also pertinent is the Plesiosaur Genera section at Adam Stuart Smith's Plesiosaur Directory.[2]

Naming conventions and terminology follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Technical terms used include:

• Junior synonym: A name which describes the same taxon as a previously published name. If two or more genera are formally designated and the type specimens are later assigned to the same genus, the first to be published (in chronological order) is the senior synonym, and all other instances are junior synonyms. Senior synonyms are generally used, except by special decision of the ICZN, but junior synonyms cannot be used again, even if deprecated. Junior synonymy is often subjective, unless the genera described were both based on the same type specimen.
• Nomen nudum (Latin for "naked name"): A name that has appeared in print but has not yet been formally published by the standards of the ICZN. Nomina nuda (the plural form) are invalid, and are therefore not italicized as a proper generic name would be. If the name is later formally published, that name is no longer a nomen nudum and will be italicized on this list. Often, the formally published name will differ from any nomina nuda that describe the same specimen. In this case, these nomina nuda will be deleted from this list in favor of the published name.
• Preoccupied name: A name that is formally published, but which has already been used for another taxon. This second use is invalid (as are all subsequent uses) and the name must be replaced. As preoccupied names are not valid generic names, they will also go unitalicized on this list.
• Nomen dubium (Latin for "dubious name"): A name describing a fossil with no unique diagnostic features. As this can be an extremely subjective and controversial designation, this term is not used on this list.

