Rank Genus | Class Sauropsida Phylum Chordata Order Plesiosauria | |
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Similar Hydrorion, Seeleyosaurus, Eretmosaurus, Sthenarosaurus, Libonectes | ||
Microcleidus is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the plesiosauroidea suborder. It was about the size of a medium sized dolphin, reaching a length of 3 metres (9.8 ft). The species has 40 neck vertebrae and a short tail of 28 vertebrae.
Classification
Species include: Microcleidus homalospondylus (Owen 1865) and Microcleidus macropterus (Seeley 1865).
Occitanosaurus tournemirensis (originally "Plesiosaurus" tournemirensis), was named by Sciau et al. in 1990, based on a nearly complete skeleton of an animal approximately 4 meters (13 ft) long. It was later found to be a species of Microcleidus.
The following cladogram follows an analysis by Ketchum & Benson, 2011.
References
Microcleidus Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA