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Contact

About the author
Email: [email protected]
Follow: @adamstuartsmith

Higher taxa

  • Sauropterygia
  • Eosauropterygia
  • Eusauropterygia
  • Pachypleurosauria
  • Nothosauria
  • Pistosauroidea
  • Pistosauria
  • Plesiosauria
  • Pliosauroidea
  • Plesiosauroidea

Families

  • Aristonectidae
  • Brachauchenidae
  • Cimoliasauridae
  • Cryptoclididae
  • Elasmosauridae
  • Leptocleididae
  • Microcleididae
  • Plesiosauridae
  • Pliosauridae
  • Polycotylidae
  • Rhomaleosauridae

Genera

The genera section is under construction, active pages are indicated in bold

  • A
  • Albertonectes
  • Alexeyisaurus
  • Alzadosaurus
  • Anningasaura
  • Aphrosaurus
  • 'Apractocleidus'
  • Archaeonectrus
  • Aristonectes
  • Attenborosaurus
  • Atychodracon
  • Augustasaurus
  • Avalonnectes
  • B
  • Bathyspondylus
  • Bishanopliosaurus
  • Bobosaurus
  • Borealonectes
  • Brachauchenius
  • Brancasaurus
  • C
  • Callawayasaurus
  • 'Cimoliasaurus'
  • Colymbosaurus
  • Cryptoclidus
  • D
  • Dolichorhynchops
  • E
  • Edgarosaurus
  • Elasmosaurus
  • Eoplesiosaurus
  • Eopolycotylus
  • Eretmosaurus
  • Eromangasaurus
  • Eurycleidus
  • F
  • Fresnosaurus
  • Futabasaurus
  • G
  • Gallardosaurus
  • Georgiasaurus
  • H
  • Hauffiosaurus
  • Hydralmosaurus
  • Hydrorion
  • Hydrotherosaurus
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • Kaiwhekea
  • Kimmerosaurus
  • Kronosaurus
  • L
  • Leptocleidus
  • Leurospondylus
  • Libonectes
  • Liopleurodon
  • Lusonectes
  • M
  • Macroplata
  • Manemergus
  • Maresaurus
  • Marmornectes
  • Mauisaurus
  • Megalneusaurus
  • Meyerasaurus
  • Microcleidus
  • Morenosaurus
  • 'Morturneria'
  • Muraenosaurus
  • N
  • Nichollssaura
  • O
  • Occitanosaurus
  • 'Ogmodirus'
  • Opallionectes
  • P
  • Pachycostasaurus
  • Pahasapasaurus
  • Palmulasaurus
  • Pantosaurus
  • Peloneustes
  • Pistosaurus
  • Plesiopleurodon
  • Plesiopterys
  • Plesiosaurus
  • Pliosaurus
  • Polycotylus
  • Polyptychodon
  • Q
  • R
  • Rhomaleosaurus
  • S
  • Seeleyosaurus
  • Scanisaurus
  • Simolestes
  • Sthenarosaurus
  • Stratesaurus
  • 'Stretosaurus'
  • Strongylokrotaphus
  • Styxosaurus
  • Sulcusuchus
  • T
  • Tatenectes
  • Terminonatator
  • Thalassiodracon
  • Thalassomedon
  • 'Thaumatosaurus'
  • Thililua
  • Trememesacleis'
  • Tricleidus
  • Trinacromerum
  • Tuarangisaurus
  • U
  • Umoonasaurus
  • V
  • Vinialesaurus
  • W
  • Wapuskanectes
  • Westphaliasaurus
  • Woolungasaurus
  • X
  • Y
  • Yuzhoupliosaurus
  • Z
  • Zarafasaura

Plesiosauridae

Classification

Sauropterygia > Eosauropterygia > Eusauropterygia >Plesiosauria > Plesiosauroidea > Plesiosauridae

Discussion

The family Plesiosauridae consists of primitive long-necked plesiosauroids all belonging to the genus Plesiosaurus. It is a rather poorly understood family, mostly because Plesiosaurus is a waste-basket taxon. This means that many different specimens have all been allocated to the genus Plesiosaurus, even when they were very different and probably deserve a name all of their own. This confusion was initiated during the 1800's when plesiosaurs were first being studied and described. Many of the species are now renamed and most of them do not even belong in the family Plesiosauridae. For example, 'Plesiosaurus' rostratus and 'Plesiosaurus' conybeari have been renamed Archaeonectrus and Attenborosaurus respectively; they are actually both pliosaurids. There are no more than three valid species of Plesiosaurus within the Plesiosauridae (Storrs, 1997)

Genera

Attenborosaurus?

Plesiosaurus

Thalassiodracon?

Popular pages

Liopleurodon

Plesiosaurus

Locomotion

Living plesiosaurs?

Crystal Palace plesiosaurs

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Further reading

Playtime


The skeletons in the site header are (from left to right): Kronosaurus (in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge), Thalassomedon (in the American Museum of Natural History, New York), Cryptoclidus (In the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow), Rhomaleosaurus (in the Natural History Museum, London), Dolichorhynchops (in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, Washington) and Thalassiodracon (in the Natural History Museum, London).

Golden Trilobite winner 2013

©2017 Copyright Adam S. Smith. This site opened in June 2001. Last updated August 2017.