Editing Jurassic (section)

=== Other reptiles ===

==== Crocodylomorphs ====
[[File:Platysuchus multiscrobiculatus 1.JPG|thumb|[[Holotype]] specimen of ''[[Platysuchus]],'' a [[Teleosauridae|telosaurid]] [[thalattosuchia]]n]]
The Triassic–Jurassic extinction decimated [[pseudosuchia]]n diversity, with [[Crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorphs]], which originated during the early Late Triassic, being the only group of pseudosuchians to survive. All other pseudosuchians, including the herbivorous [[aetosaur]]s and carnivorous "[[rauisuchians]]", became extinct.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Allen|first1=Bethany J.|last2=Stubbs|first2=Thomas L.|last3=Benton|first3=Michael J.|last4=Puttick|first4=Mark N.|date=March 2019|editor-last=Mannion|editor-first=Philip|title=Archosauromorph extinction selectivity during the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction|journal=Palaeontology|language=en|volume=62|issue=2|pages=211–224|doi=10.1111/pala.12399|bibcode=2019Palgy..62..211A |s2cid=55009185|doi-access=free|hdl=1983/e3fc2e40-c849-42ed-99fe-ea17fc26b2ec|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The morphological diversity of crocodylomorphs during the Early Jurassic was around the same as that of Late Triassic pseudosuchians, but they occupied different areas of morphospace, suggesting that they occupied different [[ecological niche]]s to their Triassic counterparts and that there was an extensive and rapid radiation of crocodylomorphs during this interval.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Toljagić|first1=Olja|last2=Butler|first2=Richard J.|date=2013-06-23|title=Triassic–Jurassic mass extinction as trigger for the Mesozoic radiation of crocodylomorphs|url= |journal=Biology Letters|language=en|volume=9|issue=3|pages=20130095|doi=10.1098/rsbl.2013.0095|issn=1744-9561|pmc=3645043|pmid=23536443}}</ref> While living [[crocodilia]]ns are mostly confined to an aquatic ambush predator lifestyle, Jurassic crocodylomorphs exhibited a wide variety of life habits. An unnamed [[Protosuchidae|protosuchid]] known from teeth from the Early Jurassic of Arizona represents the earliest known herbivorous crocodylomorph, an adaptation that appeared several times during the Mesozoic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Melstrom|first1=Keegan M.|last2=Irmis|first2=Randall B.|date=July 2019|title=Repeated Evolution of Herbivorous Crocodyliforms during the Age of Dinosaurs|journal=Current Biology|language=en|volume=29|issue=14|pages=2389–2395.e3|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.076|pmid=31257139|s2cid=195699188|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019CBio...29E2389M }}</ref>

The [[Thalattosuchia]], a clade of predominantly marine crocodylomorphs, first appeared during the Early Jurassic and became a prominent part of marine ecosystems.<ref name="Stubbs-2021">{{Cite journal|last1=Stubbs|first1=Thomas L.|last2=Pierce|first2=Stephanie E.|last3=Elsler|first3=Armin|last4=Anderson|first4=Philip S. L.|last5=Rayfield|first5=Emily J.|last6=Benton|first6=Michael J.|date=2021-03-31|title=Ecological opportunity and the rise and fall of crocodylomorph evolutionary innovation|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=288|issue=1947|pages=20210069|doi=10.1098/rspb.2021.0069|pmid=33757349|pmc=8059953|s2cid=232326789}}</ref> Within Thalattosuchia, the [[Metriorhynchidae]] became highly adapted for life in the open ocean, including the transformation of limbs into flippers, the development of a tail fluke, and smooth, scaleless skin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Spindler|first1=Frederik|last2=Lauer|first2=René|last3=Tischlinger|first3=Helmut|last4=Mäuser|first4=Matthias|date=2021-07-05|title=The integument of pelagic crocodylomorphs (Thalattosuchia: Metriorhynchidae)|url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2021/3399-metriorhynchid-skin|journal=Palaeontologia Electronica|language=English|volume=24|issue=2|pages=1–41|doi=10.26879/1099|issn=1094-8074|doi-access=free}}</ref> The morphological diversity of crocodylomorphs during the Early and Middle Jurassic was relatively low compared to that in later time periods and was dominated by terrestrial small-bodied, long-legged [[sphenosuchia]]ns, early [[crocodyliformes|crocodyliforms]] and thalattosuchians.