Platypterygius

Platypterygius
Temporal range: Late Aptian-Late Cenomanian
113–93.9 Ma
Assigned P. australis specimen
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Ichthyosauria
Family: Ophthalmosauridae
Subfamily: Platypterygiinae
Genus: Platypterygius
von Huene, 1922
Type species
Platypterygius platydactylus
(Broili, 1907)
Other species
  • P. americanus
    (Nace, 1939)
  • P. australis
    (McCoy, 1867)
  • P. hercynicus
    Kuhn, 1946
  • P. elsuntuoso
    Fonseca, Cabra, & Camacho, 2024
Synonyms
  • Ichthyosaurus platydactylus
    Broili, 1907
  • Longirostria australis
    McCoy, 1867
  • Myobradypterygius mollensis
    Rusconi, 1938[1]
  • Platypterygius longmani
    Wade, 1990
  • Tenuirostria americanus
    Hace, 1939

Platypterygius is a historically paraphyletic genus of platypterygiine ichthyosaur from the Cretaceous period. It was historically used as a wastebasket taxon, and most species within Platypterygius likely are undiagnostic at the genus or species level, or represent distinct genera, even being argued as invalid.[2] While fossils referred to Platypterygius have been found throughout different continents, the holotype specimen was found in Germany.

  1. ^ C. Rusconi. (1938). Restos de ictiosaurios del Jurásico Superior de Mendoza [Remains of ichthyosaurs from the Upper Jurassic of Mendoza]. Boletin Paleontológico de Buenos Aires 10:1-4
  2. ^ Fischer, V.; Masure, E.; Arkhangelsky, M.S.; Godefroit, P. (2011). "A New Barremian (Early Cretaceous) Ichthyosaur From Western Russia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (5): 1010–1025. Bibcode:2011JVPal..31.1010F. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.595464. hdl:2268/92828. S2CID 86036325.