Thunnosauria

Reconstruction of Platypterygius bannovkensis, by Olorotitan.

Belongs within: Hueneosauria.

The clade Thunnosauria, defined by Maisch & Matzke (2000) as the most exclusive clade including Ichthyosaurus communis and Stenopterygius quadriscissus, includes the latest-surviving ichthyosaurs. Thunnosaurs had a compact body form relative to other ichthyosaurs with a short, powerful tail that would have provided most of the propulsive force when swimming.

See also: The tuna-lizards.

Synapomorphies (from Maisch & Matzke 2000): Quadratojugal small; squamosal small, delicate plate or absent; rib articulation in thorax bicipital; tail short; hindlimbs much shorter than forelimbs.

<==Thunnosauria [Ichthyosauridae]
    |--Stenopterygiidae MM00
    |    |--Chacaicosaurus Fernández 1994 MM00
    |    |    `--*C. cayi Fernández 1994 MM00
    |    `--Stenopterygius Jaekel 1904 FF13, MM000
    |         |--*S. quadricissus (Quenstedt 1856) MM00
    |         |--S. hauffianus von Huene 1922 MM00
    |         |--S. longifrons (Owen 1881) MM00
    |         `--S. megalorhinus von Huene 1922 MM00
    `--+--Ichthyosaurus De La Beche & Conybeare 1821 FF13, MM00 (see below for synonymy)
       |    |--*I. communis Conybeare 1822 MM00
       |    |--I. acutirostris N85
       |    |--I. australis F71
       |    |--I. breviceps Owen 1881 MM00
       |    |--I. conybeari Lydekker 1888 MM00
       |    |--I. intermedius Conybeare 1822 MM00
       |    |--I. marathonensis F71
       |    |--‘Protoichthyosaurus’ porostealis Appleby 1979 MM00
       |    `--‘*Protoichthyosaurus’ postaxalis Appleby 1979 MM00
       `--+--Aegirosaurus Bardet & Fernández 2000 MM03, MM00
          |    |--*A. leptospondylus (Wagner 1873) [=Ichthyosaurus leptospondylus] MM00
          |    `--‘Ophthalmosaurus’ monocharactus Appleby 1956 MM00
          `--Ophthalmosauridae [Ophthalmosauria] MM00
               |--Brachypterygius von Huene 1922 FF13, MM00 (see below for synonymy)
               |    |--*B. extremus (Boulenger 1904) MM00
               |    |--‘Otschevia’ alekseevi Arkhangelsky 2001 H02
               |    |--B. mordax (McGowan 1976) [=Grendelius mordax] MM00
               |    `--B. pseudoscythius (Efimov 1998) MM00 (see below for synonymy)
               `--+--+--Platypterygius von Huene 1922 FF13, MM00 (see below for synonymy)
                  |  |    |--*P. platydactylus (Broili 1907) MM00
                  |  |    |--P. americanus (Nace 1939) MM00
                  |  |    |--P. bannovkensis Arkhangelsky 1998 [=P. (Pervushovisaurus) bannovkensis] MM00
                  |  |    |--P. bedengensis (Efimov 1998) [=*Plutoniosaurus bedengensis] MM00
                  |  |    |--P. birjukovi (Otschev & Efimov 1985) [=*Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi] MM00
                  |  |    |--P. hauthali (von Huene 1926) MM00
                  |  |    |--P. hercynicus Kuhn 1946 MM00
                  |  |    |--P. kiprijanoffi Romer 1968 MM00
                  |  |    `--P. longmani Wade 1990 MM00
                  |  `--Caypullisaurus Fernández 1997 FF13, MM00
                  |       `--*C. bonapartei Fernández 1997 MM00
                  `--Ophthalmosaurus Seeley 1874 FF13, MM00 (see below for synonymy)
                       |--*O. icenicus Seeley 1874 MM00
                       |--‘*Khudiakovia’ calloviensis Arkhangelsky 1999 (n. d.) MM00
                       |--O. discus D07
                       |--O. gorodischensis (Efimov 1999) (see below for synonymy) MM00
                       |--O. natans (Marsh 1879) MM00
                       |--O. periallus (Fernández 1999) [=Mollesaurus periallus] MM00
                       |--‘Paraophthalmosaurus’ saratoviensis MM00
                       |--O. saveljeviensis (Arkhangelsky 1997) [=*Paraophthalmosaurus saveljeviensis] MM00
                       `--O. yasykovi (Efimov 1999) [=*Yasykovia yasykovi; incl. Y. kabanovi, Y. mittai, Y. sumini] MM00

Brachypterygius von Huene 1922 FF13, MM00 [incl. Grendelius McGowan 1976 MM00, Otschevia Efimov 1998 MM00]

Brachypterygius pseudoscythius (Efimov 1998) MM00 [=*Otschevia pseudoscythia MM00; incl. B. zhuravlevi Arkhangelsky 1998 MM00, O. zhuralevi H02]

Ichthyosaurus De La Beche & Conybeare 1821 FF13, MM00 [incl. Eurypterygius Jaekel 1904 MM00, Protoichthyosaurus Appleby 1979 MM00]

Ophthalmosaurus Seeley 1874 FF13, MM00 [incl. Ancanamunia Rusconi 1942 MM00, Apatodontosaurus Mehl 1927 MM00, Baptanodon Marsh 1880 MM00, Khudiakovia Arkhangelsky 1999 MM00, Mollesaurus Fernández 1999 MM00, Paraophthalmosaurus Arkhangelsky 1997 MM00, Sauranodon Marsh 1879 (preoc.) MM00, Undorosaurus Efimov 1999 MM00, Yasykovia Efimov 1999 MM00]

Ophthalmosaurus gorodischensis (Efimov 1999) [=*Undorosaurus gorodischensis; incl. U. khorlovensis, U. nessovi] MM00

Platypterygius von Huene 1922 FF13, MM00 [incl. Longirostria Arkhangelsky 1998 MM00, Myobradypterygius von Huene 1926 MM00, Myopterygius von Huene 1922 MM00, Pervushovisaurus Arkhangelsky 1998 MM00, Plutoniosaurus Efimov 1997 MM00, Simbirskiasaurus Ochev & Efimov 1985 MM00, Tenuirostria Arkhangelsky 1998 MM00]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.

[F71] Fletcher, H. O. 1971. Catalogue of type specimens of fossils in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Australian Museum Memoir 13: 1–167.

[FF13] Fröbisch, N. B., J. Fröbisch, P. M. Sander, L. Schmitz & O. Rieppel. 2013. Macropredatory ichthyosaur from the Middle Triassic and the origin of modern trophic networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 110 (4): 1393–1397.

[H02] Haubold, H. 2002. Literaturbericht: Ichthyosaurier und Sauropterygier. Zbl. Geol. Paläont. Teil II 5-6: 367–403.

[MM00] Maisch, M. W., & A. T. Matzke. 2000. The Ichthyosauria. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie) 298: 1–159.

[MM03] Maisch, M. W., & A. T. Matzke. 2003. Observations on Triassic ichthyosaurs. Part XII. A new Early Triassic ichthyosaur genus from Spitzbergen. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie—Abhandlungen 229 (3): 317–338.

[N85] Norman, D. 1985 (reprinted 2000). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Salamander Books: London.

Last updated: 14 July 2018.