Leptocleididae
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Berriasian–Albian
Leptocleidus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: †Sauropterygia
Order: †Plesiosauria
Clade: †Leptocleidia
Family: †Leptocleididae
White, 1940
Genera

Leptocleididae is a family of small-sized plesiosaurs that lived during the Early Cretaceous period (early Berriasian to early Albian stage).[1] They had small bodies with small heads and short necks. Leptocleidus and Umoonasaurus had round bodies and triangle-shaped heads. Leptocleidids have been found in what were shallow nearshore, freshwater and brackish habitats.[2] Hilary F. Ketchum and Roger B. J. Benson (2010), transferred Brancasaurus, Kaiwhekea, Nichollssaura and Thililua to this family.[3] However, Ketchum and Benson (2011) reassigned Kaiwhekea and Thililua to their original positions, as an elasmosaurid and a polycotylid, respectively.[1]

Phylogeny

Leptocleididae

Cladogram based on Ketchum and Benson (2011):[1]

Leptocleididae

References

  1. ^ a b c Ketchum, Hilary F.; Benson, R. B. J. (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.
  2. ^ Bunker, Georgina; Martill, David M.; Smith, Roy E.; Zouhri, Samir; Longrich, Nick (1 December 2022). "Plesiosaurs from the fluvial Kem Kem Group (mid-Cretaceous) of eastern Morocco and a review of non-marine plesiosaurs". Cretaceous Research. 140: 105310. Bibcode:2022CrRes.14005310B. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105310. S2CID 250964381.
  3. ^ Ketchum, H. F.; Benson, R. B. J. (2010). "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses". Biological Reviews. 85 (2): 361–392. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00107.x. PMID 20002391. S2CID 12193439.


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