Sauropterygian Conservation status: Fossil The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. ...
Artistic recreation of a plesiosaur
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Superorder: Sauropterygia Owen, 1860 ugly, replace if you can! File links The following pages link to this file: Plesiosaur User:Fredrik/Contributions Sauropterygia Categories: GFDL images ... Families Cryptoclididae Elasmosauridae Plesiosauridae Pliosauridae Plesiosaurs (PLEE-see-oh-SORES) were large, carnivorous aquatic reptiles. ... Scientific classification - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria Placozoa Bilateria Acoelomorpha Orthonectida Rhombozoa ?Myxozoa Superphylum Deuterostomia    Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders  Crocodilia - Crocodilians scary crocodiles. ... Sir Richard Owen and Dinornis bird skeleton Sir Richard Owen (July 20, 1804 - December 18, 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...
Groups
?Placodontia Pachypleurosauridae Nothosauridae    Plesiosauria Families Cryptoclididae Elasmosauridae Plesiosauridae Pliosauridae Plesiosaurs (PLEE-see-oh-SORES) were large, carnivorous aquatic reptiles. ...

Sauropterygia ("lizard flippers") is a group of very successful aquatic reptiles that flourished during the Age of the Dinosaurs before they became extinct. They are united by a radical adaptation of their shoulder, designed to support powerful flipper strokes. Some later sauropterygians like the pliosaurs developed a similar mechanism in their pelvis. This page is about Lizards, the order of reptile. ... The term flipper has a number of meanings: Flipper is the name of several TV series and films featuring extremely intelligent bottlenose dolphins of the same name. ... Orders  Crocodilia - Crocodilians scary crocodiles. ... The Mesozoic is one of three geologic eras of Phanerozoic eon. ... In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ... This article is about the body part. ... Families Cryptoclididae Elasmosauridae Plesiosauridae Pliosauridae Plesiosaurs (PLEE-see-oh-SORES) were large, carnivorous aquatic reptiles. ... Human male pelvis, viewed from front Human female pelvis, viewed from front The pelvis is the bony structure located at the base of the spine (properly known as the caudal end). ...

The earliest sauropterygians appeared about 245 million years ago (Ma), at the start of the Triassic period. Early examples were small, semi-aquatic lizard-like animals with long limbs (pachypleurosaurs), but they quickly grew to be several meters long and spread into shallow waters (nothosaurs). The Triassic-Jurassic extinction event wiped them all out except for the plesiosaurs, who diversified quickly in the early Jurassic into long- and short-necked, fully aquatic forms. Disregarding reports of lake monsters like the Loch Ness Monster, they all perished 65 Ma during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event. Mega-annum, usually abbreviated as Ma, is a unit of time equal to one million years. ... The Triassic is a Geologic period that extends from about 248 to 202 million years (My or megayears) before the present. ... To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between one metre and ten metres. ... The Triassic-Jurassic extinction event is one of the major extinction events of the Phanerozoic eon, profoundly affecting life on land and in the oceans. ... Families Cryptoclididae Elasmosauridae Plesiosauridae Pliosauridae Plesiosaurs (PLEE-see-oh-SORES) were large, carnivorous aquatic reptiles. ... The Jurassic period is a major unit of the geologic timescale that extends from about 195 million years BP at the end of the Triassic to 135 million years BP at the beginning of the Cretaceous. ... Lake monster is the name given to the phenomenon of large animals being sighted and being supposed to exist in lakes, although their existence has never been confirmed scientifically. ... The famous Surgeons photo hoax of the Loch Ness monster The Loch Ness Monster—sometimes called Nessie—is a creature or group of creatures said to live in Loch Ness, a deep freshwater loch (lake) near the city of Inverness. ... The Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) extinction event, also known as the KT boundary (from German: Kreide-Tertiär-Grenzschicht), was a period of massive extinction of species, about 65. ...

Classification is difficult because the demands of the aquatic environment caused the same characteristics to evolve multiple times, in an example of convergent evolution. While sauropterygians are considered diapsids, they are also sometimes classified with turtles. The bulky-bodied placodonts may also be sauropterygians. In addition to the modifications of the shoulder, the group is also united by several modifications in their skulls. Scientific classification - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution describes the process whereby organisms not closely related independently acquire similar characteristics while evolving in separate and sometimes varying ecosystems. ... Classes Ichthyosauria Sauropterygia Lepidosauria Archosauria Diapsids (two arches) are a group of tetrapod animals that developed two holes (temporal fenestra) in each side their skulls, about 300 million years ago during the late Carboniferous period. ... Families See text Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudinata, most of whose body is shielded by a special bony shell developed from their ribs. ... For symbolic or mythic uses of the human skull, see Skull (symbolism). ...

External links

• Unit 220: 100: Lepidosauromorpha (http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/220Lepidosauromorpha/220.100.html). Palaeos. July 15, 2003. Retrieved January 19, 2004.
• Sauropterygia: Flipper reptiles — longnecks and bigheads (http://dinosauricon.com/taxa/sauropterygia.html). T. Mike Keesey. The Dinosauricon. Retrieved January 19, 2004.
• A review of the Sauropterygia (http://www.geocities.com/sea_saur/classification.html). Adam Stuart Smith. The Plesiosaur Directory. Retrieved January 19, 2004.