Phylum Chordata | Class Reptilia Clade †Xenopsaria Order Plesiosauria | |
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Clade †LeptocleidiaKetchum and Benson, 2010 Similar Plesiosauria, Nichollssaura, Thililua, Edgarosaurus, Seeleyosaurus | ||
Leptocleidia is a clade of plesiosauroids. The group was erected in 2007 as Leptocleidoidea. Although established as a clade, the name Leptocleidoidea implies that it is a superfamily. Leptocleidoidea is placed within the superfamily Plesiosauroidea, so it was renamed Leptocleidia by Hilary F. Ketchum and Roger B. J. Benson (2010) to avoid confusion with ranks. Leptocleidia is a node-based taxon which was defined by Ketchum and Benson as "Leptocleidus superstes, Polycotylus latipinnis, their most recent common ancestor and all of its descendants".
References
Leptocleidia Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA