Askeptosauridae
Sign in to saveAskeptosauridae is a family of thalattosaurs within the superfamily Askeptosauroidea. Fossils have been found from Italy, Switzerland, and China. Askeptosaurids are distinguished from other thalattosaurs by their long necks and narrow skulls.
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Askeptosauridae is a family of thalattosaurs within the superfamily Askeptosauroidea. Fossils have been found from Italy, Switzerland, and China. Askeptosaurids are distinguished from other thalattosaurs by their long necks and narrow skulls.
==Classification== Askeptosauridae was named in 1952 to include the genus Askeptosaurus. In 2000, the genus Anshunsaurus, which includes two species, was added to the family. In a 2005 phylogenetic analysis, Endennasaurus was included within Askeptosauridae. Later that year a new study placed Endennasaurus outside Askeptosauridae as a basal member of Askeptosauroidea. More recent studies have placed the genus Miodentosaurus from China in the family as well. Below is a cladogram modified from Wu et al. (2009) showing the phylogenetic relationships of askeptosaurids:
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Askeptosauridae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.