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Irmis|first1=Randall B.|last2=Nesbitt|first2=Sterling J.|last3=Sues|first3=Hans-Dieter|date=2013|title=Early Crocodylomorpha|url=http://sp.lyellcollection.org/lookup/doi/10.1144/SP379.24|journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications|language=en|volume=379|issue=1|pages=275–302|bibcode=2013GSLSP.379..275I|doi=10.1144/SP379.24|issn=0305-8719|s2cid=219190410}}</ref><ref name="Stubbs-2021" /> The [[Neosuchia]], a major group of crocodylomorphs, first appeared during the Early to Middle Jurassic. The Neosuchia represents the transition from an ancestrally terrestrial lifestyle to a freshwater aquatic ecology similar to that occupied by modern crocodilians.<ref name="Wilberg-2019">{{Cite journal|last1=Wilberg|first1=Eric W.|last2=Turner|first2=Alan H.|last3=Brochu|first3=Christopher A.|date=2019-01-24|title=Evolutionary structure and timing of major habitat shifts in Crocodylomorpha|url= |journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|pages=514|doi=10.1038/s41598-018-36795-1|pmid=30679529|pmc=6346023|bibcode=2019NatSR...9..514W|issn=2045-2322}}</ref> The timing of the origin of Neosuchia is disputed. The oldest record of Neosuchians has been suggested to be ''[[Calsoyasuchus]],'' from the Early Jurassic of Arizona, which in many analyses has been recovered as the earliest branching member of the neosuchian family [[Goniopholididae]], which radically alters times of diversification for crocodylomorphs. However, this placement has been disputed, with some analyses finding it outside Neosuchia, which would place the oldest records of Neosuchia in the Middle Jurassic.<ref name="Wilberg-2019" /> ''[[Razanandrongobe]]'' from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar has been suggested to represent the oldest record of [[Notosuchia]], a primarily Gondwanan clade of mostly terrestrial crocodylomorphs, otherwise known from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic.<ref name="dalsasso2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dal Sasso|first1=C.|last2=Pasini|first2=G.|last3=Fleury|first3=G.|last4=Maganuco|first4=S.|year=2017|title=''Razanandrongobe sakalavae'', a gigantic mesoeucrocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, is the oldest known notosuchian|journal=PeerJ|volume=5|page=e3481|doi=10.7717/peerj.3481|pmc=5499610|pmid=28690926 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Turtles ====
[[File:Thalassemys bruntrutana.jpg|thumb|''[[Thalassemys]],'' a [[thalassochelydia]]n sea turtle known from the Late Jurassic of Germany ]]
[[Stem-group]] turtles ([[Testudinata]]) diversified during the Jurassic. Jurassic stem-turtles belong to two progressively more advanced clades, the [[Mesochelydia]] and [[Perichelydia]].<ref name="Joyce-2017">{{Cite journal|last=Joyce|first=Walter G.|date=April 2017|title=A Review of the Fossil Record of Basal Mesozoic Turtles|journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History|language=en|volume=58|issue=1|pages=65–113|doi=10.3374/014.058.0105|bibcode=2017BPMNH..58...65J |s2cid=54982901|issn=0079-032X|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/288659/files/joy_rfm.pdf }}</ref> It is thought that the ancestral condition for mesochelydians is aquatic, as opposed to terrestrial for testudinates.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sterli|first1=Juliana|last2=de la Fuente|first2=Marcelo S.|last3=Rougier|first3=Guillermo W.|date=2018-07-04|title=New remains of Condorchelys antiqua (Testudinata) from the Early-Middle Jurassic of Patagonia: anatomy, phylogeny, and paedomorphosis in the early evolution of turtles|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2018.1480112|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|language=en|volume=38|issue=4|pages=(1)–(17)|doi=10.1080/02724634.2018.1480112|bibcode=2018JVPal..38....1S |s2cid=109556104|issn=0272-4634|hdl=11336/99525|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The two modern groups of turtles ([[Turtle|Testudines]]), [[Pleurodira]] and [[Cryptodira]], diverged by the beginning of the Late Jurassic.