Microcleidus

Microcleidus is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the Plesiosauroidea. It was about the size of a medium-sized dolphin, reaching a length of 3 metres (9.8 ft). The species has 40 neck vertebrae and a short tail of 28 vertebrae. Fossils of the genus have been found in France, the Posidonia Shale in Germany and the Alum Shale Formation of England.

Microcleidus
Temporal range: Toarcian
~182–175 Ma
Fossil M. homalospondylus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: †Sauropterygia
Order: †Plesiosauria
Family: †Microcleididae
Genus: †Microcleidus
Watson, 1909
Type species
Plesiosaurus homalospondylus
(Owen, 1865)
Other species
  • M. macropterus (Seeley, 1865)
  • M. tournemirensis (Sciau et al., 1990)
  • M. melusinae Vincent et al., 2019
Synonyms

M. macropteus

  • Plesiosaurus macropteus Seeley, 1865

M. tournemirensis

  • Plesiosaurus tournemirensis Sciau et al., 1990
  • Occitanosaurus tournemirensis
    Bardet et al., 1999

Classification
Restoration
Fossil M. homalospondylus
Fossils of Microcleidus tournemirensis

Species include: Microcleidus homalospondylus (Owen 1865) and Microcleidus macropterus (Seeley 1865).

Occitanosaurus tournemirensis (originally "Plesiosaurus" tournemirensis), was named by Sciau et al. in 1990, based on a nearly complete skeleton of an animal approximately 4 meters (13 ft) long.[1] It was later found to be a species of Microcleidus.

The following cladogram follows an analysis by Ketchum & Benson, 2011.[2]

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See also

References
  1. Ketchum HF, Benson RBJ. Global interrelationships of Plesiosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses. Biological Reviews
  2. Hilary F. Ketchum and Roger B. J. Benson (2011). "A new pliosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Oxford Clay Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of England: evidence for a gracile, longirostrine grade of Early-Middle Jurassic pliosaurids". Special Papers in Palaeontology. 86: 109–129. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01083.x (inactive 2020-01-22).CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

Bibliography


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