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Nothosaur
Nothosaurs (order Nothosauroidea) were Triassic marine sauropterygian reptiles that may have lived like seals of today, catching food in water but coming ashore on rocks and beaches. They averaged about in length, with a long body and tail.F. v. Huene. 1956. Paläontologie und Phylogenie der Niederen Tetrapoden aleontology and Phylogeny of the Lower Tetrapods ''VEB Gustav Fischer Verlang, Jena'' 1-716 The feet were paddle-like, and are known to have been webbed in life, to help power the animal when swimming. The neck was quite long, and the head was elongated and flattened, and relatively small in relation to the body. The margins of the long jaws were equipped with numerous sharp outward-pointing teeth, indicating a diet of fish and squid. Taxonomy The Nothosauroidea consist of two suborders: * Pachypleurosauria, small primitive forms, and * Nothosauria (including two families Nothosauridae and Simosauridae), which evolved from pachypleurosaurs. The placement of pachyple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nothosaurus
''Nothosaurus'' ("false lizard", from the Ancient Greek (), "illegitimate", and (), "lizard") is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile from the Triassic period, approximately 240–210 million years ago, with fossils being distributed from North Africa and Europe to China. It is the best known member of the nothosaur order. Description ''Nothosaurus'' was a semi-oceanic animal which probably had a lifestyle similar to that of today's seals. It was about , with long, webbed toes and possibly a fin on its tail. However, some species such as ''N. zhangi'' and ''N. giganteus'' were larger, up to . When swimming, ''Nothosaurus'' would use its tail, legs, and webbed feet to propel and steer it through the water. The skull was broad and flat, with long jaws, lined with needle teeth, it probably caught fish and other marine creatures. Trackways attributed, partly by process of elimination, to a nothosaur, that were reported from Yunnan, China in June 2014, were interpreted as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nothosauridae
Nothosauridae are an extinct family of carnivorous aquatic sauropterygian reptiles from the Triassic time period of China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, and northern Africa. Phylogeny The cladogram shown below follows Rieppel (1998)'s phylogenetic analysis of nothosaurids (bold terminal taxa contain living species). Most of these relations are still considered correct today, but despite Rieppel (1998)'s referral of ''Ceresiosaurus'' and ''Silvestrosaurus'' to ''Lariosaurus'', some authors still consider them separate and many additional species have been named since this analysis. A species level phylogenetic analysis of Nothosauridae was performed by Liu ''et al.'' (2014), and included all known valid species of the family apart from '' Lariosaurus stensioi'' (type of ''Micronothosaurus''), '' Nothosaurus cymatosauroides'', and '' Ceresiosaurus lanzi''. The resultant topology is similar to the one obtained in Rieppel (1998) if the new addi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nothosaurs
Nothosaurs (order Nothosauroidea) were Triassic marine sauropterygian reptiles that may have lived like pinniped, seals of today, catching food in water but coming ashore on rocks and beaches. They averaged about in length, with a long body and tail.F. v. Huene. 1956. Paläontologie und Phylogenie der Niederen Tetrapoden [Paleontology and Phylogeny of the Lower Tetrapods]. ''VEB Gustav Fischer Verlang, Jena'' 1-716 The feet were paddle-like, and are known to have been webbed in life, to help power the animal when swimming. The neck was quite long, and the head was elongated and flattened, and relatively small in relation to the body. The margins of the long jaws were equipped with numerous sharp outward-pointing teeth, indicating a diet of fish and squid. Taxonomy The Nothosauroidea consist of two suborders: * Pachypleurosauria, small primitive forms, and * Nothosauria (including two families Nothosauridae and Simosauridae), which evolved from pachypleurosaurs. The placement of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiosaur
The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period, possibly in the Rhaetian stage, about 203 million years ago. They became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until their disappearance due to the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period, about 66 million years ago. They had a worldwide oceanic distribution, and some species at least partly inhabited freshwater environments. Plesiosaurs were among the first fossil reptiles discovered. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, scientists realised how distinctive their build was and they were named as a separate order in 1835. The first plesiosaurian genus, the eponymous ''Plesiosaurus'', was named in 1821. Since then, more than a hundred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropterygia
Sauropterygia ("lizard flippers") is an extinct taxon of diverse, aquatic reptiles that developed from terrestrial ancestors soon after the end-Permian extinction and flourished during the Triassic before all except for the Plesiosauria became extinct at the end of that period. The plesiosaurs would continue to diversify until the end of the Mesozoic. Sauropterygians are united by a radical adaptation of their pectoral girdle, adapted to support powerful flipper strokes. Some later sauropterygians, such as the pliosaurs, developed a similar mechanism in their pelvis. Uniquely among reptiles, sauropterygians moved their tail vertically like modern cetaceans and sirenians. Origins and evolution The earliest sauropterygians appeared about 247 million years ago (Ma), at the start of the Middle Triassic: the first definite sauropterygian with exact stratigraphic datum lies within the Spathian division of the Olenekian era in South China. Early examples were small (around 60 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simosauridae
