Eurycleidus
| Eurycleidus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Family: | †Rhomaleosauridae |
| Genus: | †Eurycleidus Andrews, 1922 |
| Type species | |
| †Eurycleidus arcuatus (Owen, 1840)
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| Synonyms | |
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Eurycleidus is an
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
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See also
- List of plesiosaurs
References
- ^ PMID 22438869.
- ^ a b Adam S. Smith (2007). Anatomy and systematics of the Rhomaleosauridae (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) (Ph.D. thesis). University College Dublin.
- ^ S2CID 12528732.
- ^ a b Hilary F. Ketchum; Roger B. J. Benson (2011). "A new pliosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Oxford Clay Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of England: evidence for a gracile, longirostrine grade of Early-Middle Jurassic pliosaurids". Special Papers in Palaeontology. 86: 109–129.
- .
- '^ Smith, Adam S. (22 April 2015). "Reassessment of Plesiosaurus' megacephalus (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, UK". Palaeontologia Electronica. 18 (1): 1–20.