Seeleyosaurus Temporal range:
Early Jurassic,
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Cast of Seeleyosaurus guilelmiimperatoris fossil with reconstructed parts based on the holotype | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Superorder: | † Sauropterygia |
Order: | † Plesiosauria |
Family: | † Microcleididae |
Genus: | †
Seeleyosaurus White, 1940 |
Type species | |
†Seeleyosaurus guilelmiimperatoris (Dames, 1895)
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Synonyms | |
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Seeleyosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur that was initially placed within the genus Plesiosaurus in 1895 [1] and was given its own genus in 1940. [2] Two species were known: the type, S. guilelmiimperatoris, and the now obsolete species S. holzmadensis, [2] which has since been absorbed into S. guilelmiimperatoris. It was a relatively small plesiosaur, measuring 2.9–3.6 m (9.5–11.8 ft) long. [3] [4] The holotype is MB.R.1992, a large almost complete skeleton from the Upper Lias ( Toarcian) Lias Group Formations of Württemberg, Germany. There seems to be the impression of a rhomboidal flap of skin in a vertical plane; if so, many plesiosaurs may have been equipped in this way. [5] A second specimen (SMNS 12039), preserved in 3D, is the holotype of S. holzmadensis. [2]
The following cladogram follows an analysis by Ketchum & Benson, 2011. [5]