Temporal range: Early - Late Cretaceous, 103–66 Ma
PreꞒ
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O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Martinectes in the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Reptilia
Superorder:
†Sauropterygia
Order:
†Plesiosauria
Clade:
†Leptocleidia
Family:
†Polycotylidae Williston, 1909
Genera
†Edgarosaurus
†Georgiasaurus
†Manemergus
†Piratosaurus?
†Rarosaurus
†Occultonectia[1]
†Plesiopleurodon
†Sulcusuchus
†Palmulasaurinae
†Pahasapasaurus
†Palmulasaurus
†Polycotylinae
†Eopolycotylus
†Mauriciosaurus
†Polycotylus
†Scalamagnus
†Serpentisuchops
†Thililua?
†Trinacromerum
†Dolichorhynchia[2]
†Dolichorhynchops
†Martinectes
†Unktaheela
Polycotylidae is a family of plesiosaurs from the Cretaceous, a sister group to Leptocleididae. They are known as false pliosaurs. Polycotylids first appeared during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous, before becoming abundant and widespread during the early Late Cretaceous. Several species survived into the final stage of the Cretaceous, the Maastrichtian.[3]
With their short necks and large elongated heads, they resemble the pliosaurs, but closer phylogenetic studies indicate that they share many common features with the Leptocleididae and Elasmosauridae. They have been found worldwide, with specimens reported from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Morocco, the US, Canada, Eastern Europe, and South America.[4]
^V. Fischer; R. B. J. Benson; P. S. Druckenmiller; H. F. Ketchum; N. Bardet (2018). "The evolutionary history of polycotylid plesiosaurians". Royal Society Open Science. 5 (3): 172177. Bibcode:2018RSOS....572177F. doi:10.1098/rsos.172177. PMC 5882735. PMID 29657811.
^Clark, Robert O.; O’Keefe, F. Robin; Slack, Sara E. (2023-12-24). "A new genus of small polycotylid plesiosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of the Western Interior Seaway and a clarification of the genus Dolichorhynchops". Cretaceous Research: 105812. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105812. ISSN 0195-6671.
^Fischer, V.; Benson, R. B. J.; Druckenmiller, P. S.; Ketchum, H. F.; Bardet, N. (March 2018). "The evolutionary history of polycotylid plesiosaurians". Royal Society Open Science. 5 (3): 172177. Bibcode:2018RSOS....572177F. doi:10.1098/rsos.172177. ISSN 2054-5703. PMC 5882735. PMID 29657811.
^Druckenmiller, Patrick S. & Russell, Anthony P. (2009). "Earliest North American Occurrence Of Polycotylidae (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) From The Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada" (PDF). Journal of Paleontology. 83 (6): 361–392. doi:10.1666/09-014.1. S2CID 130695434. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06.
Polycotylidae is a family of plesiosaurs from the Cretaceous, a sister group to Leptocleididae. They are known as false pliosaurs. Polycotylids first...
groups of plesiosaurs present at the end of the Cretaceous alongside Polycotylidae. The earliest elasmosaurids were mid-sized, about 6 m (20 ft). In the...
Gasparini, Z. (2013). "Revision of Sulcusuchus erraini (Sauropterygia, Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina". Alcheringa: An...
Polycotylus is a genus of plesiosaur within the family Polycotylidae. The type species is P. latippinis and was named by American paleontologist Edward...
bonneri). Unknown to her at the time, Carpenter (1996) had revised the Polycotylidae and separated Dolichorhynchops from Trinacromerum, raising the question...
bonneri). Unknown to her at the time, Carpenter (1996) had revised the Polycotylidae and separated Dolichorhynchops from Trinacromerum, raising the question...
Z. Gasparini. 2013. Revision of Sulcusuchus erraini (Sauropterygia, Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. Alcheringa 37(2):163-176...
Gasparini, Z. (2013). "Revision of Sulcusuchus erraini (Sauropterygia, Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina". Alcheringa: An...
Sauropterygia) from Harrana with a description of a new genus and species of Polycotylidae". Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Eternal River...
Gasparini, Z., 2013, "Revision of Sulcusuchus erraini (Sauropterygia, Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina", Alcheringa 37:...
extinct; perhaps a plesiosaur group evolved to fill their niches: the Polycotylidae, which had short necks and peculiarly elongated heads with narrow snouts...
Gasparini, Z. (2013). "Revision of Sulcusuchus erraini (Sauropterygia, Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina". Alcheringa: An...
classifications, one short-necked and large-headed Cretaceous group, the Polycotylidae, are included under the Plesiosauroidea, rather than under the traditional...
Gasparini, Z. (2013). "Revision of Sulcusuchus erraini (Sauropterygia, Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina". Alcheringa: An...
lizard") is a dubious genus of plesiosaur possibly belonging to the Polycotylidae that is known exclusively from the type species P. plicatus, named and...
the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) Tropic Shale of southern Utah, part 2: Polycotylidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(1):41-58 v t e...
Formation is a geologic formation in Nunavut. It preserves fossils of Polycotylidae indet., dating back to the Aptian stage of the Cretaceous period. List...
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