Article
Article
Nothosauria
Article By:
Carroll, Robert L. Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Rieppel, Olivier C. Department of Geology, The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois.
Last reviewed:2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.757443
An extinct clade (evolutionary lineage) of eosauropterygian reptiles (that is, a suborder of Eosauropterygia) that also includes pachypleurosaurs (suborder Pachypleurosauria) and pistosaurs (suborder Pistosauroidea). Representatives of these groups are known from uppermost Lower Triassic to Upper Triassic marine deposits in Europe, the Near and Middle East, northern Africa, China, and North America. Triassic nothosaurs and their relatives are typically restricted to near-shore habitats or shallow epicontinental seas. Some derived members of the pistosaurs constitute the sister group (closest relatives) to plesiosaurs, a clade that greatly diversified during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. See also: Placodontia; Plesiosauria; Sauropterygia
The content above is only an excerpt.
About AccessScience
AccessScience provides the most accurate and trustworthy scientific information available.
Recognized as an award-winning gateway to scientific knowledge, AccessScience is an amazing online resource that contains high-quality reference material written specifically for students. Contributors include more than 10,000 highly qualified scientists and 46 Nobel Prize winners.
MORE THAN 8700 articles covering all major scientific disciplines and encompassing the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology
115,000-PLUS definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
3000 biographies of notable scientific figures
MORE THAN 19,000 downloadable images and animations illustrating key topics
ENGAGING VIDEOS highlighting the life and work of award-winning scientists
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY and additional readings to guide students to deeper understanding and research
LINKS TO CITABLE LITERATURE help students expand their knowledge using primary sources of information
