Pleurosauridae

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

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 semi-aquatic 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]

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). doi:10.1007/s00114-016-1427-3.


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