Temporal range: Middle Jurassic-Late Cretaceous, 174.1–93.9 Ma
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Composite skeleton (NHMUK PV R3702, R3893, R4124) of Ophthalmosaurus icenicus at the Natural History Museum, London
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Reptilia
Order:
†Ichthyosauria
Clade:
†Baracromia
Family:
†Ophthalmosauridae Baur, 1887
Subgroups
†Arthropterygius
†Keilhauia
†Macropterygius
†Muiscasaurus
†Myobradypterygius
†Ophthalmosaurinae
†Panplatypterygiine
†Catutosaurus
†Platypterygiinae
Synonyms
Ophthalmosauria
Ophthalmosauridae is an extinct family of thunnosaur ichthyosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous (Bajocian - Cenomanian) worldwide.[1] Almost all ichthyosaurs from the Middle Jurassic onwards belong to the family, until the extinction of ichthyosaurs in the early Late Cretaceous. Ophthalmosaurids appeared worldwide during early Bajocian, subsequent to the disappearance of most other ichthyosaur lineages after the end of the Toarcian.[2] Currently, the oldest known ophthalmosaurids is Mollesaurus from the early Bajocian of Argentina,[3] as well as indeterminate remains of the same age from Luxembourg and Canada.[2] Named by George H. Baur, in 1887, the family contains the basal taxa like Ophthalmosaurus.[1] Appleby (1956) named the taxon Ophthalmosauria which was followed by some authors,[4][5] but these two names are often treated as synonyms; Ophthalmosauridae has the priority over Ophthalmosauria.[1] However, some researchers argue that Ophthalmosauridae should be restricted to the group typically referred to as Ophthalmosaurinae, with classic Platypterygiinae instead being referred to as Undorosauridae or Brachypterygiidae and Ophthalmosauria being used to unite these two groups.[6][7]
^ abcFischer, V.; Masure, E.; Arkhangelsky, M.S.; Godefroit, P. (2011). "A new Barremian (Early Cretaceous) ichthyosaur from western Russia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (5): 1010–1025. Bibcode:2011JVPal..31.1010F. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.595464. hdl:2268/92828. S2CID 86036325.
^ abFischer, Valentin; Weis, Robert; Thuy, Ben (2021-02-22). "Refining the marine reptile turnover at the Early–Middle Jurassic transition". PeerJ. 9: e10647. doi:10.7717/peerj.10647. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 7906043. PMID 33665003.
^Marta S. Fernández (1999). "A new ichthyosaur from the Los Molles Formation (Early Bajocian), Neuquen Basin, Argentina". Journal of Paleontology. 73 (4): 677–681. Bibcode:1999JPal...73..677F. doi:10.1017/S0022336000032492. JSTOR 1306766. S2CID 130751356.
^Ryosuke Motani (1999). "Phylogeny of the Ichthyopterygia" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 19 (3): 472–495. Bibcode:1999JVPal..19..473M. doi:10.1080/02724634.1999.10011160. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
^Patrick S. Druckenmiller; Erin E. Maxwell (2010). "A new Lower Cretaceous (lower Albian) ichthyosaur genus from the Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 47 (8): 1037–1053. Bibcode:2010CaJES..47.1037D. doi:10.1139/E10-028.[permanent dead link]
^Zverkov, N. G.; Efimov, V. M. (2019). "Revision of Undorosaurus, a mysterious Late Jurassic ichthyosaur of the Boreal Realm". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 17 (14): 963–993. Bibcode:2019JSPal..17.1183Z. doi:10.1080/14772019.2018.1515793. S2CID 91912834.
^Cortés, D; Maxwell, E. E.; Larsson, H. C. E. (2021). "Re-appearance of hypercarnivore ichthyosaurs in the Cretaceous with differentiated dentition: Revision of "Platypterygius" sachicarum (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria, Ophthalmosauridae) from Colombia". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (14): 969–1002. Bibcode:2021JSPal..19..969C. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.1989507. S2CID 244512087.
Ophthalmosauridae is an extinct family of thunnosaur ichthyosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous (Bajocian - Cenomanian) worldwide...
e., either Ophthalmosaurus or a closely related species). Within Ophthalmosauridae, Ophthalmosaurus was once considered most closely related to Aegirosaurus...
Platypterygius, and in 2024, Myobrachyopterygius was classified within Ophthalmosauridae. Campos, L.; Fernández, M. S.; Bosio, V.; Herrera, Y.; Manzo, A. (2024)...
ichthyosaur, measuring about 7 m (23 ft) long. It is a member of the family Ophthalmosauridae, and closely related to Platypterygius and Brachypterygius. In 2012...
contains the basal taxa Ichthyosaurus and Stenopterygius and the family Ophthalmosauridae. In thunnosaurs, the fore fin is at least twice as long as the hind...
feeding habit than other cretaceous ophthalmosaurids. Within the Ophthalmosauridae, Sveltonectes is most closely related to Aegirosaurus. The following...
cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic position of Gengasaurus in Ophthalmosauridae according to the analysis performed by Zverkov and Jacobs (2020)....
ichthyosaurs from the Late Jurassic onwards belonging to the family Ophthalmosauridae. The holotype and only known specimen was discovered in 1952 by British...
ichythosaur appear to have become extinct, with the first appearance of the Ophthalmosauridae, the clade that would encompass almost all ichthyosaurs from then...
onwards, almost all ichthyosaurs belonged to the thunnosaurian clade Ophthalmosauridae. Represented by the 4 m-long (13 ft) Ophthalmosaurus and related genera...
basal thunnosaur which is placed outside both Stenopterygiidae and Ophthalmosauridae. Both Maisch (2008) and Caine and Benton (2011) performed cladistic...
cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic position of Acuetzpalin in Ophthalmosauridae according to the analysis performed by Zverkov and Jacobs (2020)....
NHMUK R11185 are large compared to other members of the wider family Ophthalmosauridae; the holotype is thought to have been an adult because of the extensive...
S.Fernández (2020). "Acuetzpalin carranzai gen et sp. nov. A new ophthalmosauridae (Ichthyosauria) from the Upper Jurassic of Durango, North Mexico"...
cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic position of Brachypterygius in Ophthalmosauridae according to the analysis performed by Zverkov and Jacobs (2020)....
cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic position of Mollesaurus in Ophthalmosauridae according to the analysis performed by Zverkov and Jacobs (2020)....
cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic position of Grendelius in Ophthalmosauridae according to the analysis performed by Zverkov and Jacobs (2020)....
following cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic position of Leninia in Ophthalmosauridae according to the analysis performed by Zverkov and Jacobs (2020)....
the femur. Although it was placed in a basal position within the Ophthalmosauridae by phylogenetic analysis, this placement is probably incorrect. Judging...
cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic position of Plutoniosaurus in Ophthalmosauridae according to the analysis performed by Zverkov and Jacobs (2020)....
described based on fossils that were classified as belonging to the Ophthalmosauridae family, which includes most of the ichthyosaurs that lived during...
cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic position of Undorosaurus in Ophthalmosauridae according to the analysis performed by Zverkov and Jacobs (2020)....
Global Information
