Pistosaurus
Pistosaurus |
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Fossil | |
Scientific classification ![]() |
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Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
Family: | †Pistosauridae Zittel, 1887 |
Genus: | †Pistosaurus Meyer, 1839 |
Type species | |
<templatestyles src="Noitalic/styles.css"/>†Pistosaurus longaevus Meyer, 1839
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Pistosaurus is an extinct genus of aquatic sauropterygian reptile closely related to plesiosaurs. Fossils have been found in France and Germany, and date to the Middle Triassic. It contains a single species, Pistosaurus longaevus
Description
Pistosaurus was about Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). long, and had a body form resembling that of nothosaurs, aquatic reptiles that flourished during the Triassic. However, the vertebral column was stiff, like that of a plesiosaur, implying that the animal used its paddle-like flippers to propel itself through the water, as the plesiosaurs probably did. The head also resembled that of a plesiosaur, but with the primitive palate of a nothosaur, and numerous, sharp teeth ideal for catching and eating fish.[1]
Classification
Although it is unlikely that Pistosaurus was a direct ancestor of the plesiosaurs, the mixture of features suggests that it was closely related to that group.[1]
The following cladogram follows an analysis by Ketchum & Benson, 2011.[2]
References
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