The Vertebrates L-O

Taxon Index: L-O


A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


-L-


  1. Labridae: wrasses
  2. Labroidei: cichlids, wrasses, damselfish, parrotfishes
  3. Laccocephalus X: a rhinesuchid temnospondyl from just before or just after the end-Permian extinction
  4. Lagerpeton X: an ornithodiran archosaur from the Middle Triassic of South America, the sister of all other dinosauromorphs
  5. Lagomorpha: rabbits & pikas
  6. Lagosuchidae X : important protodinosaurs from Triassic South America
  7. Laidleria X: a notably flat and triangular-headed temnospondyl from the Early Triassic of South Africa
  8. Lambeosaurinae X: advanced Late Cretaceous hadrosaurs with expansive hollow crests.
  9. Lamniformes: mackerel and Basking sharks
  10. Lampridiformes: opahs, crestfish, ribbonfish, oarfish
  11. Lanarkia X: a thelodontid thelodont -- the only thelodont with two distinct, but mixed, types of body scales.
  12. Lanthanosuchidae X: they look like temnospondyls but are actually anapsids
  13. Lanthanotidae: earless monitor lizards
  14. Lapillopsidae X: a small group of small temnospondyls from the Early Triassic of Australia
  15. Lapparentosaurus X: a close relative of Brachiosaurus, from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar.
  16. Lariosaurus X: a Middle Triassic nothosaur from Europe with peculiarly expanded forearms
  17. Larvacea : tiny, planktonic urochordates which build gelatinous "houses"
  18. Leaellynasaurua X: a small hypsilophodont dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous of Australia
  19. Lemuriformes: indri and lemurs
  20. Lemuroidea: lemurs
  21. Lepidosauria: sphenodonts, lizards, mosasaurs & snakes
  22. Lepidosauriformes: probably mosasaurs > plesiosaurs
  23. Lepidosauromorpha: lizards > buzzards
  24. Lepisosteiformes: gars
  25. Lepospondyli: toads > Texans
  26. Leptictida X: possibly the stem group of Pholidota (pangolins)
  27. Leptocleidus X: a smallish rhomaleosaurid pliosaur from the Early Cretaceous.
  28. Leptotyphlopidae: small (10-25 cm) fossorial snakes, near the base of the snake radiation
  29. Lexovisaurus X: a European cousine of Stegosaurus.
  30. Libycosuchidae X: short-snouted, hyena-like crocs from the Cretaceous of Africa
  31. Limnarchia X: all temnospondyls except edopoids and Euskelia
  32. Liopleurodon X: the classic big, mean, Jurassic pliosaur
  33. Lissamphibia: living amphibians
  34. Lithornithiformes X: early paleognathous birds from the Paleocene and Eocene
  35. Livoniana
  36. Lochmocercus: X another Bear Gulch actinistian
  37. Loganellia X: a rather gnathostome-like jawless fish of the thelodont persuasion
  38. Loganiidae X: Silurian theolodonts, possible sister group of the gnathostomes
  39. Longosuchus X
  40. Lorisiformes: pottos, lorises & galagos (lemur-like primates)
  41. Lourinhasaurus X: an early camarasaur from Portugal
  42. Loxomma X: a baphetid tetrapod from the Early Carboniferous
  43. Lupeosaurus X: a poorly-known edaphosaurid from Texas
  44. Luzocephalidae X: some of the first temnospondyls to appear after the end-Permian extinction
  45. Lydekkerinidae X: Triassic capitosaur temnospondyls
  46. Lysorophia X: Permo-Carboniferous microsaurs, possible sister group of living amphibians
  47. Lystrosaurus X: the well-known South African dicynodont almost synonymous with the Permo-Triassic transition.