<ref name="Joyce-2017" /> The oldest known pleurodires, the [[Platychelyidae]], are known from the Late Jurassic of Europe and the Americas,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sullivan|first1=Patrick M.|last2=Joyce|first2=Walter G.|date=August 2017|title=The shell and pelvic anatomy of the Late Jurassic turtle Platychelys oberndorferi based on material from Solothurn, Switzerland|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13358-017-0136-7|journal=[[Swiss Journal of Palaeontology]]|language=en|volume=136|issue=2|pages=323–343|doi=10.1007/s13358-017-0136-7|bibcode=2017SwJP..136..323S |s2cid=90587841|issn=1664-2376}}</ref> while the oldest unambiguous cryptodire, ''[[Sinaspideretes]],'' an early relative of [[Trionychidae|softshell turtles]], is known from the Late Jurassic of China.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Evers|first1=Serjoscha W.|last2=Benson|first2=Roger B. J.|date=January 2019|editor-last=Smith|editor-first=Andrew|title=A new phylogenetic hypothesis of turtles with implications for the timing and number of evolutionary transitions to marine lifestyles in the group|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pala.12384|journal=Palaeontology|language=en|volume=62|issue=1|pages=93–134|doi=10.1111/pala.12384|bibcode=2019Palgy..62...93E |s2cid=134736808}}</ref> The [[Thalassochelydia]], a diverse lineage of marine turtles unrelated to modern [[sea turtle]]s, are known from the Late Jurassic of Europe and South America.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Anquetin|first1=Jérémy|last2=Püntener|first2=Christian|last3=Joyce|first3=Walter G.|date=October 2017|title=A Review of the Fossil Record of Turtles of the Clade Thalassochelydia|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.3374/014.058.0205|journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History|language=en|volume=58|issue=2|pages=317–369|doi=10.3374/014.058.0205|bibcode=2017BPMNH..58..317A |s2cid=31091127|issn=0079-032X}}</ref>

==== Lepidosaurs ====
[[Rhynchocephalia]]ns (the sole living representative being the [[tuatara]]) had achieved a global distribution by the beginning of the Jurassic,<ref name="Evans-2010" /> and represented the dominant group of small reptiles during the Jurassic globally.<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal |last1=Brownstein |first1=Chase D. |last2=Meyer |first2=Dalton L. |last3=Fabbri |first3=Matteo |last4=Bhullar |first4=Bhart-Anjan S. |last5=Gauthier |first5=Jacques A. |date=2022-11-29 |title=Evolutionary origins of the prolonged extant squamate radiation |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=7087 |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-34217-5 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=9708687 |pmid=36446761|bibcode=2022NatCo..13.7087B }}</ref> Rhynchocephalians reached their highest morphological diversity in their evolutionary history during the Jurassic, occupying a wide range of lifestyles, including the aquatic [[Pleurosauridae|pleurosaurs]] with long snake-like bodies and reduced limbs, the specialized herbivorous [[Eilenodontinae|eilenodontines]], as well as the [[sapheosaurs]] which had broad tooth plates indicative of [[durophagy]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Herrera-Flores|first1=Jorge A.|last2=Stubbs|first2=Thomas L.|last3=Benton|first3=Michael J.|date=2017|title=Macroevolutionary patterns in Rhynchocephalia: is the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) a living fossil?|journal=Palaeontology|language=en|volume=60|issue=3|pages=319–328|doi=10.1111/pala.12284|bibcode=2017Palgy..60..319H |issn=1475-4983|doi-access=free}}</ref> Rhynchocephalians disappeared from Asia after the Early Jurassic.<ref name="Evans-2010">{{Citation|last1=Evans|first1=Susan E.|title=The Origin, Early History and Diversification of Lepidosauromorph Reptiles|date=2010|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-642-10311-7_2|work=New Aspects of Mesozoic Biodiversity|volume=132|pages=27–44|place=Berlin, Heidelberg|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-10311-7_2|isbn=978-3-642-10310-0|access-date=2021-01-07|last2=Jones|first2=Marc E.H.