Mosasauroidea
Extinct marine lizards of the Late Cretaceous / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mosasauroidea is a superfamily of extinct marine lizards that existed during the Late Cretaceous. Basal members of this group consist of small semiaquatic forms with terrestrial limbs ("plesiopedal"), while laters members include larger fully aquatic paddle-limbed ("hydropedal") forms commonly known as mosasaurs.[3] These were traditionally grouped within their own separate families, the Aigialosauridae and Mosasauridae respectively. However, phylogenetic studies have since found plesiopedal mosasauroids to be a non-monophyletic group, with some taxa nestled within the mosasaurids.[4][5]
Quick Facts Scientific classification, Subgroups ...
Mosasauroidea | |
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Fossil of Aigialosaurus, an aigialosaurid | |
Skeleton of Platecarpus, a mosasaurid | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Clade: | †Mosasauria |
Superfamily: | †Mosasauroidea Camp, 1923 |
Subgroups | |
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