The list

Genus Authors Year Status Age Location Notes Abyssosaurus[3] Berezin 2011 Valid. eK Europe Acostasaurus[4] Gómez-Pérez Noè 2017 Valid. eK South America Albertonectes[5] Kubo Mitchell Henderson 2012 Valid. lK North America Alexandronectes Otero et al. 2016 Valid. lK Australasia Alexeyisaurus Sennikov Arkhangelsky 2010 Valid. lT Europe "Alzadasaurus" Welles 1943 Anguanax[6] Cau Fanti 2015 Valid. lJ Europe Anningasaura[7] Vincent Benson 2012 Valid. eJ Europe Apatomerus Williston 1903 Valid. eK Aphrosaurus Welles 1943 Valid. lK "Apractocleidus" Smellie 1916 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Cryptoclidus. Aptychodon Reuss 1855 Valid. lK Archaeonectrus Owen 1865 Valid. eJ Europe Arminisaurus Sachs Kear 2018 Valid. eJ Europe Aristonectes Cabrera 1941 Valid. lK South America, Antarctica Attenborosaurus Bakker 1993 Valid. eJ Europe Atychodracon Smith 2015 Valid. Europe Avalonnectes[8] Benson Evans Druckenmiller 2012 Valid. eJ Europe Bathyspondylus Delair 1982 Valid. lJ Bishanopliosaurus Dong 1980 Valid. eJ Bobosaurus Dalla Vecchia 2006 Valid. lT Borealonectes Sato Wu 1980 Valid. mJ Brachauchenius Williston 1903 Valid. eK to lK Brancasaurus Wegner 1914 Valid. eK Brimosaurus Leidy 1855 Valid. lK Callawayasaurus Carpenter 1999 Valid. eK Cardiocorax[9] Araújo et al. 2015 Valid. lK Africa Ceraunosaurus Thurmond 1968 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Trinacromerum. Cimoliasaurus Leidy 1851 Valid. lK Colymbosaurus Seeley 1874 Valid. lJ Crymocetus Cope 1869 Valid. eK Cryonectes[10] Vincent Bardet Mattioli 2013 Valid. eJ Europe Cryptoclidus Seeley 1892 Valid. mJ Europe Discosaurus Leidy 1851 Valid. Djupedalia[11] Knutsen Druckenmiller Hurum 2012 Valid. lJ Europe Dolichorhynchops Williston 1903 Valid. North America Dravidosaurus Yadagiri Ayyasami 1979 Nomen dubium. Edgarosaurus Druckenmiller 2002 Valid. eK North America Elasmosaurus Cope 1868 Valid. North America Asia Eoplesiosaurus[8] Benson Evans Druckenmiller 2012 Valid. eJ Europe Eopolycotylus[12] Albright Gillette Titus 2007 Valid. Eretmosaurus Seeley 1874 Valid. Eromangasaurus Kear 2005 Valid. Eurycleidus Andrews 1922 Valid. Eurysaurus Gaudry 1878 Valid. Fresnosaurus Welles 1943 Valid. Futabasaurus Sato Hasegawa Manabe 2006 Valid. lK Asia Also a theropod nomen nudum ("Futabasaurus"). Gallardosaurus Gasparini 2009 Valid. "Georgia" Otschev 1976 Preoccupied. Preoccupied by a genus of mollusk, renamed Georgiasaurus. Georgiasaurus Otschev 1878 Valid. Goniosaurus Meyer 1860 Valid. Gronausaurus[13] Hampe 2013 Valid. eK Europe Hastanectes[14] Benson et al. 2012 Valid. eK Europe Hauffiosaurus O'Keefe 2001 Valid. Hydralmosaurus Welles 1943 Valid. Hydrorion Grobmann 2006 Valid. Hydrotherosaurus Welles 1943 Valid. lK North America Ischyrodon von Meyer 1838 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Liopleurodon. Kaiwhekea Cruickshank Fordyce 2002 Valid. lJ Europe Kawanectes[15] O'Gorman 2016 Valid. lK South America Kimmerosaurus Brown 1981 Valid. Kronosaurus Longman 1924 Valid. Australia, South America Lagenanectes Sachs Hornung Kear 2017 Valid. eK Europe Leivanectes Páramo-Fonseca O'Gorman Gasparini Padilla Parra Ruge 2019 Valid. eK South America Leptocleidus Andrews 1922 Valid. eK Europe, Africa, Australia Leurospondylus Brown 1913 Valid. Libonectes Carpenter 1997 Valid. Lindwurmia Vincent Storrs 2019 Valid. eJ Europe Liopleurodon Sauvage 1873 Valid. Luetkesaurus Kiprijanoff 1883 Valid. Luskhan Fischer et al. 2017 Valid. eK Europe Lusonectes Smith Araújo Mateus 2011 Valid. eJ Europe Macroplata Swinton 1930 Valid. eJ Europe Makhaira[16] Fischer et al. 2015 Valid. eK Manemergus Buchy Metayer Frey 2005 Valid. Maresaurus Gasparini 1997 Valid. Marmornectes Ketchum Benson 2011 Valid. mJ Europe Mauisaurus Hector 1874 Valid. Mauriciosaurus Frey et al. 2017 Valid. lK North America Megacephalosaurus[17] Schumacher Carpenter Everhart 2013 Valid. lK North America Megalneusaurus Knight 1898 Valid. Meyerasaurus Smith Vincent 2010 Valid. eJ Europe Microcleidus Watson 1911 Valid. eJ Morenosaurus Welles 1943 Valid. Morturneria Chatterjee Creisler 1994 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Aristonectes. Muraenosaurus Seeley 1874 