Tanysauria
Tanysauria is an extinct clade of long-necked archosauromorph reptiles from the Triassic period of Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. It comprises the families Tanystropheidae and Trachelosauridae. Within the Archosauromorpha, Tanysauria represents the sister group to the Crocopoda. It contains many of the species formerly placed in "Protorosauria", which is now thought to be a paraphyletic group.
Definition
The clade Tanysauria was described by Stephan Spiekman and co-authors in 2024. Its name comes from the Greek τᾰνυ meaning "long" and σαῦρος meaning "lizard," which refers to the long necks and, in some cases, bodies of tanysaurians.According to the phylogenetic definition given by Spiekman et al., the clade Tanysauria includes all taxa that are more closely related to Tanystropheus longobardicus, Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, and Trachelosaurus fischeri than to Protorosaurus speneri, Prolacerta broomi, Mesosuchus browni, Azendohsaurus madagaskarensis, or Proterosuchus fergusi.