|series=Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences |bibcode=2010LNES..132...27E}}</ref> The last common ancestor of living [[Squamata|squamates]] (which includes [[lizard]]s and [[snake]]s) is estimated to have lived around 190 million years ago during the Early Jurassic, with the major divergences between modern squamate lineages estimated to have occurred during the Early to Middle Jurassic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Burbrink|first1=Frank T|last2=Grazziotin|first2=Felipe G|last3=Pyron|first3=R Alexander|last4=Cundall|first4=David|last5=Donnellan|first5=Steve|last6=Irish|first6=Frances|last7=Keogh|first7=J Scott|last8=Kraus|first8=Fred|last9=Murphy|first9=Robert W|last10=Noonan|first10=Brice|last11=Raxworthy|first11=Christopher J|date=2020-05-01|editor-last=Thomson|editor-first=Robert|title=Interrogating Genomic-Scale Data for Squamata (Lizards, Snakes, and Amphisbaenians) Shows no Support for Key Traditional Morphological Relationships|url=https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article/69/3/502/5573126|journal=Systematic Biology|language=en|volume=69|issue=3|pages=502–520|doi=10.1093/sysbio/syz062|pmid=31550008|issn=1063-5157}}</ref> Squamates first appear in the fossil record during the Middle Jurassic<ref name="Cleary-2018">{{Cite journal|last1=Cleary|first1=Terri J.|last2=Benson|first2=Roger B. J.|last3=Evans|first3=Susan E.|last4=Barrett|first4=Paul M.|date=21 March 2018|title=Lepidosaurian diversity in the Mesozoic–Palaeogene: the potential roles of sampling biases and environmental drivers|url= |journal=Royal Society Open Science|volume=5|issue=3|pages=171830|doi=10.1098/rsos.171830|pmc=5882712|pmid=29657788|bibcode=2018RSOS....571830C}}</ref> including members of modern clades such as [[Scincomorpha]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=S. E.|date=1998|title=Crown group lizards (Reptilia, Squamata) from the Middle Jurassic of the British Isles|journal=Palaeontographica, Abteilung A |volume=250|issue=4–6 |pages=123–154|doi=10.1127/pala/250/1998/123 |bibcode=1998PalAA.250..123E |s2cid=246932992 }}</ref> though many Jurassic squamates have unclear relationships to living groups.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dong|first1=Liping|last2=Wang|first2=Yuan|last3=Mou|first3=Lijie|last4=Zhang|first4=Guoze|last5=Evans|first5=Susan E.|date=2019-09-13|title=A new Jurassic lizard from China|journal=Geodiversitas|volume=41|issue=16|pages=623|doi=10.5252/geodiversitas2019v41a16|s2cid=204256127|issn=1280-9659|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019Geodv..41..623D }}</ref> ''[[Eichstaettisaurus]]'' from the Late Jurassic of Germany has been suggested to be an early relative of [[gecko]]s and displays adaptations for climbing.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Simões|first1=Tiago R.|last2=Caldwell|first2=Michael W.|last3=Nydam|first3=Randall L.|last4=Jiménez-Huidobro|first4=Paulina|date=September 2016|title=Osteology, phylogeny, and functional morphology of two Jurassic lizard species and the early evolution of scansoriality in geckoes |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|language=en|doi=10.1111/zoj.12487}}</ref> ''[[Dorsetisaurus]]'' from the Late Jurassic of North America and Europe represents the oldest widely accepted record of [[Anguimorpha]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Daza|first1=J. D.|last2=Bauer|first2=A. M.|last3=Stanley|first3=E. L.|last4=Bolet|first4=A.|last5=Dickson|first5=B.|last6=Losos|first6=J. B.|date=2018-11-01|title=An Enigmatic Miniaturized and Attenuate Whole Lizard from the Mid-Cretaceous Amber of Myanmar|url=https://bioone.org/journals/breviora/volume-563/issue-1/MCZ49.1/An-Enigmatic-Miniaturized-and-Attenuate-Whole-Lizard-from-the-Mid/10.3099/MCZ49.1.full|journal=Breviora|volume=563|issue=1|pages=1|doi=10.3099/MCZ49.1|hdl=1983/0955fcf4-a32a-4498-b920-1421dcea67de |s2cid=91589111|issn=0006-9698|hdl-access=free}}</ref> ''[[Marmoretta]]'' from the Middle Jurassic of Britain has been suggested to represent a late surviving [[Lepidosauromorpha|lepidosauromorph]] outside both Rhynchocephalia and Squamata, though some studies have recovered it as a stem-squamate.