Polycotylidae

Taxobox
name = "Polycotylidae"
fossil_range = Cretaceous

---

image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Trinacromerum bentonianum" from the Late Cretaceous of Kansas
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Plesiosauria
subordo = Plesiosauroidea
familia = Polycotylidae
familia_authority = Williston, 1909
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "Ceraumasaurus"
"Dolichorhynchops"
"Edgarosaurus"
"Georgiasaurus"
"Manemergus"
"Polycotylus"
"Procotylus"
"Sulcusuchus"
"Thililua"
"Trinacromerum"

Polycotylidae is a family of plesiosaurs from the Cretaceous, a sister group to the elasmosauridae.

With their short necks and large elongated heads, they resemble the pliosaurs, but closer phylogenetical studies indicate that they share many common features with the plesiosauridae and elasmosauridae. They have been found worldwide, with specimens reported from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Morocco, the USA, Canada, the former states of the USSR and South America.

References

* [http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/220Lepidosauromorpha/220.820.html#Polycotylidae Palæos: The Vertebrates] , Lepidosauromorpha: Cryptocleidoidea: Tricleidia