Tanystropheidae

Tanystropheidae is an extinct family of archosauromorph reptiles that lived throughout the Triassic Period, often considered to be "protorosaurs". They are characterized by their long, stiff necks formed from elongated cervical vertebrae with very long cervical ribs. Members of the group include both terrestrial and aquatic forms. While some tanystropheids were small lizard-like animals, other tanystropheids such as Tanystropheus were large animals that had necks that were several meters long, longer than the rest of their bodies.

Tanystropheidae

SeismicShrimp · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ArchosauromorphaPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Diapsida

Time the record covers

At least 41 million years on record.

The record covers at least 247 Mya to 205.7 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 250.8 Mya to 201.4 Mya.

Early Triassic — about 2 of 62 occurrencesEarly TriassicMiddle Triassic — about 38 of 62 occurrencesMiddle TriassicLate Triassic — about 22 of 62 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 62 occurrences252–250 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences250–248 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences248–247 Mya — about 2 occurrences247–245 Mya — about 7 occurrences245–243 Mya — about 9 occurrences243–242 Mya — about 5 occurrences242–240 Mya — about 6 occurrences240–238 Mya — about 6 occurrences238–236 Mya — about 4 occurrences236–235 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences235–233 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences233–231 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences231–230 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences230–228 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences228–226 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences226–224 Mya — about 1 occurrence224–223 Mya — about 1 occurrence223–221 Mya — about 1 occurrence221–219 Mya — about 1 occurrence219–218 Mya — about 1 occurrence218–216 Mya — about 1 occurrence216–214 Mya — about 2 occurrences214–212 Mya — about 2 occurrences212–211 Mya — about 2 occurrences211–209 Mya — about 2 occurrences209–207 Mya — about 2 occurrences207–206 Mya — about 2 occurrences206–204 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences204–202 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences202–200 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences247 Mya205.7 Mya252 Mya200 Mya

62 occurrences of Tanystropheidae on record, most of them in the Middle Triassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

62 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

29 formations

Besano — 45.91°N, 8.94°ELockatong — 40.77°N, 74.02°WLockatong — 40.42°N, 75.06°WRöt — 47.68°N, 8.16°ERöt — 48.53°N, 8.59°ERöt — 48.61°N, 8.70°EChinle — 34.44°N, 109.46°WChinle — 34.95°N, 109.76°WFalang — 25.08°N, 104.90°EFalang — 25.08°N, 104.67°EDolomia di Forni — 46.38°N, 12.86°EDolomia di Forni — 46.39°N, 12.59°EBesano — 45.89°N, 8.89°EMeride Limestone — 45.91°N, 8.95°EErfurt — 49.21°N, 9.68°EErfurt — 49.04°N, 9.77°ETrossingen — 51.90°N, 11.07°EProsanto — 46.68°N, 9.82°EGarita Creek — 35.24°N, 105.79°WGarita Creek — 35.28°N, 104.55°WCow Branch — 36.54°N, 79.67°WOtter Sandstone — 50.67°N, 3.27°WVossenveld — 51.97°N, 6.73°EZorzino Limestone — 45.78°N, 9.82°ELipovskaya — 49.26°N, 43.67°ELestanshor — 68.62°N, 62.72°EMeride — 45.90°N, 8.95°EChorzow — 50.58°N, 17.63°ELöwenstein — 48.76°N, 9.14°EGuanling — 25.70°N, 104.47°EJilh — 26.39°N, 44.24°EGogolin — 50.47°N, 17.97°E

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The named rock units Tanystropheidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 5 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 9 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Tanystropheidae and its relatives

Middle Triassic

Where Tanystropheidae and its relatives were recorded in the Middle Triassic.

Found in the same rock

402 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 55 sites for Tanystropheidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

48 references

Each of the 62 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 36 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Tanystropheidae

Credit
SeismicShrimp
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
No Copyright (US)
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Tanystropheidae indet. · pefo:44826

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itArchosauromorpha through timeFormations of the Middle TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gervais 1859