<ref name="Griffiths spp2.1400">{{Cite journal |last1=Griffiths |first1=Elizabeth F. |last2=Ford |first2=David P. |last3=Benson |first3=Roger B.J. |last4=Evans |first4=Susan E. |date=September 2021 |editor-last=Ruta |editor-first=Marcello |title=New information on the Jurassic lepidosauromorph Marmoretta oxoniensis |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1400 |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |language=en |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=2255–2278 |doi=10.1002/spp2.1400 |bibcode=2021PPal....7.2255G |issn=2056-2799 |s2cid=239140732}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Vadasaurus herzogi holotype (fossil).jpg|''[[Vadasaurus|Vadasaurus herzogi]]'', a rynchocephalian from the Upper Jurassic [[Solnhofen Limestone]] of Germany
File:Homeosaurus maximiliani, lizard, Jurassic, Solnhofen Limestone, Eichstatt, Bavaria, Germany - Houston Museum of Natural Science - DSC01988.JPG|''[[Homoeosaurus|Homeosaurus maximiliani]]'', a rynchocephalian from the Solnhofen Limestone
File:Pleurosaurus 783534.jpg|''[[Pleurosaurus]],'', an aquatic rhynchocephalian from the Late Jurassic of Europe
File:Eichstaettisaurus schroederi.JPG|''[[Eichstaettisaurus|Eichstaettisaurus schroederi]],'', an extinct lizard from the Solnhofen Limestone 
</gallery>

==== Choristoderes ====
[[File:Coeruleodraco paratype.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.6|Skeleton of ''[[Coeruleodraco]]'']]
The earliest known remains of [[Choristodera]], a group of freshwater aquatic reptiles with uncertain affinities to other reptile groups, are found in the Middle Jurassic. Only two genera of choristodere are known from the Jurassic. One is the small lizard-like ''[[Cteniogenys]]'', thought to be the most basal known choristodere; it is known from the Middle to Late Jurassic of Europe and Late Jurassic of North America, with similar remains also known from the upper Middle Jurassic of Kyrgyzstan and western Siberia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Matsumoto |first1=R. |last2=Evans |first2=S. E. |date=2010 |title=Choristoderes and the freshwater assemblages of Laurasia |url=http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/JIGE/article/view/JIGE1010220253A |journal=Journal of Iberian Geology |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=253–274 |doi=10.5209/rev_JIGE.2010.v36.n2.11 |issn=1698-6180 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2010JIbG...36..253M}}</ref> The other is ''[[Coeruleodraco]]'' from the Late Jurassic of China, which is a more advanced choristodere, though still small and lizard-like in morphology.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Matsumoto |first1=Ryoko |last2=Dong |first2=Liping |last3=Wang |first3=Yuan |last4=Evans |first4=Susan E. |date=2019-06-18 |title=The first record of a nearly complete choristodere (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Upper Jurassic of Hebei Province, People's Republic of China |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2018.1494220 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |language=en |volume=17 |issue=12 |pages=1031–1048 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2018.1494220 |bibcode=2019JSPal..17.1031M |s2cid=92421503 |issn=1477-2019}}</ref>

==== Ichthyosaurs ====
[[File:Ichthyosaurus communis in London.jpg|thumb|Fossil of ''[[Ichthyosaurus somersetensis]]'' at the [[Natural History Museum, London]]|alt=Skeleton of an icthyosaur in side view]]
[[Ichthyosaur]]s suffered an [[evolutionary bottleneck]] during the end-Triassic extinction, with all non-[[neoichthyosauria]]ns becoming extinct. Ichthyosaurs reached their apex of species diversity during the Early Jurassic, with an array of morphologies including the huge [[apex predator]] ''[[Temnodontosaurus]]'' and swordfish-like ''[[Eurhinosaurus]],'' though Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs were significantly less morphologically diverse than their Triassic counterparts.<ref name="Thorne-2011">{{Cite journal|last1=Thorne|first1=P. M.|last2=Ruta|first2=M.|last3=Benton|first3=M. J.|date=2011-05-17|title=Resetting the evolution of marine reptiles at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=108|issue=20|pages=8339–8344|bibcode=2011PNAS..108.8339T|doi=10.1073/pnas.1018959108|issn=0027-8424|pmc=3100925|pmid=21536898|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Moon-2020">{{Cite journal|last1=Moon|first1=Benjamin C.