Editing Pliosauroidea (section)

{{Short description|Extinct clade of reptiles}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Pliosauroids
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Hettangian|Turonian}}
| image = NHMUK PV R 34 Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni Holotype mod.jpg
| image_caption = Cast of ''[[Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni]]'' (NHMUK PV R 34), Natural History Museum, London
| image2 = Liopleurodon ferox Tubingen 2.JPG
| image2_caption = ''[[Liopleurodon ferox]]'' mounted skeleton, Museum of Paleontology, [[Tübingen]]
| taxon = Pliosauroidea
| authority = [[Samuel Paul Welles|Welles]], 1943
| subdivision_ranks = Families and genera
| subdivision = see text
}}

'''Pliosauroidea''' is an [[extinct]] [[clade]] of [[plesiosaurs]], known from the earliest [[Jurassic]] to early Late [[Cretaceous]]. They are best known for the subclade [[Thalassophonea]], which contained [[crocodile]]-like short-necked forms with large heads and massive toothed jaws, commonly known as '''pliosaurs'''. More primitive non-thalassophonean pliosauroids resembled plesiosaurs in possessing relatively long necks and smaller heads. They originally included only members of the family [[Pliosauridae]], of the order [[Plesiosauria]], but several other genera and families are now also included, the number and details of which vary according to the classification used.

The distinguishing characteristics are a short neck and an elongated head, with larger hind [[flipper (anatomy)|flippers]] compared to the fore flippers, the opposite of the plesiosaurs. They were [[Carnivore|carnivorous]] and their long and powerful jaws carried many sharp, conical teeth. Pliosaurs range from 4 to 10 meters or more in length.<ref>[http://www.zoomdinosaurs.com/subjects/dinosaurs/glossary/indexp3.shtml#Pliosaur zoom dinosaurs]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7264856.stm Sea reptile is biggest on record]. BBC News, February 27, 2008.</ref> Their prey may have included [[fish]], [[sharks]], [[ichthyosaur]]s, [[dinosaur]]s and other plesiosaurs.

The largest known species are ''[[Kronosaurus]]'' and ''[[Pliosaurus macromerus]]''; other well known genera include ''[[Rhomaleosaurus]]'', ''[[Peloneustes]]'', and ''[[Macroplata]]''.<ref name=P.funkei>{{cite journal |author1=Espen M. Knutsen |author2=Patrick S. Druckenmiller |author3=[[Jørn Hurum|Jørn H. Hurum]] |year=2012 |title=A new species of Pliosaurus (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the Middle Volgian of central Spitsbergen, Norway |journal=Norwegian Journal of Geology |volume=92 |issue=2–3 |pages=235–258 |issn=0029-196X}} [http://www.geologi.no/data/f/0/21/02/6_2401_0/NJG_2_3_2012_13_Knutsen_etal_Scr.pdf Low resolusion pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202090559/http://www.geologi.no/data/f/0/21/02/6_2401_0/NJG_2_3_2012_13_Knutsen_etal_Scr.pdf |date=2012-12-02 }} [http://www.geologi.no/data/f/0/21/02/6_2401_0/NJG_2_3_2012_13_Knutsen_etal_Pr.pdf High resolusion pdf]{{dead link|date=April 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Fossil specimens have been found in [[Africa]], [[Australia]], [[China]], [[Europe]], [[North America]] and [[South America]].

Many very early (from the [[Early Jurassic]] and possibly Latest [[Triassic]], i.e. [[Rhaetian]]) primitive pliosauroids were very like [[plesiosauroid]]s in appearance and, indeed, used to be included in the family [[Plesiosauridae]].