''Simosaurus'' is an extinct genus of marine reptile within the superorder Sauropterygia from the Middle Triassic of central Europe. Fossils have been found in deposits in France and Germany that are roughly 230 million years old. It is usually classified as a nothosaur, but has also been considered a pachypleurosaur or a more primitive form of sauropterygian. Description ''Simosaurus'' grew from in length. It has a blunt, flattened head and large openings behind its eyes called upper temporal fossae. These fossae are larger than the eye sockets but not as big as those of other nothosaurs. ''Simosaurus'' also differs from other nothosaurs in that it has blunt teeth that were probably used for crushing hard-shelled organisms. The jaw joint is set far back, projecting beyond the main portion of the skull. History The type species of ''Simosaurus'', ''S. gaillardoti'', was named by German paleontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1842. In the same year, von Meyer als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lariosaurus
''Lariosaurus'' is an extinct genus of nothosaurid from the Middle Triassic (late Anisian to late Ladinian stage) of central and western Europe and China. With a length of just , it was one of the smallest known nothosaurs. First discovered at Perledo on the Lake Como in 1830, it was named in 1847 by Curioni, its name meaning "Lizard from Larius", the ancient name of the lake. This makes it one of the earliest studied reptiles from the Alps. It is known from an almost complete skeleton holotype and several other fairly complete fossils. The nothosaur ''Eupodosaurus'', initially classified as a stegosaurian dinosaur, is now considered synonymous with ''Lariosaurus''. In 1998 Rieppel synonymised ''Lariosaurus, Silvestrosaurus'' and '' Ceresiosaurus,'' but this is disputed by many authors and they are usually considered close relatives. Features For a nothosaur, ''Lariosaurus'' was primitive, possessing a short neck and small flippers in comparison to its relatives. This would ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brevicaudosaurus
''Brevicaudosaurus'' is an extinct genus of nothosauroid marine sauropterygian from the Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma and ... of China. The type species is ''Brevicaudosaurus jiyangshanensis.'' References {{Taxonbar, from=Q109535729 Nothosauroids ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachypleurosauria
left, 220px, '' Pachypleurosaurus'' Pachypleurosauria is an extinct clade of primitive sauropterygian reptiles that vaguely resembled aquatic lizards, and were limited to the Triassic period. They were elongate animals, ranging in size from , with small heads, long necks, paddle-like limbs, and long, deep tails. The limb girdles are greatly reduced, so it is unlikely these animals could move about on land. The widely spaced peg-like teeth project at the front of the jaws, indicating that these animals fed on fish. In the species ''Prosantosaurus'', it was observed that they fed on small fishes and crustaceans which they devoured entirely and that its teeth regrew after they broke off. This was the first observation of tooth replacement in a European pachypleurosaur, the only other discovery of such an event was made in China. Classification Pachypleurosaurs were originally and are often still included within the Nothosauroidea (Carroll 1988, Benton 2004). In some more recent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachypleurosaur
left, 220px, '' Pachypleurosaurus'' Pachypleurosauria is an extinct clade of primitive sauropterygian reptiles that vaguely resembled aquatic lizards, and were limited to the Triassic period. They were elongate animals, ranging in size from , with small heads, long necks, paddle-like limbs, and long, deep tails. The limb girdles are greatly reduced, so it is unlikely these animals could move about on land. The widely spaced peg-like teeth project at the front of the jaws, indicating that these animals fed on fish. In the species ''Prosantosaurus'', it was observed that they fed on small fishes and crustaceans which they devoured entirely and that its teeth regrew after they broke off. This was the first observation of tooth replacement in a European pachypleurosaur, the only other discovery of such an event was made in China. Classification Pachypleurosaurs were originally and are often still included within the Nothosauroidea (Carroll 1988, Benton 2004). In some more recent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dawazisaurus
''Dawazisaurus'' is an extinct genus of sauropterygian of possible nothosauroid affinities from the Middle Triassic Guanling Formation in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig .... The type species is ''D. brevis.'' References {{Taxonbar, from=Q109561669 Nothosaurs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceresiosaurus
''Ceresiosaurus'' is an extinct aquatic genus of lariosaurine nothosaurid sauropterygian known from the Middle Triassic (Anisian-Ladinian boundary) of Monte San Giorgio, southern Switzerland and northern Italy. Ceresiosaurus, meaning "Lizard of Ceresio" (Ceresio is the name of the Lake Lugano, in Switzerland). The type species, ''Ceresiosaurus calcagnii'', was named by Bernhard Peyer in 1931. ''C. calcagnii'' is known from both the Cava superiore and Cava inferiore beds of the Lower Meride Limestone at Monte San Giorgio, dating to the latest Anisian of the Middle Triassic. Rieppel (1998) suggested that the back then monospecific genus ''Ceresiosaurus'', is a junior synonym of the better known ''Lariosaurus'', yet he kept it type species as a separate species under the new combination ''L. calcagnii''. In 2004, however, this synonymy was objected by Hänni who described and name a second species of ''Ceresiosaurus'', ''C. lanzi'' - a separation supported by several other authors si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