|last2=Stubbs|first2=Thomas L.|date=2020-02-13|title=Early high rates and disparity in the evolution of ichthyosaurs|url= |journal=Communications Biology|language=en|volume=3|issue=1|page=68|doi=10.1038/s42003-020-0779-6|pmid=32054967|pmc=7018711|issn=2399-3642}}</ref> At the Early–Middle Jurassic boundary, between the end of the Toarcian and the beginning of the Bajocian, most lineages of ichythosaur appear to have become extinct, with the first appearance of the [[Ophthalmosauridae]], the clade that would encompass almost all ichthyosaurs from then on, during the early Bajocian.<ref name="Fischer-2021">{{Cite journal|last1=Fischer|first1=Valentin|last2=Weis|first2=Robert|last3=Thuy|first3=Ben|date=2021-02-22|title=Refining the marine reptile turnover at the Early–Middle Jurassic transition|journal=PeerJ|language=en|volume=9|pages=e10647|doi=10.7717/peerj.10647|pmid=33665003|pmc=7906043|issn=2167-8359 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Ophthalmosaurids were diverse by the Late Jurassic, but failed to fill many of the niches that had been occupied by ichthyosaurs during the Early Jurassic.<ref name="Fischer-2021" /><ref name="Thorne-2011" /><ref name="Moon-2020" />

==== Plesiosaurs ====
[[File:Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni (fossil).jpg|thumb|''[[Rhomaleosaurus|Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni]]'' at the Natural History Museum, London]]
[[Plesiosauria|Plesiosaurs]] originated at the end of the Triassic (Rhaetian). By the end of the Triassic, all other [[sauropterygia]]ns, including [[Placodontia|placodonts]] and [[nothosaur]]s, had become extinct. At least six lineages of plesiosaur crossed the Triassic–Jurassic boundary.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wintrich|first1=Tanja|last2=Hayashi|first2=Shoji|last3=Houssaye|first3=Alexandra|last4=Nakajima|first4=Yasuhisa|last5=Sander|first5=P. Martin|date=2017-12-01|title=A Triassic plesiosaurian skeleton and bone histology inform on evolution of a unique body plan|url= |journal=Science Advances|language=en|volume=3|issue=12|pages=e1701144|doi=10.1126/sciadv.1701144|pmid=29242826|pmc=5729018|bibcode=2017SciA....3E1144W|issn=2375-2548}}</ref> Plesiosaurs were already diverse in the earliest Jurassic, with the majority of plesiosaurs in the Hettangian-aged Blue Lias belonging to the [[Rhomaleosauridae]]. Early plesiosaurs were generally small-bodied, with body size increasing into the Toarcian.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Benson|first1=Roger B. J.|last2=Evans|first2=Mark|last3=Druckenmiller|first3=Patrick S.|date=2012-03-16|title=High Diversity, Low Disparity and Small Body Size in Plesiosaurs (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=7|issue=3|pages=e31838|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0031838|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3306369|pmid=22438869|bibcode=2012PLoSO...731838B|doi-access=free}}</ref> There appears to have been a strong turnover around the Early–Middle Jurassic boundary, with [[Microcleididae|microcleidids]] and rhomaleosaurids becoming extinct and nearly extinct respectively after the end of the Toarcian with the first appearance of the dominant clade of plesiosaurs of the latter half of the Jurassic, the [[Cryptoclididae]] during the Bajocian.<ref name="Fischer-2021" /> The Middle Jurassic saw the evolution of short-necked and large-headed [[Thalassophonea|thalassophonean pliosaurs]] from ancestrally small-headed, long-necked forms''.''<ref>{{Cite journal|last=O'Keefe|first=F. Robin|date=2002|title=The evolution of plesiosaur and pliosaur morphotypes in the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia)|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/abs/evolution-of-plesiosaur-and-pliosaur-morphotypes-in-the-plesiosauria-reptilia-sauropterygia/8A68F79F7BCF0D56D2D7435D3A018704|journal=Paleobiology|language=en|volume=28|issue=1|pages=101–112|doi=10.1666/0094-8373(2002)028<0101:TEOPAP>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=2002Pbio...28..101O |s2cid=85753943 |issn=0094-8373}}</ref><ref name="Fischer-2021" /> Some thalassophonean pliosaurs, such as some species of ''[[Pliosaurus]]'', had skulls up to two metres in length with body lengths estimated around {{convert|10|–|12|m|ft|sp=us}}, making them the apex predators of Late Jurassic oceans.