Pleurosauridae

Pleurosauridae is a family of extinct marine diapsid reptiles belonging to the group Sphenodontia. Fossils from this family have been discovered in Bavaria, Germany from the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) and Tithonian (Late Jurassic).[1] Pleurosaurs became gradually adapted to an aquatic lifestyle, with the semiaquatic Palaeopleurosaurus being less specialised than the fully marine Pleurosaurus. At least the former appears to have had a much more reduced lifespan compared to the modern tuatara.[2]

Pleurosaurids
Temporal range: Early Jurassic - Late Jurassic, 183–150.8 Ma
Fossil of Palaeopleurosaurus
Fossil of Pleurosaurus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Rhynchocephalia
Suborder: Sphenodontia
Family: Pleurosauridae
Lydekker, 1888
Genera

References

  1. Dupret, V. (2004). The pleurosaurs: anatomy and phylogeny. Revue de Paléobiologie, 9: 61-80.
  2. Klein, N.; Scheyer, T.M. (2017). "Microanatomy and life history in Palaeopleurosaurus (Rhynchocephalia: Pleurosauridae) from the Early Jurassic of Germany". The Science of Nature. 104 (4): 4. Bibcode:2017SciNa.104....4K. doi:10.1007/s00114-016-1427-3. PMID 28005148. S2CID 27133670.


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