sauropterygian


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Related to sauropterygian: nothosaur, Sphenodontidae, Placodonts

saur·op·ter·yg·i·an

 (sô-rŏp′tə-rĭj′ē-ən)
n.
Any of various extinct aquatic reptiles of the group Sauropterygia that flourished during the Mesozoic Era and included the plesiosaurs.
[From New Latin Sauropterygia, superorder name : Greek sauros, lizard + Greek pterux, pterug-, wing, flipper; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]
saur·op′ter·yg′i·an adj.

sauropterygian

(sɔːˌrɒptəˈrɪdʒɪən)
n
any carnivorous Mesozoic marine reptile of the group Sauropterygia, with paddle-like limbs
adj
of or relating to reptiles of the Sauropterygia
References in periodicals archive ?
The study of most of these fragmentary sauropterygian remains only provided a poorly-detailed systematic determination, allowing the identification of indeterminate pachypleurosaurs, nothosauroids and pistosauroids, as well as cyamodontoid and no cyamodontoid placodonts.
A new finding corresponding to material of a Spanish sauropterygian individual is described here.
First Triassic tetrapod (Sauropterygia, Nothosauridae) from Castilla y Leon: evidence of an unknown taxon for the Spanish record
Just as important is the 'debut' of top predators - such as the long-snouted bony fish Saurichthys, the ichthyosaur Mixosaurus, the sauropterygian Nothosaurus and the prolacertiform Dinocephalosaurus - that fed on fishes and small predatory reptiles.
Fossil site in China offers clues to mass extinction recovery
The second locality, Can Serra de l'Arca, yielded an incomplete specimen of a pachypleurosaurid sauropterygian.
New insights on the Permian and Triassic vertebrates from the Iberian Peninsula with emphasis on the Pyrenean and Catalonian basins/Nuevos enfoques sobre los vertebrados del Permico y Triasico de la Peninsula Iberica, con enfasis en las cuencas Pirenaica y Catalana
Although the phylogenetic position of choristoderes within Diapsida has yet to be resolved, all of the proposed positions (stem-neodiapsid, basal archosauromorph, sauropterygian relative etc) would predict an origin in the Late Permian or earliest Triassic.
Choristoderes and the freshwater assemblagesof Laurasia/ Coristoderos y las asociaciones de agua dulce de Laurasia
The team from the Wits University in South Africa studied fossils of reptiles called sauropterygians from millions of years ago and found several similarities to current day aquatic animals with regards to their inner ears.
Ancient Marine Reptiles' Inner Ear Very Similar To Crocodiles', Sea Turtles'
Having drawn this link in three lineages of extinct marine reptiles - mosasaurs, sauropterygians, and ichthyosaurs - the scientists said that genetic, or chromosomal, sex determination may have played a surprisingly strong role in adaptive radiations and the colonization of the world's oceans by a diverse array of species.
How ancient species adapted to life in open oceans
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