Pistosauridae
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Pistosaurus Temporal range: Middle Triassic, Anisian–Ladinian |
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| Fossil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Family: |
†Pistosauridae Zittel, 1887 |
| Genus: |
†Pistosaurus Meyer, 1839 |
| Type species | |
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†Pistosaurus longaevus Meyer, 1839 |
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Pistosaurus is an extinct genus of aquatic sauropterygian reptile closely related to plesiosaurs. Fossils have been found in France and Germany, and date to the Middle Triassic. It contains a single species, Pistosaurus longaevus
Pistosaurus was about 3 metres (10 ft) long, and had a body form resembling that of nothosaurs, aquatic reptiles that flourished during the Triassic. However, the vertebral column was stiff, like that of a plesiosaur, implying that the animal used its paddle-like flippers to propel itself through the water, as the plesiosaurs probably did. The head also resembled that of a plesiosaur, but with the primitive palate of a nothosaur, and numerous, sharp teeth ideal for catching and eating fish.
Although it is unlikely that Pistosaurus was a direct ancestor of the plesiosaurs, the mixture of features suggests that it was closely related to that group.
The following cladogram follows an analysis by Ketchum & Benson, 2011.
"Pistosaurus postcranium"
Pistosaurus
Hauffiosaurus spp.
advanced pliosaurids
advanced rhomaleosaurids
"Plesiosaurus" macrocephalus
...
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