-M-


  1. Macronaria X: Brachiosaurus > Diplodocus.
  2. Macroplata X: an Early Jurassic pliosaur
  3. Macroscelidea: elephant shrews
  4. Macrosemiiformes X  Mesozoic neopterygians with 7 odd, scroll-shaped infraorbitals
  5. Macrostomata: advanced snakes with large gapes (Crotalus > Anilius)
  6. Madtsoiidae X: basal macrostomate snakes from Gondwana which persisted in Australia through the Pleistocene
  7. Magyarosaurus X: a "dwarf" titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Eastern Europe
  8. Mamenchisauridae X: perhaps the world's longest neck on some Chinese sauropods of uncertain relationships
  9. Mammalia: mammals, used here as the crown group monotremes + mastodons
  10. Mammaliaformes: mammals and not quite mammals -- defined as a crown group for some reason -- Sinocodon + snow leopards
  11. Mandageria X: a derived tristichopterid sarcopterygian fish from the Late Devonian of Australia
  12. Maniraptora: birds and specialized, bird-like theropods
  13. Maniraptoriformes: Ornithomimus + birds, although we think this is a pretty useless definition.
  14. Maresaurus X: a Middle Jurassic South American pliosaur with a large flat snout.
  15. Marginocephalia X: pachycephalosaurs and ceratopsians
  16. Massospondylidae X: a widely-distributed family of moderately large prosauropods closely related to plateosaurs.
  17. Mastodonsaurus X: a huge, stout temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic.
  18. Megalichthyidae X: actually not-so-"mega" osteolepiforms which survived into the Permian
  19. Megalocephalus X: a well-known baphetid of the Early Pennsylvanian
  20. Megapodidae: brush turkeys of Australia
  21. Megazostrodontidae X: docodont pammamiforms from the Triassic and Jurassic of Africa
  22. Meiolania X: huge, "horned" turtles
  23. Melanorosauridae X: very large prosauropods from the Late Triassic of South America
  24. Menaspidae X: odd and early holocephalians of the PermoCarboniferous
  25. Mergini: sea ducks
  26. Meridiungulata X: originally, all endemic South American ungulates. This may not be a clade, so we're not sure what's in this box.
  27. Merriamosauria X: ichthyosaurs characterized by having their teeth set in a groove, without ankylosis to the jaw
  28. Mesoeucrocodylia: a clade containing most marine & amphibious crocs from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic
  29. Mesonychia X: Medium to large-sized, possibly dominant predators or scavengers of the mid-Paleocene to Early Oligocene.
  30. Mesosauridae X: a small group of secondarily aquatic forms with elongated snout & neck, sister group of the reptiles.
  31. Metasuchia: Notosuchus + Crocodylus, including all Cenezoic crocs and some Cretaceous forms
  32. Metatheria: marsupials
  33. Metaxygnathus: X this jaw taxon and Ventastega may be the sister of Tetrapoda
  34. Metoposauroidea X: A group of large flat-headed aquatic temnospondyls, rather similar to the capitosaurids in size and body proportions.
  35. Metornithes: alvarezsaurs + living birds, birds with fused carpometacarpus and reduced fibula
  36. Metriorhynchidae X: highly aquatic Jurassic thalattosuchian crocs
  37. Microbiotheria: very small, mouse-like marsupials from South America
  38. Microbrachiidae X: Tiny (<2 cm) Middle or Late Devonian antiarch placoderms transitional between Yunnanolepidoids and Bothriolepidoids
  39. Microcleidus X: an early Jurassic elasmosaur of uncertain affinities.
  40. Micropternodontidae X: widespread, but poorly known, basal Insectivores of the Paleocene through Miocene.
  41. Microsauria: diverse, small, long-bodied lepospondyls best known from the Permo-Carboniferous -- probable ancestors of at least some living amphibians
  42. Miguashaia X: the earliest known actinistian (coelacanth lineage)
  43. Millerettidae X: lizard-like things from the Late Permian -- quite likely the sister of all other anapsids
  44. Minicrania X: Tiny antiarch placoderms (<2cm) intermediate between yunnanolepidoids & euantiarchs, from the Early Devonian of China.
  45. Minmi X: the only Gondwanan ankylosaur
  46. Miolabinae X:
  47. Mixosaurus X: a small, very basal, early ichthyosaur from the Middle Triassic of nearly everywhere
  48. Molybdopygus X: a poorly-known dinocephalian from the Late Permian of Russia.
  49. Monolophosaurus X: a carnosaur with a unique, single ridge-like head crest running from its nose to the rear of the skull, from the Middle Jurassic of China
  50. Mononykinae X: the Asian Alvarezsaurids, flightless birds with small, weird arms.
  51. Mononykus X: perhaps the best known of the alvarezsaurs, from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia
  52. Monotremata: the egg-laying mammals (platypi & echidnas) and their ancestors
  53. Monstersauria: venemous varanoid lizards, such as the gila monster
  54. Morganucodontidae X: the best-known Mesozoic mammaliaforms
  55. Mosasauroidea X: mosasaurs
  56. Moschops X: perhaps the largest and most bone-headed of the tapinocephalids
  57. Mucrovenator X: a rather advanced little Middle Triassic North American shark tooth genus)
  58. Multituberculata X: the "rodents of the Mesozoic," a prolific and long lived group of "maybe-mammals"
  59. Muraenosaurus X: a classic medium-sized plesiosauroid from the Late Jurassic
  60. Musophagidae: mouse birds
  61. Muttaburrasaurus X: the National Iguanodont of Australia (mid-Cretaceous)
  62. Mycterosaurinae X: a widespread clade of varanopsid "pelycosaurs" from the Middle and Late Permian
  63. Mycterosaurus X: the best-known member of the previous group, from the Middle Permian of North America
  64. Myriacanthoidei X: a weird & enigmatic family of chimaeriforms, mostly from the Jurassic of Europe.
  65. Mysticeti: the baleen whales
  66. Mystriosuchus X: a late and specialized fish-eating phytosaur from the Late Triassic of Europe
  67. Myxinoidea: the hagfishes