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Benson|first1=Roger B. J.|last2=Evans|first2=Mark|last3=Smith|first3=Adam S.|last4=Sassoon|first4=Judyth|last5=Moore-Faye|first5=Scott|last6=Ketchum|first6=Hilary F.|last7=Forrest|first7=Richard|date=2013-05-31|title=A Giant Pliosaurid Skull from the Late Jurassic of England|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=8|issue=5|pages=e65989|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0065989|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3669260|pmid=23741520|bibcode=2013PLoSO...865989B|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Fischer-2021" /> Plesiosaurs invaded freshwater environments during the Jurassic, with indeterminate remains of small-bodied pleisosaurs known from freshwater sediments from the Jurassic of China and Australia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gao|first1=Ting|last2=Li|first2=Da-Qing|last3=Li|first3=Long-Feng|last4=Yang|first4=Jing-Tao|date=2019-08-13|title=The first record of freshwater plesiosaurian from the Middle Jurassic of Gansu, NW China, with its implications to the local palaeobiogeography|journal=Journal of Palaeogeography|volume=8|issue=1|pages=27|doi=10.1186/s42501-019-0043-5|bibcode=2019JPalG...8...27G|s2cid=199547716|issn=2524-4507|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kear|first=Benjamin P.|date=2 August 2012|title=A revision of Australia's Jurassic plesiosaurs |journal=Palaeontology|language=en|volume=55|issue=5|pages=1125–1138|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01183.x|bibcode=2012Palgy..55.1125K |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==== Pterosaurs ====
[[File:Rhamphorhynchus Lauer.jpg|thumb|Skeleton of ''[[Rhamphorhynchus|Rhamphorhynchus muensteri]]'' at [[Teylers Museum]], [[Haarlem]]|left]]
[[Pterosaur]]s first appeared in the Late Triassic. A major radiation of Jurassic pterosaurs is the [[Rhamphorhynchidae]], which first appeared in the late Early Jurassic (Toarcian);<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=O’Sullivan|first1=Michael|last2=Martill|first2=David M.|date=2017-11-17|title=The taxonomy and systematics of Parapsicephalus purdoni (Reptilia: Pterosauria) from the Lower Jurassic Whitby Mudstone Formation, Whitby, U.K|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2017.1281919|journal=Historical Biology|language=en|volume=29|issue=8|pages=1009–1018|doi=10.1080/08912963.2017.1281919|bibcode=2017HBio...29.1009O |s2cid=132532024|issn=0891-2963}}</ref> they are thought to been [[Piscivore|piscivorous]].<ref name="Bestwick-2018">{{Cite journal|last1=Bestwick|first1=Jordan|last2=Unwin|first2=David M.|last3=Butler|first3=Richard J.|last4=Henderson|first4=Donald M.|last5=Purnell|first5=Mark A.|date=November 2018|title=Pterosaur dietary hypotheses: a review of ideas and approaches: Pterosaur dietary hypotheses |journal=Biological Reviews|language=en|volume=93|issue=4|pages=2021–2048|doi=10.1111/brv.12431|pmc=6849529|pmid=29877021}}</ref> [[Anurognathidae|Anurognathids]], which first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, possessed short heads and densely furred bodies, and are thought to have been insectivores.<ref name="Bestwick-2018" /> Derived [[monofenestrata]]n pterosaurs such as [[Wukongopteridae|wukongopterids]] appeared in the late Middle Jurassic. Advanced short-tailed [[Pterodactyloidea|pterodactyloids]] first appeared at the Middle–Late Jurassic boundary. Jurassic pterodactyloids include the [[Ctenochasmatoidea|ctenochasmatids]], like ''[[Ctenochasma]]'', which have closely spaced needle-like teeth that were presumably used for [[Filter feeder|filter feeding]].<ref name="Bestwick-2018" /> The bizarre Late Jurassic [[Ctenochasmatoidea|ctenochasmatoid]] ''[[Cycnorhamphus]]'' had a jaw with teeth only at the tips, with bent jaws like those of living [[openbill stork]]s that may have been used to hold and crush hard invertebrates.<ref name="Bestwick-2018" />