Valid. mJ Europe Nakonanectes Serratos Druckenmiller Benson 2017 Valid. lK North America Nichollssaura[18] Druckenmiller Russell 2009 Valid. eK North America "Nichollsia" Druckenmiller Russell 2008 Preoccupied. Preoccupied by a genus of isopod, renamed Nichollssaura. Occitanosaurus Bardet Fernandez Garcia-Ramos Superbiola Pinuela Ruiz-Omenaca Vincent 2008 Valid. Ogmodirus Williston Moodie 1917 Valid. Orophosaurus Cope 1851 Valid. Opallionectes Kear 2006 Valid. Pachycostasaurus Cruickshank Martill 1996 Valid. Pahasapasaurus Schumacher 2007 Valid. "Palmula"[12] Albright Gillette Titus 2007 Preoccupied. Preoccupied by a genus of foraminifer, renamed Palmulasaurus. Palmulasaurus Albright Gillete Titus 2007 Valid. Pantosaurus Marsh 1893 Valid. Peloneustes Lydekker 1889 Valid. mJ Europe Peyerus Stromer 1935 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Leptocleidus. Picrocleidus Andrews 1909 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Muraenosaurus. Piptomerus Cope 1887 Valid. Piratosaurus Leidy 1865 Valid. Plesiopleurodon Carpenter 1996 Valid. Plesiopterys O'Keefe 2004 Valid. Plesiosaurus Conybeare 1821 Valid. eJ Europe Pliosaurus Owen 1841 Valid. Polycotylus Cope 1869 Valid. Polyptychodon Owen 1841 Valid. Rhaeticosaurus[19] Wintrich et al. 2017 Valid. lT Europe Rhomaleosaurus Seeley 1871 Valid. eJ Europe Sachicasaurus Páramo-Fonseca Benavides-Cabra Gutiérrez 2018 Valid. eK South America Scanisaurus Persson 1959 Valid. Seeleyosaurus White 1940 Valid. eJ Europe Simolestes Andrews 1909 Valid. Sinopliosaurus Young 1944 Valid. eK Spitrasaurus[20] Knutsen Druckenmiller Hurum 2012 Valid. lJ Europe Spondylosaurus Fisher 1845 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Pliosaurus. Stratesaurus[8] Benson Evans Druckenmiller 2012 Valid. eJ Europe Sulcusuchus Gasparini Spalletti 1992 Valid. lK South America Stenorhynchosaurus Páramo et al. 2016 Valid. eK South America Stereosaurus Seeley 1869 Valid. Sthenarosaurus Watson 1911 Valid. eJ "Stretosaurus" Tarlo 1959 Invalid. Type specimen is undiagnostic and should be assigned to Thalassophonea indeterminate.[21][22] Strongylokrotaphus Novozhilov 1964 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Pliosaurus. Styxosaurus Welles 1952 Valid. lK North America Taphrosaurus Cope 1870 Valid. lK "Tatenectes"[23] Knight 1900 Valid. Terminonatator Sato 2003 Valid. lK Thalassiodracon Storrs Taylor 1996 Valid. lT-eJ Europe Thalassiosaurus Welles 1953 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Styxosaurus. Thalassomedon Welles 1943 Valid. lK North America Thalassonomosaurus Welles 1943 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Styxosaurus. Thaumatodracon Smith Araújo 2017 Valid. lK Europe "Thaumatosaurus" Meyer 1841 Invalid. Holotype is not diagnostic and can be referred to Pliosauroidea indet at best. Thililua Bardet Suberbiola Jalil 2003 Valid. lK "Tremamesacleis" White 1940 Jr. synonym Junior synonym of Muraenosaurus. Tricleidus Andrews 1909 Valid. Trinacromerum Cragin 1888 Valid. lK North America Tuarangisaurus Wiffen Moisley 1986 Valid. lK "Turneria" Chatterjee Small 1989 Preoccupied. Preoccupied by a genus of ant, renamed Morturneria which is now recognised as a junior synonym of Aristonectes. Umoonasaurus Kear Schroeder Lee 2006 Valid. eK Australia Uronautes[24] Cope 1870 Valid. lK Vectocleidus[14] Benson et al. 2012 Valid. eK Europe Vegasaurus[25] O'Gorman Salgado Olivero Marenssi 2015 Valid. lK Antarctica Vinialesaurus[26] Gasparini Bardet Vinent Iturralde 2002 Valid. lJ Westphaliasaurus Schwermann Sander 2011 Valid. eJ Europe Woolungasaurus Persson 1960 Valid. eK Yuzhoupliosaurus[27] Zhang 1985 Valid. mJ[27] "Zahrisaurus" Malkani 2019 Dubious. lK Asia Zarafasaura Vincent Pereda-Suberbiola Bouya Amaghzaz Meslouh 2011 Valid. lK Africa		Aristonectes. Attenborosaurus. Atychodracon. Cryptoclidus. Dolichorhynchops. Edgarosaurus. Elasmosaurus. Futabasaurus. Kaiwhekea. Kronosaurus. Leptocleidus. Liopleurodon. Macroplata. Microcleidus. Muraenosaurus. Nichollssaura. Peloneustes. Plesiopleurodon. Plesiosaurus. Pliosaurus. Polyptychodon. Rhomaleosaurus. Seeleyosaurus. Simolestes. Styxosaurus. Thalassiodracon. Thalassomedon. Trinacromerum. Umoonasaurus.

