Cetiosauridae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of
sauropod
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their bo ...
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s which was first proposed by
Richard Lydekker
Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history.
Biography
Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker, ...
in 1888. While traditionally a
wastebasket taxon
Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined ...
containing various unrelated species, some recent studies have found that it may represent a natural
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
.
Alongside ''
Cetiosaurus
''Cetiosaurus'' () meaning 'whale lizard', from the Greek '/ meaning 'sea monster' (later, 'whale') and '/ meaning 'lizard', is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period, living about 168 million years ago in what ...
'' from the Middle Jurassic of Britain, other taxa recently assigned to the family include ''
Lapparentosaurus
''Lapparentosaurus'' is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. Its fossils were found in Madagascar (Isalo III Formation). The type species is ''L. madagascariensis''.
Discovery and naming
In 1895 Richard Lydekker named a new s ...
'' from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, and ''
Patagosaurus
''Patagosaurus'' (meaning "Patagonia lizard") is an extinct genus of eusauropod dinosaur from the Middle-Late Toarcian of Patagonia, Argentina. It was first found in deposits of the Cañadón Asfalto Formation, which date to around 179 to 177&n ...
'' from the late Early-Middle Jurassic of Patagonia,
which share
autapomorphies
In phylogenetics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to t ...
with ''Cetiosaurus'' that are not shared by other
eusauropods. Additionally, at least one study has suggested that the
mamenchisaurids
Mamenchisauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs belonging to Eusauropoda known from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia and Africa. Some members of the group reached gigantic sizes, amongst the largest of all sauropods.
Classification
T ...
may represent a sub-group of the cetiosaurids, which would be termed
Mamenchisaurinae.
References
Eusauropoda
Toarcian first appearances
Late Jurassic extinctions
Prehistoric dinosaur families
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