The Plesiosauria is a group of marine reptiles that originated at the base of the Jurassic and
went extinct in the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Plesiosaur fossils have been known …

The dichotomy between short-necked, large-headed “pliosaurs” and long-necked, small-
headed “plesiosaurs” has formed the basis of plesiosaur taxonomy for over one hundred …

Abstract The Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) is a group of Mesozoic marine reptiles
known from abundant material, with specimens described from all continents. The group …

Previous attempts to resolve plesiosaurian phylogeny are reviewed and a new phylogenetic
data set of 66 taxa (67% of ingroup taxa examined directly) and 178 characters (eight new) …

This paper investigates trends in the evolution of body size and shape in the Plesiosauria, a
diverse clade of Mesozoic marine reptiles. Using measures from well-preserved plesiosaur …

An extensive cladistic analysis comprising 41 plesiosaur taxa and 171 characters is
performed and a phylogenetic hypothesis is presented. Definitions and diagnoses of all …

Plesiosaurs are one of the longest-ranging tetrapod groups in the Mesozoic and underwent
a major adaptive radiation in the Late Triassic/Early Jurassic, so they are an ideal clade to …

Previously known from the earliest Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous, plesiosaurs are
among the most common and best studied Mesozoic marine reptiles. Despite a history of …

Invasion of the open ocean by tetrapods represents a major evolutionary transition that
occurred independently in cetaceans, mosasauroids, chelonioids (sea turtles), ichthyosaurs …

Two new species of plesiosaur have been recognised from the Pliensbachian (Early
Jurassic) of England. They share derived characters and so are referred to the same new …