Tanystropheus - Classification

Classification

Tribelesodon, originally considered to be a pterosaur by Francesco Bassani in 1886, is now recognized as a junior synonym to Tanystropheus. The best-known species is Tanystropheus longobardicus. Other currently recognized species include T. conspicuus and T. meridensis. Another junior synonym of Tanystropheus is Procerosaurus. Two specimens were initially identified as Procerosaurus: The first was described as P. cruralis by von Huene in 1902. The second was described by Antonin Fritsch in 1878 as a species of Iguanodon (Iguanodon exogirarum, later amended to exogyrarum), and is a highly doubtful dinosaurian-like bit of bone (possibly an internal cast of a tibia) from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) of the Czech Republic. He reassigned the species to Procerosaurus in 1905 intending to erect it as a new genus, unaware that the genus name was already in use. George Olshevsky in 2000 substituted Ponerosteus for this species.

In 2002, fossils of a related genus, Dinocephalosaurus, were collected in marine Triassic deposits in southwestern China. This new creature was 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) long, 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) of which was its neck and head. The specimen was described in 2004.