Eusauropterygia

Skeletal reconstruction of Nothosaurus, copyright Elke Wetzig.

Belongs within: Sauropterygia.
Contains: Plesiosauroidea, Pliosauroidea.

The Eusauropterygia are a clade of Mesozoic marine reptiles uniting the Plesiosauria with the Triassic nothosaurs.

Synapomorphies (from The Plesiosaur Directory): Jaws and mandibular symphysis elongate (skull large); rostral dentition strongly procumbent with paired maxillary fangs; five premaxillary teeth present; orbit small relative to skull length; skull dorsoventrally depressed; upper temporal fenestrae relatively large; complex dual jaw adductor system present; scapular proportionately small; five or six sacral vertebrae present.

<==Eusauropterygia H02
    |--Nothosauroidea H02
    |    |--Simosaurus [Simosauria] H02
    |    |    `--S. gillardoti v. Meyer 1842 DV06
    |    `--Nothosauria H02
    |         |  i. s.: Corosaurus Case 1936 D07
    |         |           `--C. alcovensis Case 1936 DV06
    |         |--Germanosaurus [Germanosauridae] H02
    |         |    |--G. latissimus H02
    |         |    `--G. schafferi H02
    |         `--Nothosauridae D07
    |              |--Ceresiosaurus Peyer 1931 D07
    |              |    |--C. calcagnii (Peyer 1931) D07, H02 [=Lariosaurus calcagnii H02]
    |              |    `--C. russelli D07
    |              |--Lariosaurus Curioni 1847 D07 [incl. Silvestrosaurus H02]
    |              |    |--L. balsami Curioni 1847 H02
    |              |    |--L. buzzii Tschanz 1989 H02
    |              |    |--L. curionii Rieppel 1998 H02
    |              |    |--L. stensioei H02
    |              |    |--L. valceresii Tintori & Renesto 1990 H02
    |              |    `--L. xingyiensis Li, Liu & Rieppel 2002 H02
    |              `--Nothosaurus Münster 1834 D07
    |                   |--N. edingerae Schultze 1970 DV06
    |                   |--N. giganteus Münster 1834 [incl. Paranothosaurus amsleri Peyer 1939] DV06
    |                   |--N. haasi Rieppel, Mazin & Tchernov 1997 DV06
    |                   |--N. jagisteus Rieppel 2001 H02
    |                   |--N. juvenilis H02
    |                   |--N. marchius H02
    |                   |--N. mirabilis D07
    |                   |--N. procerus D07
    |                   `--N. tchernovi Haas 1980 DV06
    `--Pistosauria H02
         |  i. s.: Bobosaurus Dalla Vecchia 2006 DV06
         |           `--*B. forojuliensis Dalla Vecchia 2006 DV06
         |--Cymatosauridae H02
         |    |--Tanaisosaurus Sennikov 2001 H02
         |    |    `--T. kalandadzei Sennikov 2001 H02
         |    `--Cymatosaurus H02
         |         |--C. fridericianus Fritsch 1894 H02
         |         |--C. latifrons (Gürich 1884) [inc. C. gracilis Schrammen 1899, C. silesiacus] H02
         |         `--C. minor H02
         `--+--Pistosauridae H02
            |    |--Augustasaurus hagdorni Sander, Rieppel & Bucher 1997 DV06
            |    `--Pistosaurus Mayer 1839 D07
            |         `--P. longaevus Meyer 1839 DV06
            `--Plesiosauria H02
                 |  i. s.: Bishanopliosaurus youngi CWJ04
                 |         Terminonatator Sato 2003 D07
                 |           `--T. ponteixensis D07
                 |         Libonectes morgani (Welles 1949) DV06
                 |--Plesiosauroidea CF02
                 `--Pliosauroidea D07

Inorganic: Ceresiosaurus calcagnii minilorientalus Okamura 1987 O87

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[CWJ04] Cheng, Y.-N., X.-C. Wu & Q. Ji. 2004. Triassic marine reptiles gave birth to live young. Nature 432: 383–386.

[CF02] Cruickshank, A. R. I., & R. E. Fordyce. 2002. A new marine reptile (Sauropterygia) from New Zealand: Further evidence for a Late Cretaceous austral radiation of cryptoclidid plesiosaurs. Palaeontology 45 (3): 557–575.

[DV06] Dalla Vecchia, F. M. 2006. A new sauropterygian reptile with plesiosaurian affinity from the Late Triassic of Italy. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 112 (2): 207–225.

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

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

[O87] Okamura, C. 1987. New facts: Homo and all Vertebrata were born simultaneously in the former Paleozoic in Japan. Original Report of the Okamura Fossil Laboratory 15: 347–573.