Ophthalmosaurids (ichthyosauria: thunnosauria): alpha taxonomy, clades and names

Thunnosaurian ichthyosaurs represent the paradigm of reptilian body designed for a pelagic life style. Most derived thunnosaurian, the ophthalmosaurids, have been traditionally considered as members of a declining lineage. New findings and the re-examination of historical collections radically chang...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Fernández, Marta Susana, Campos, Lisandro
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/119756
https://www.peapaleontologica.org.ar/index.php/peapa/article/view/96
Aporte de:
id I19-R120-10915-119756
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Paleontología
Ophthalmosaurids
Nominal species
Species delimitations
Oftalmosáuridos
Especies nominales
Delimitación de especies
spellingShingle Paleontología
Ophthalmosaurids
Nominal species
Species delimitations
Oftalmosáuridos
Especies nominales
Delimitación de especies
Fernández, Marta Susana
Campos, Lisandro
Ophthalmosaurids (ichthyosauria: thunnosauria): alpha taxonomy, clades and names
topic_facet Paleontología
Ophthalmosaurids
Nominal species
Species delimitations
Oftalmosáuridos
Especies nominales
Delimitación de especies
description Thunnosaurian ichthyosaurs represent the paradigm of reptilian body designed for a pelagic life style. Most derived thunnosaurian, the ophthalmosaurids, have been traditionally considered as members of a declining lineage. New findings and the re-examination of historical collections radically changed our conceptions about them. Opthalmosaurids were ecologically more diverse than previously thought. The past few decades have seen an increase of nominal species spurred by new findings and analyses. A still unresolved problem is that many species are only known by their holotypes. Nevertheless, morphological disparity is a compelling argument for considering them as valid. All recent cladistic analyses of ichthyosaurs recover ophthalmosaurids as a clade. Neither the addition of new information nor the addition of new entities resulted in its collapse. On this basis, the assignment of Linnaean rank to this clade (Ophtalmosauridae) is reasonable as it satisfied the primary recommended criteria for taxa naming: monophyly and stability. As the lists of species and genus names are used as input in major data bases for interpreting major turnover and/or extinction patterns, efforts must be focused on clarifying as much as possible the alpha taxonomy. Two major pending issues are the delimitation of Ophthalmosaurus-Baptanodon, and Platypterygius. The case of Platypterygius is complex because the type species is poorly known, its holotype is lost, and there is no consensus among specialist about the species that should be included in this genus. On the other hand, we advocate for the use of the name Baptanodon natans instead of Ophthalmosaurus natans.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Fernández, Marta Susana
Campos, Lisandro
author_facet Fernández, Marta Susana
Campos, Lisandro
author_sort Fernández, Marta Susana
title Ophthalmosaurids (ichthyosauria: thunnosauria): alpha taxonomy, clades and names
title_short Ophthalmosaurids (ichthyosauria: thunnosauria): alpha taxonomy, clades and names
title_full Ophthalmosaurids (ichthyosauria: thunnosauria): alpha taxonomy, clades and names
title_fullStr Ophthalmosaurids (ichthyosauria: thunnosauria): alpha taxonomy, clades and names
title_full_unstemmed Ophthalmosaurids (ichthyosauria: thunnosauria): alpha taxonomy, clades and names
title_sort ophthalmosaurids (ichthyosauria: thunnosauria): alpha taxonomy, clades and names
publishDate 2015
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/119756
https://www.peapaleontologica.org.ar/index.php/peapa/article/view/96
work_keys_str_mv AT fernandezmartasusana ophthalmosauridsichthyosauriathunnosauriaalphataxonomycladesandnames
AT camposlisandro ophthalmosauridsichthyosauriathunnosauriaalphataxonomycladesandnames
AT fernandezmartasusana oftalmosauridosichthyosauriathunnosauriataxonomiaalfacladosynombres
AT camposlisandro oftalmosauridosichthyosauriathunnosauriataxonomiaalfacladosynombres
bdutipo_str Repositorios
_version_ 1764820447689441282