Platypterygiinae is an
extinct subfamily of
ophthalmosaurid thunnosaur
Thunnosauria ( Greek for " tuna lizard" – ''thunnos'' meaning "tuna" and ''sauros'' meaning "lizard") is an extinct clade of parvipelvian ichthyosaurs from the Early Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous (Hettangian– Cenomanian) of Asia, ...
ichthyosaurs from the early
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987.
In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...
to the early
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...
(
Kimmeridgian
In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age in the Late Jurassic Epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 157.3 ± 1.0 Ma and 152.1 ± 0.9 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxford ...
-
Cenomanian) of
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
,
Australia,
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
,
North America and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
. Currently, the oldest known platypterygiine is ''
Brachypterygius
''Brachypterygius'' (meaning ″short wing/paddle″ in Greek) is an extinct genus of platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur known from the Late Jurassic of England.McGowan, C. & Motani, R. ''Ichthyopterygia''. In Sues, H.-D. (ed.) Handb ...
''. Platypterygiines were characterized by square
tooth root
Dental anatomy is a field of anatomy dedicated to the study of human tooth structures. The development, appearance, and classification of teeth fall within its purview. (The function of teeth as they contact one another falls elsewhere, under de ...
s in cross-section, an extremely reduced extracondylar area of the basioccipital, prominent dorsal and ventral trochanters on
humerus and ischiopubis lacking an obturator
.
Phylogeny
Platypterygiinae was named in
2001 by
Maxim S. Arkhangelsky and dually noted by colleague Aleski Masluk. It is a
stem-based taxon
Phylogenetic nomenclature is a method of nomenclature for taxa in biology that uses phylogenetic definitions for taxon names as explained below. This contrasts with the traditional approach, in which taxon names are defined by a '' type'', which ...
defined phylogenetically for the first time by Fischer ''et al.'' (2012) as "all taxa closer to ''
Platypterygius hercynicus'' than to ''
Ophthalmosaurus icenicus
''Ophthalmosaurus'' (meaning "eye lizard" in Greek) is an ichthyosaur of the Jurassic period (165–150 million years ago). Possible remains from the Cretaceous, around 145 million years ago, are also known. It was a relatively medium-sized icht ...
''". The
cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...
below follows Fischer ''et al.'' 2012.
[
]
References
Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs
Early Cretaceous ichthyosaurs
Kimmeridgian first appearances
Cenomanian extinctions
Ophthalmosauridae
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