Eurycleidus
Eurycleidus |
|
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
Order: | †Plesiosauria |
Family: | †Rhomaleosauridae |
Genus: | †Eurycleidus Andrews, 1922 |
Type species | |
<templatestyles src="Noitalic/styles.css"/>†Eurycleidus arcuatus (Owen, 1840)
|
|
Synonyms | |
Plesiosaurus arcuatus Owen, 1840 |
Lua error in Module:Taxonbar/candidate at line 22: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Eurycleidus is an extinct genus of large-bodied rhomaleosaurid known from the Early Jurassic period (most likely earliest Hettangian stage) of the United Kingdom. It contains a single species, E. arcuatus.[1] Like other plesiosaurs, Eurycleidus probably lived on a diet of fish, using its sharp needle-like teeth to catch prey. Its shoulder bones were fairly large, indicating a powerful forward stroke for fast swimming.
Phylogeny
Most phylogenetic analyses find the type species of the genus, Eurycleidus arcuatus, to be a relatively basal rhomaleosaurid.[1][2][3][4] A second species, E. megacephalus (Stutchbury, 1846 [originally Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus]), was reassigned to this genus by Smith (2007).[2] However, most analyses find E. megacephalus to represent an unnamed genus, which is distinct from both Eurycleidus and Rhomaleosaurus.[3][4][5] E. megacephalus was moved to its own genus Atychodracon by Adam Smith in 2015.[6]
The cladogram below shows E. arcuatus phylogenetic position among other plesiosaurs following Benson et al. (2012).[1]
Plesiosauria |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.