See also

Sauropterygia Plesiosaur

List of dinosaurs List of ichthyosaurs List of mosasaurs List of pterosaurs

Footnotes

1. See Haaramo, Plesiosauria.
2. See Smith, Plesiosaur Genera.
3. A. Yu. Berezin (2011). "A new plesiosaur of the family Aristonectidae from the early cretaceous of the center of the Russian platform". Paleontological Journal. 45 (6): 648–660. doi:10.1134/S0031030111060037.
4. Marcela Gómez-Pérez; Leslie F. Noè (2017). "Cranial anatomy of a new pliosaurid Acostasaurus pavachoquensis from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia, South America". Palaeontographica Abteilung A. 310 (1–2): 5–42. doi:10.1127/pala/2017/0068.
5. Tai Kubo; Mark T. Mitchell & Donald M. Henderson (2012). "Albertonectes vanderveldei, a new elasmosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (3): 557–572. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.658124.
6. Andrea Cau & Federico Fanti (2015). "High evolutionary rates and the origin of the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (Middle-Upper Jurassic of Italy) reptiles". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. Online edition (7): 952–962. doi:10.1080/08912963.2015.1073726.
7. Peggy Vincent & Roger B. J. Benson (2012). "Anningasaura, a basal plesiosaurian (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Lower Jurassic of Lyme Regis, United Kingdom". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (5): 1049–1063. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.686467.
8. Roger B. J. Benson; Mark Evans & Patrick S. Druckenmiller (2012). "High Diversity, Low Disparity and Small Body Size in Plesiosaurs (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary". PLoS ONE. 7 (3): e31838. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031838. PMC 3306369. PMID 22438869.
9. R. Araújo; M.J. Polcyn; A.S. Schulp; O. Mateus; L.L. Jacobs; A. Olímpio Gonçalves & M.-L. Morais (2015). "A new elasmosaurid from the early Maastrichtian of Angola and the implications of girdle morphology on swimming style in plesiosaurs". Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw. 94 (1): 109–120. doi:10.1017/njg.2014.44.
10. Peggy Vincent; Nathalie Bardet & Emanuela Mattioli (2013). "A new pliosaurid from the Pliensbachian (Early Jurassic) of Normandy (Northern France)". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. in press. doi:10.4202/app.2011.0113.
11. Espen M. Knutsen; Patrick S. Druckenmiller & Jørn H. Hurum (2012). "A new plesiosauroid (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Agardhfjellet Formation (Middle Volgian) of central Spitsbergen, Norway" (PDF). Norwegian Journal of Geology. 92 (2–3): 213–234.
12. PLESIOSAURS FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS (CENOMANIAN–TURONIAN) TROPIC SHALE OF SOUTHERN UTAH, PART 2: POLYCOTYLIDAE L. Barry Albright Iii, David D. Gillette, and Alan L. Titus, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2007, 27(1):41-58
13. Oliver Hampe (2013). "The forgotten remains of a leptocleidid plesiosaur (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauroidea) from the Early Cretaceous of Gronau (Münsterland, Westphalia, Germany)". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 87 (4): 473–491. doi:10.1007/s12542-013-0175-3.
14. Roger B. J. Benson; Hilary F. Ketchum; Darren Naish & Langan E. Turner (2012). "A new leptocleidid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Vectis Formation (Early Barremian–early Aptian; Early Cretaceous) of the Isle of Wight and the evolution of Leptocleididae, a controversial clade". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. in press (2): 233–250. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.634444.
