| Ichthyosauridae | |
|---|---|
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| Fossil specimen ofIchthyosaurus breviceps | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Ichthyosauria |
| Node: | †Thunnosauria |
| Family: | †Ichthyosauridae Bonaparte,1841 |
| Type species | |
| †Ichthyosaurus communis | |
| Subgroups | |
Ichthyosauridae is anextinctfamily ofthunnosaurichthyosaurs from the latestTriassic andEarly Jurassic (Rhaetian toPliensbachian stages) ofEurope, and possibly also from the middleEarly Cretaceous (Hauterivian orBarremian stage) ofIraq. Named byCharles Lucien Bonaparte, in1841, it is usually thought to contain a single genus,Ichthyosaurus, which is known from several species from the Early Jurassic. In 2013, Fischeret al. named and describedMalawania anachronus from the middle Early Cretaceous of Iraq. It was found to share severalsynapomorphies with the type species of this family,Ichthyosaurus communis, and a largephylogenetic analysis recovered these species assister taxa. Despite its geologically younger age,M. anachronus was also assigned to Ichthyosauridae.[1]
Fischeret al. (2013) applied the name Ichthyosauridae Bonaparte, 1841 for theclade that containsMalawania anachronus andIchthyosaurus communis. This clade was recovered in thephylogenetic analysis that was based on the largest currently available data matrix ofparvipelvian species. Most other phylogenetic analyses, that were based on smaller matrices, also recovered this clade or foundM. anachronus to be in a more basal position. Ichthyosauridae was recovered as thesister taxon ofBaracromia, a clade first defined by Fischeret al. (2013) that includes all otherthunnosaurs. Thecladogram below follows the large phylogenetic analysis of Fischeret al. (2013).[1]
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