Plesiosauroidea

Belongs within: Eusauropterygia.

The Plesiosauroidea are a clade of mostly long-necked (sometimes extraordinarily so) marine reptiles known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

<==Plesiosauroidea
    |--Plesiosaurus de la Beche & Conybeare 1821H02, D07 [Plesiosauridae]
    |    |--P. brachypterygius Huene 1923H02
    |    |--P. costatus Owen 1840B93
    |    |--P. dolichodeirus Conybeare 1824DV06
    |    |--P. eurymerusD07
    |    |--P. guilelmiimperatoris Dames 1895B93
    |    |--P. macrocephalusD07
    |    |--P. megdeirusD07
    |    |--P. priscus Huene 1902B93
    |    `--P. winspitensisD07
    `--Euplesiosauria [Tricleidida]H02
         |  i. s.: Muraenosaurus Seeley 1874H02, DV06
         |           |--M. beloclisD07
         |           |--M. elasmosauroidesD07
         |           |--M. leedsiiD07
         |           `--M. purbeckiD07
         |         AlzadasaurusH02
         |         ThalassomedonH02
         |--ElasmosauridaeH02
         |    |  i. s.: ‘Plesiosaurus australis Owen 1861 (n. d.)CF02
         |    |         ‘Plesiosaurus’ crassicostatus Owen 1870 (n. d.)CF02
         |    |         ‘Plesiosaurus’ holmesi Hector 1874 (n. d.)CF02
         |    |         ‘Plesiosaurus’ hoodi Owen 1870 (n. d.)CF02
         |    |         ‘Plesiosaurus’ mackayi Hector 1874 (n. d.)CF02
         |    |         ‘Plesiosaurus’ macrospondylus MacCoy 1867 (n. d.) (see below for synonymy)P60
         |    |--Mauisaurus haasti Hector 1874 [incl. M. brachiolatus Hector 1874, Cimoliosaurus caudalis Hutton 1894]CF02
         |    |--Tuarangisaurus keyesi Wiffen & Moisley 1986CF02
         |    |--Occitanosaurus Bardet et al. 1999H02
         |    |    `--*O. tournemirensis (Sciau, Crochet & Mattei 1990) [=Plesiosaurus tournemirensis]H02
         |    |--Hydrotherosaurus Welles 1943H02, D07
         |    |    `--H. alexandraeD07
         |    |--MicrocleidusB93
         |    |    |--M. homalospondylus (Owen 1840)B93
         |    |    `--M. macropterus (Seeley 1865)B93
         |    |--Elasmosaurus Cope 1868D07
         |    |    |--E. morganiD07
         |    |    |--E. platyurusD07
         |    |    |--E. serpentinesD07
         |    |    `--E. snowiiD07
         |    |--Woolungasaurus Persson 1960P60
         |    |    `--*W. glendowerensis Persson 1960P60
         |    |--Hydralmosaurus serpentinusP60
         |    `--Brancasaurus brancai Wegner 1914P60
         `--+--CimoliasauridaeH02
            |    |--Cimoliasaurus Leidy 1851P60
            |    |    |--*C. magnusP60
            |    |    |--C. australisF71
            |    |    |--C. maccoyi Etheridge 1904F71
            |    |    |--C. planus (Owen 1864) [=Plesiosaurus planus]P60
            |    |    `--C. sutherlandi (MacCoy 1867) (n. d.) [=Plesiosaurus sutherlandi, Pliosaurus sutherlandi]P60
            |    `--Scanisaurus Persson 1959P60
            |         `--S. nazarowi (Bogolubov 1911)P60
            |--PolycotylidaeH02
            |    |--Polycotylus tenuis Hector 1874 (n. d.)CF02
            |    |--Trinacromerum Cragin 1888DV06
            |    |--Plesiopleurodon wellesiH02
            |    |--Edgarosaurus Druckenmiller 2002H02
            |    |    `--E. muddi Druckenmiller 2002H02
            |    `--Dolichorhynchops Williston 1903P60
            |         |--*D. osborni Williston 1903P60
            |         `--‘Cimoliosaurus’ leucoscopelus Etheridge 1897F71
            `--Cryptoclididae [Cryptocleidoidea]H02
                 |--Tricleidus Andrews 1909CF02
                 |--Turneria seymourensis Chatterjee & Small 1989B93
                 |--Kaiwhekea Cruickshank & Fordyce 2002CF02
                 |    `--*K. katiki Cruickshank & Fordyce 2002CF02
                 |--Mortuneria Chatterjee & Creisler 1994CF02
                 |    `--M. seymourensisCF02
                 |--Aristonectes Cabrera 1941CF02
                 |    `--A. parvidens Cabrera 1941B93
                 |--Colymbosaurus Seeley 1874 [incl. Kimmerosaurus Brown 1981]CF02
                 |    `--C. trochanteriusCF02
                 |--Cryptoclidus Seeley 1892CF02
                 |    |--C. eurymerus (Phillips 1871)B93
                 |    |--C. oxoniensisN85
                 |    `--C. richardsoni (Lydekker 1889)B93
                 `--Vinialesaurus caroliGFF04

‘Plesiosaurus’ macrospondylus MacCoy 1867 (n. d.) [=Cimoliasaurus macrospondylus, Pliosaurus macrospondylus]^P60

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[B93] Benton, M. J. 1993. Reptilia. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 681–715. Chapman & Hall: London.

[CF02] Cruickshank, A. R. I., & R. E. Fordyce. 2002. A new marine reptile (Sauropterygia) from New Zealand: further evidence for a Late Cretaceous austral radiation of cryptoclidid plesiosaurs. Palaeontology 45 (3): 557–575.

[DV06] Dalla Vecchia, F. M. 2006. A new sauropterygian reptile with plesiosaurian affinity from the Late Triassic of Italy. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 112 (2): 207–225.

[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.

[F71] Fletcher, H. O. 1971. Catalogue of type specimens of fossils in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Australian Museum Memoir 13: 1–167.

[GFF04] Gasparini, Z., M. Fernández & M. de la Fuente. 2004. A new pterosaur from the Jurassic of Cuba. Palaeontology 47: 919–927.

[H02] Haubold, H. 2002. Literaturbericht: Ichthyosaurier und Sauropterygier. Zbl. Geol. Paläont. Teil II 5-6: 367–403.

[N85] Norman, D. 1985. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Salamander Books: London.

[P60] Persson, P. O. 1960. Lower Cretaceous plesiosaurians (Rept.) from Australia. Lunds Universitets Ärsskrift. N. F. Avd. 2. 56 (12): 1–23, 3 pls.