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Ophthalmosauridae ✝
| Description | Ophthalmosauridae is an extinct family of thunnosaur ichthyosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous (Bajocian - Cenomanian) of Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. Currently, the oldest known ophthalmosaurid is Mollesaurus from the early Bajocian of Argentina. Named by George H. Baur, in 1887, it contains the basal taxa like Ophthalmosaurus. Appleby (1956) named the taxon Ophthalmosauria which was followed by some authors, but these two names are synonyms, Ophthalmosauridae has the priority over Ophthalmosauria. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophthalmosauridae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source Data |
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| Rank | family | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Ophthalmosauridae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Ichthyosauria : Ophthalmosauridae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
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| Scientific Name | Ophthalmosauridae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
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| Status (PBDB) | extinct | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 82 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 201 - 174 Ma Jurassic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Recorded Appearance | 99.6 - 89.8 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | marine (based on Ichthyosauria) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | actively mobile (based on Ichthyosauria) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diet | carnivore (based on Ichthyosauria) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reproduction | viviparous (based on Ichthyosauria) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taphonomy | hydroxylapatite (based on Ichthyosauria) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | R. Motani. 1999. Phylogeny of the Ichthyopterygia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19(3):473-496 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophthalmosauridae |
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ophthalmosaurinae ✝ subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 50 | 201 Ma Early Jurassic | 105 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
 Platypterygiinae ✝subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 86 | 164 Ma Middle Jurassic | 99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
 Acamptonectes ✝genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 3 | 136 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 133 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Aegirosaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 3 | 151 Ma Late Jurassic | 140 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Arthropterygius ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 4 | 164 Ma Middle Jurassic | 152 Ma Late Jurassic | |
| Athabascasaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 112 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 112 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Baptanodon ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 4 | 168 Ma Middle Jurassic | 164 Ma Middle Jurassic | |
| Brachypterygius ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 6 | 157 Ma Jurassic | 152 Ma Late Jurassic | |
| Cryopterygius ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 152 Ma Late Jurassic | 151 Ma Late Jurassic | |
| Janusaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 152 Ma Late Jurassic | 152 Ma Late Jurassic | |
| Keilhauia ✝ genus | listed (PBDB) | 1 | 145 Ma Late Jurassic | 145 Ma Late Jurassic | |
| Leninia ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 125 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 125 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Maiaspondylus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Mollesaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 172 Ma Middle Jurassic | 172 Ma Middle Jurassic | |
| Muiscasaurus ✝ genus | doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 130 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 130 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Nannopterygius ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 157 Ma Jurassic | 157 Ma Jurassic | |
| Ochevia genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Palvennia ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 152 Ma Late Jurassic | 152 Ma Late Jurassic | |
| Paraophthalmosaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 152 Ma Late Jurassic | 152 Ma Late Jurassic | |
| Pervushovisaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Simbirskiasaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 130 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 130 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Sisteronia ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 6 | 113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Sveltonectes ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 130 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | 130 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous | |
| Undorosaurus ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 6 | 164 Ma Middle Jurassic | 151 Ma Late Jurassic | |
Obsolete Names
| Name | Source | Taxon Rank | Taxonomy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ichthyosaurus doughtyi Seeley, 1869 | GBIF | species | Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Ichthyosaurus doughtyi |
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1869 | Ichthyosaurus doughtyi Seeley |
| 1956 | Ophthalmosauridae Appleby |
| 1967 | Ophthalmosauridae Appleby p. 137 |
| 1999 | Ophthalmosauria Motani p. 484 |
| 2000 | Ophthalmosauridae Maisch and Matzke pp. 98 |
| 2003 | Ophthalmosauria Fernández pp. 693-694 fig. 3 |
| 2003 | Ophthalmosauria Maxwell and Caldwell p. S104 |
| 2003 | Ophthalmosauridae McGowan and Motani |
| 2008 | Ophthalmosauridae Araujo et al. p. 26 figs. 7-8 |
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Ophthalmosauridae Maisch |
| 2013 | Ophthalmosauridae Fischer et al. |
| 2014 | Ophthalmosauridae Arkhangelsky and Zverkov |
| 2016 | Ophthalmosauridae Tyborowski |
| 2017 | Ophthalmosauridae Delsett et al. |
| 2017 | Ophthalmosauridae Moon |
| 2017 | Ophthalmosauridae Paparella et al. |
| 2020 | Ophthalmosauridae Barrientos-Lara et al. |
| 2020 | Ophthalmosauridae Campos et al. |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
