Plioplatecarpinae

'' In general, plioplatecarpines were short-skulled, short-bodied forms and were among the strongest swimming mosasaurs . Some workers have likened them to pinnipeds in their agility . Most forms were likely piscivores ("fish eaters"), though cephalopods (belemnites) evidently formed an important part of the plioplatecarpine diet. Larger forms may have also fed upon smaller marine reptiles. At least one genus evolved sturdy crushing teeth adapted to feeding on shellfish. The plioplatecarpines were medium-sized mosasaurs ranging from around 2.5 to 7.5 meters in length. Russell (1967, pp. 148) defined the Plioplatecarpinae as follows: Small rostrum present or absent anterior to premaxillary teeth. Cranial nerves X, XI, XII leave lateral wall of opisthotic through single foramen. Canal or deep groove in floor of basioccipital and basispehnoid for basilar artery. Suprastapedial process of quadrate large, bluntly terminated and with parallel sides. Dorsal edge of surangular rounded and longitudinally horizontal...Twenty-nine or less presacral vertebrae present. Length of presacral series less than that of postsacral, neural spines of posterior caudal vertebrae at most only slightly elongated, do not form an appreciable fin. Haemal arches usually unfused to caudal centra. Appendicular elements lack smoothly finished articular surfaces." Plioplatecarpinae was given a phylogenetic definition by Jack Conrad in 2008 as "all taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with Plioplatecarpus marshi than with Tylosaurus proriger or Mosasaurus hoffmanni". == Phylogeny ==

'' skull at Yale University, Peabody MuseumRussell to the Mosasaurinae. Polcyn and Bell (2005, p. 322) have erected a more inclusive clade, the parafamily Russellosaurina, which includes the "subfamilies Tylosaurinae and Plioplatecarpini and their sister-clade containing the genera Tethysaurus, Russellosaurus, and Yaguarasaurus." The cladogram below follows Simões et al. (2017) |style=font-size:85%; line-height:85%|label1=Plioplatecarpinae}} In their 2024 description of the Moroccan plioplatecarpine Khinjaria, Longrich et al. performed a phylogenetic analysis, finding support for a clade of non-plioplatecarpin plioplatecarpines, named the Selmasaurini, which was recovered as the sister taxon to Plioplatecarpini. Both clades were defined respectively as "all species closer to Selmasaurus russelli than Plioplatecarpus marshi or Platecarpus tympaniticus" and "all species closer to Plioplatecarpus marshi than to Selmasaurus russelli". A similar clade was recovered by Strong et al. (2020) in their description of Gavialimimus. The results of the analyses of Longrich et al. are shown in the cladogram below: }} ==References==