User:Ichthyovenator/List of mosasaur genera

List of mosasaur genera

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Tylosaurus proriger mounted skeleton in the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park, Colorado.

This list of mosasaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the family Mosasauridae or the parent clade Mosasauroidea, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful (nomen dubium), or were not formally published (nomen nudum), as well as junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that are no longer considered mosasauroid. Non-mosasaurid mosasauroids shall be noted as such. The list currently includes ??? names out of which ??? are considered valid mosasaur genera.

Scope and terminology

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There is no official, canonical list of mosasaur genera but one of the most thorough attempts can be found on the "Pythonomorpha" section of Mikko Haaramo's Phylogeny Archive.

Naming conventions and terminology follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Technical terms used include:

  • Junior synonym: A name which describes the same taxon as a previously published name. If two or more genera are formally designated and the type specimens are later assigned to the same genus, the first to be published (in chronological order) is the senior synonym, and all other instances are junior synonyms. Senior synonyms are generally used, except by special decision of the ICZN, but junior synonyms cannot be used again, even if deprecated. Junior synonymy is often subjective, unless the genera described were both based on the same type specimen.
  • Nomen nudum (Latin for "naked name"): A name that has appeared in print but has not yet been formally published by the standards of the ICZN. Nomina nuda (the plural form) are invalid, and are therefore not italicized as a proper generic name would be. If the name is later formally published, that name is no longer a nomen nudum and will be italicized on this list. Often, the formally published name will differ from any nomina nuda that describe the same specimen. In this case, these nomina nuda will be deleted from this list in favor of the published name.
  • Preoccupied name: A name that is formally published, but which has already been used for another taxon. This second use is invalid (as are all subsequent uses) and the name must be replaced. As preoccupied names are not valid generic names, they will also go unitalicized on this list.
  • Nomen dubium (Latin for "dubious name"): A name describing a fossil with no unique diagnostic features. As this can be an extremely subjective and controversial designation, this term is not used on this list.

Mosasaur genera

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  Valid genera
  Non-valid genera
Genus Author(s) Year Status Age Location Notes
Acteosaurus Meyer 1860 Misidentification N/A N/A Misidentified, closely related to the Ophidia.[1]
Adriosaurus Seeley 1881 Misidentifaction N/A N/A Misidentified, closely related to the Ophidia.[1]
Aigialosaurus Kramberger 1892 Valid Cenomanian A non-mosasaurid mosasauroid, classified within the Aigialosauridae.[2]
Amphekepubis Mehl 1930 Nomen dubium Coniacian-Santonian? Possibly a junior synonym of Mosasaurus.[3]
Amphorosteus Gibbs 1851 Jr. synonym N/A N/A Junior synonym of Mosasaurus.[4]
Ancylocentrum Schmidt 1927 Jr. synonym N/A N/A Junior synonym of Prognathodon.
Angolasaurus Telles-Antunes 1964 Valid Turonian
Baptosaurus Marsh 1870 Jr. synonym. N/A N/A Junior synonym of Halisaurus.
Baseodon Leidy 1865 Jr. synonym. N/A N/A Junior synonym of Mosasaurus.
Batrachiosaurus Harlan 1839 Jr. synonym. N/A N/A Junior synonym of Mosasaurus.
Brachysaurana Strand 1928 Jr. synonym. N/A N/A Junior synonym of Prognathodon.
Brachysaurus Williston 1897 Preoccupied N/A N/A Preoccupied by a junior synonym of an iguanian lizard genus, Stenocercus;[5] referred to replacement names Brachysaurana and Ancylocentrum, of which Ancylocentrum has priority as such.  
Carinodens Thurmond 1969 Valid Maastrichtian
Carsosaurus Kornhuber 1893 Valid Cenomanian
Clidastes Cope 1868 Valid Coniacian-Campanian
Compressidens Dollo 1924 Preoccupied N/A N/A Preoccupied by a tusk shell; later renamed Carinodens.
Dallasaurus Polcyn & Bell 2005 Valid Turonian
Dolichosaurus Owen 1894 Misidentification N/A N/A Misidentified, classified within the Dolichosauridae.
Dollosaurus Yakovlev 1901 Jr. synonym. N/A N/A Junior synonym of Prognathodon.
Ectenosaurus Russel 1967 Valid. Santonian
Edestosaurus Marsh 1871 Jr. synonym. N/A N/A Junior synonym of Clidastes.
Eidolosaurus Nopcsa 1923 Misidentification N/A N/A Misidentified, uncertain phylogenetic placement likely outside of the Mosasauroidea.
Elliptonodon Emmons 1858 Jr. synonym. N/A N/A Junior synonym of Tylosaurus.
Eonatator Bardet et al. 2005 Valid Campanian
Eremiasaurus Leblanc et al. 2012 Valid Maastrichtian
Globidens Gilmore 1912 Valid Santonian-Maastrichtian
Goronyosaurus Azzaroli et al. 1972 Valid Maastrichtian
Haasiasaurus Polcyn et al. 2003 Valid Cenomanian
Hainosaurus Dollo 1885 Valid Maastrichtian
Halisaurus Marsh 1869 Valid Campanian-Maastrichtian Renamed Baptosaurus Marsh, 1870 when Marsh thought the name was preoccupied by a fish: Halosaurus. Modern rules allow the original.
Holcodus Gibbs 1851 Jr. synonym. N/A N/A Junior synonym of Platecarpus.
Holosaurus Marsh 1880 Preoccupied N/A N/A Preoccupied name, referred to Platecarpus.
Opetiosaurus Kornhuber 1901 Valid Cenomanian A non-mosasaurid mosasauroid, classified within the Aigialosauridae.[2]
 
Aigialosaurus.
 
Angolasaurus.
 
Clidastes.
 
Dallasaurus.
 
Ectenosaurus.
 
Eonatator.
 
Globidens.
 
Goronyosaurus.
 
Hainosaurus.
 
Halisaurus.
 
Opetiosaurus.
  1. ^ a b Alessandro Palci; Michael W. Caldwell (2010a). "Redescription of Acteosaurus tommasinii von Meyer, 1860, and a discussion of evolutionary trends within the clade Ophidiomorpha". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (1): 94–108. doi:10.1080/02724630903409139. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b Dutchak, Alex R.; Caldwell, Michael W. (2009-06-01). "A Redescription of Aigialosaurus (= Opetiosaurus) Bucchichi (Squamata: Aigialosauridae) with Comments on Mosasauroid Systematics". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (2): 437–452. doi:10.1671/039.029.0206. ISSN 0272-4634.
  3. ^ Buchy, Marie-Céline; Eberhard Frey; Wolfgang Stinnesbeck; José Guadalupe López-Oliva (2007). "Cranial anatomy of a Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) mosasaur (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from north-east Mexico" (PDF). Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas. 24 (1): 89–103.
  4. ^ Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1902. p. 465.
  5. ^ Stenocercus at Herpbreeder.com Archived April 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 12-03-2007.