Ancestral body plan and adaptive radiation of sauropterygian marine reptiles

Abstract

is stably resolved as the basal-most member of Sauropterygiformes, a clade comprising all sauropterygians and saurosphargids. This skeleton reveals an unexpected ancestral body plan for sauropterygiforms with an elongate trunk and four short limbs, differing from many of its immediate descendants but more similar to non-sauropterygiform marine reptiles at their early aquatic stage as axial swimmers. After this convergence on body plan, we quantitatively confirm the rapid divergence of sauropterygiform reptiles following the end-Permian mass extinction.

Topics & Concepts