15. José P. O'Gorman (2016). "A small body sized non-aristonectine elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia with comments on the relationships of the Patagonian and Antarctic elasmosaurids". Ameghiniana. in press (3): 245–268. doi:10.5710/AMGH.29.11.2015.2928.
16. Valentin Fischer; Maxim S. Arkhangelsky; Ilya M. Stenshin; Gleb N. Uspensky; Nikolay G. Zverkov & Roger B. J. Benson (2015). "Peculiar macrophagous adaptations in a new Cretaceous pliosaurid". Royal Society Open Science. 2 (12): 150552. doi:10.1098/rsos.150552. PMC 4807462. PMID 27019740.
17. Bruce A. Schumacher; Kenneth Carpenter & Michael J. Everhart (2013). "A new Cretaceous Pliosaurid (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Carlile Shale (middle Turonian) of Russell County, Kansas". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (3): 613–628. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.722576.
18. Druckenmiller, Patrick S.; Russell, Anthony P. (2009). "The new plesiosaurian genus Nichollssaura from Alberta, Canada: replacement name for the preoccupied genus Nichollsia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (1): 276. doi:10.1080/02724634.2009.10010379.
19. Tanja Wintrich; Shoji Hayashi; Alexandra Houssaye; Yasuhisa Nakajima; P. Martin Sander (2017). "A Triassic plesiosaurian skeleton and bone histology inform on evolution of a unique body plan". Science Advances. 3 (12): e1701144. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1701144. PMC 5729018. PMID 29242826.
20. Espen M. Knutsen; Patrick S. Druckenmiller & Jørn H. Hurum (2012). "Two new species of long-necked plesiosaurians (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Upper Jurassic (Middle Volgian) Agardhfjellet Formation of central Spitsbergen" (PDF). Norwegian Journal of Geology. 92 (2–3): 187–212.
21. Espen M. Knutsen (2012). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Pliosaurus (Owen, 1841a) Owen, 1841b". Norwegian Journal of Geology 92 (2–3): 259–276. ISSN 0029-196X. Low resolution pdf High resolution pdf
22. Benson, R. B. J.; Evans, M.; Smith, A. S.; Sassoon, J.; Moore-Faye, S.; Ketchum, H. F.; Forrest, R. (2013). "A Giant Pliosaurid Skull from the Late Jurassic of England". In Butler, Richard J. PLoS ONE 8 (5): e65989. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065989. edit
23. O'Keefe, F.R. & Street, H.P. 2009; "Osteology of the Cryptocleidoid Plesiosaur Tatenectes laramiensis, with Comments on the Taxonomic Status of the Cimoliasauridae" Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(1):48–57
24. E. D. Cope. 1876. On some extinct reptiles and Batrachia from the Judith River and Fox Hills Beds of Montana. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 28:340-359
25. José P. O’Gorman; Leonardo Salgado; Eduardo B. Olivero & Sergio A. Marenssi (2015). "Vegasaurus molyi, gen. et sp. nov. (Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae), from the Cape Lamb Member (lower Maastrichtian) of the Snow Hill Island Formation, Vega Island, Antarctica, and remarks on Wedellian Elasmosauridae". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35 (3): e931285. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.931285.
26. Gasparini, Z., Bardet, N., and Iturralde-Vinent, M. (2002). "A new cryptoclidid plesiosaur from the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) of Cuba Archived 2010-07-02 at the Wayback Machine". Geobios 35(2): 201-211.
27. Zhang, Y (1985). A new plesiosaur from Middle Jurassic of Sichuan Basin. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 23: 235-240.

References

• Haaramo, Mikko (15 November 2005). "Plesiosauria". Mikko's Phylogeny Archive. Archived from the original on 2 September 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2006.
• Smith, Adam Stuart. "Plesiosaur Genera". The Plesiosaur Directory. Archived from the original on 21 March 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2006.