-N-


  1. Nanictosaurus X: a Late Permian galesaurid cynodont
  2. Nanocynodon X: another Late Permian cynodont, this one from Russia -- very small but very carnivorous
  3. Nanyangosaurus X: an early hadrosauroid from the middle Cretaceous of China -- hard to distinguish from Iguanodon.
  4. Narcinidae: a family of electric rays
  5. Nectridia X: Permo-Carboniferous newt-like lepospondyls, including the boomerang-head forms like Diplocaulus.
  6. Necrosauridae X: an ill-defined Cretaceous to Eocene taxon of extinct varanoid lizards
  7. Nemegtosauridae X: a titanosaurid group, perhaps Nemegtosaurus > Saltasaurus, with an odd distribution in Asia, India & Africa
  8. Nemegtosaurus X: a controversial titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous of China
  9. Neoaetosauroides X: a late, but primitive aetosaur from the end-Triassic of South America
  10. Neochoristodera X: champsosaurs, an odd, late-surviving archosauromorph line
  11. Neodiapsida: younginiforms + living reptiles
  12. Neognathi: the clade uniting pikes Neoteleosts -- teleosts with acellular bone and depressible teeth
  13. Neomorphidae: roadrunners
  14. Neopterygii: gars + teleosts -- actinopterygians with symmetrical tails
  15. Neornithes: the crown group of all living birds
  16. Neosauropoda X: diplodocids + titanosaurs, digitigrade sauropods
  17. Neoselachii: the crown group of living sharks and rays
  18. Neosuchia: extant crocs + dryosaurs
  19. Neoteleostei: most living teleosts
  20. Neotherapsida: anomodonts + theriodonts
  21. Neuquensaurus X: a medium-sized advanced titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous of South America
  22. Neusticosaurus X
  23. Nicrosaurus X
  24. Nigersaurus X
  25. Nikoliviidae X
  26. Nodosauridae
  27. Nothosauria X: plesiosaurs > placodonts.  
  28. Nothosauridae X
  29. Nothosaurus X: a large, well-known nothosaur from the Triassic of Europe.
  30. Notoryctemorphia: Notoryctes, the strange marsupial mole
  31. Notostylopidae X: an early (mostly Paleocene) group of notoungulates
  32. Notosuchidae X: very terrestrial, solid-looking crocs from the Late Cretaceous of South America
  33. Notosyodon X: a medium sized anteosaur (carnivorous therapsid) with a massive skull from the Late Permian of Russia
  34. Notoungulata X: one of the two main groups of South American endemic ungulates, Paleocene to Pleistocene
  35. Novumbra: the infamous Olympic mudminnow
  36. Numididae: guinea fowl, first cousins to the chicken
  37. Nyctitheriidae X: the most basal group on the line to shrews, Paleocene to Early Oligocene of North America & Europe.

