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Pachypleurosaurs were primitive Triassic sauropterygian reptiles that vaguely resembled aquatic lizards, and are limited to the Triassic period. They were elongate animals, ranging in size from 20 cm to about a meter in length, with small heads, long necks, paddle-like limbs, and long deep tails. The limb girdles are greatly reduced, so it is unlikely these animals could move about on land. The widely spaced peg-like teeth project at the front of the jaws, and indicate that these animals fed on fish.
Pachypleurosaurs were originally and are often still included among the Nothosaurs (Carroll 1988, Benton 2004). In some cladistic classifications however (Rieppel 2000), they are considered the sister group to the Eusauropterygia, the clade that includes the nothosaurs and plesiosaurs.
Pachypleurosaur
| | Name | Pachypleurosaurs | | Fossil Range | Triassic | | image |  | | Regnum | Animalia | | Phylum | Chordate | | Classis | Reptile | | Superordo | Sauropterygia | | Ordo | Sauropterygia | | Subordo | Pachypleurosauria | | Subordo Authority | Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás | | Familia | Pachypleurosauridae | | Familia Authority | Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás | | Subdivision Ranks | Genus | | Subdivision | Genus |
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