Genus
Valid Extinct

Microcleidus

Watson 1909

Microcleidus is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the Plesiosauroidea. The species has 40 neck vertebrae and a short tail of 28 vertebrae. Fossils of the genus have been found in France, the Posidonia Shale in Germany and Luxembourg, and the Alum Shale Formation of England.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
9
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Carnivore aquatic, depth=surface Marine
Microcleidus
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Microcleidus NHM © the paleobear · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
›
Plesiosauria Order
›
Plesiosauroidea Superfamily
›
Microcleididae Family
›
Microcleidus Genus
Fossil sites 9 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
4
🇩🇪 Germany
3
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
1
🇫🇷 France
1
Geological formations
Alum Shale
3
Posidonia Shale
3
Temporal distribution
Toarcian (184.2–174.7 Ma)
9
Species (5)
Microcleidus brachypterygius 184 Ma
Microcleidus homalospondylus 184 Ma
Microcleidus macropterus 184 Ma
Microcleidus melusinae 184 Ma
Microcleidus tournemirensis 180 Ma
Synonyms (1)
Occitanosaurus subjective synonym of Microcleidus
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
D. M. S. Watson. 1909. IV. A preliminary note on two new genera of upper Liassic plesiosaurs. Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society 54(4):1-28
Bibliography (7)
P. Vincent, R. Weis, and G. Kronz, D. Delsate. 2019. Microcleidus melusinae, a new plesiosaurian (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Toarcian of Luxembourg. Geological Magazine 156(1):99-116 DOI ↗
F. Grossmann. 2007. The taxonomic and phylogenetic position of the Plesiosauroidea from the Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale of south-west Germany. Palaeontology 50(3):545-564 DOI ↗
N. Bardet, P. Godefroit, and J. Sciau. 1999. A new elasmosaurid Plesiosaur from the Lower Jurassic of southern France. Palaeontology 42(5):927-952 DOI ↗
M. J. Benton and M. A. Taylor. 1984. Marine reptiles from the Upper Lias (Lower Toarcian, Lower Jurassic) of the Yorkshire coast. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 44(4):399-429 DOI ↗
F. v. Huene. 1923. Ein neuer Plesiosaurier aus dem oberen Lias Württembergs. Jahreshefte des Vereins für Vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg 79:3-23
D. M. S. Watson. 1909. On some reptilian remains from the Trias of Lossiemouth (Elgin). Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 65:440 DOI ↗
R. Owen. 1865. Part I. Sauropterygia. Monographs on the fossil Reptilia of the Liassic formations 17(75):1-40