-O-


  1. Obruchevichthys: X a near-tetrapod and close relative of Elginerpeton
  2. Odontoceti: dolphins, porpoises & toothed whales
  3. Odontophoridae
  4. Oikopleuridae
  5. Oligokyphus X: Jurassic tritylodont, a rodent-like cynodont
  6. Oligoryctidae X
  7. Onychodontiformes X a very primitive, perhaps paraphyletic, group of sarcopterygians with symphysial tooth whorls
  8. Onychodus X:  A large onychodontiform
  9. Ophiacodon X: a large Permian pelycosaur from North America
  10. Ophiacodontidae X: early synapsids with tall, thin snouts
  11. Ophthalmosauria X: :  Jurassic ichthyosaurs with huge eyes
  12. Ophthalmosaurus X the eponymous representative of the above group, sometimes divided into a number of (sub)genera
  13. Orectolobiformes: carpet sharks, wobbegons, and nurse sharks
  14. Oreodontoidea X: early members of the pig lineage, from the Eocene and Miocene of North America
  15. Ornithischia X: Triceratops > birds
  16. Ornithocheiroidea X: Pteranodon and related Cretaceous pterosaurs
  17. Ornithodira: the clade uniting pterosaurs and dinosaurs
  18. Ornitholestes X: a small, Late Jurassic coelurosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America
  19. Ornithomimosauria X: very bird-like Cretaceous theropods, sister of the Tyrannosouroidea
  20. Ornithopoda X: heterodontosaurs, hypsilophodonts, iguanodonts, and hadrosaurs
  21. Ornithosuchidae X: a strange family near the base of the split between croc and dinosaur lineages
  22. Ornithosuchus X: very large and theropod-like, but actually a member of the Crurotarsi (croc lineage)
  23. Ornithothoraces: the clade uniting Enantiornithes with living birds
  24. Ornithurae: hesperornithiforms and living birds
  25. Orodontida X: big eel-like primitive sharks from the Late Devonian and Carboniferous
  26. Ostariophysi: the dominant group of fresh water teleosts
  27. Osteichthyes: bony fish -- acanthodians, actinopterygians and sarcopterygians (us)
  28. Osteoglossomorpha: the aruana, elephant-nose fish and extincr relatives
  29. Osteolepididae X
  30. Osteolepiformes X: the group of sarcopterygian fishes which includes the tetrapods
  31. Osteostraci X: armored jawless fishes with massive cartilaginous skulls and paired pectoral fins, from the Silurian & Devonian of the Northern hemisphere
  32. Othnieliinae X: small Jurassic hypsilophodont dinosaurs with small, enamel-covered teeth
  33. Otophysi: the clade uniting catfishes and carp
  34. Ouranosaurus X: a hump-backed hadrosauroid, from the middle Cretaceous of Africa
  35. Oviraptorosauria X: oviraptors, bizarre dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of China & North America
  36. Owenettidae X: early anapsid insectivores from the Permian of Africa
  37. Oxyurini: Gondwanan ducks
  38. Ozarkodinida X: : possibly the best known large taxon of conodonts

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


checked ATW050609