Diplodocimorpha
Diplodocimorpha is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs that encompasses most members of the broader diplodocoid group, the long-necked, whip-tailed giants that included some of the longest animals ever to live. It unites the rebbachisaurids with the flagellicaudatans, a lineage that combines the diplodocids and the short-necked dicraeosaurids, together with their most recent common ancestor. A few more basal diplodocoids, such as Haplocanthosaurus and possibly Amphicoelias, fall outside the clade. Because it is anchored on a shared common ancestor (a node-based definition) rather than on everything branching from a reference taxon, it captures a slightly narrower assemblage than Diplodocoidea as a whole, with which it was once treated as synonymous before the two were shown to differ in content.
Diagnosis
- Contains the narrow-toothed rebbachisaurids and the whip-tailed flagellicaudatans to the exclusion of basal diplodocoids
- Further retraction and enlargement of the external nares relative to basal diplodocoids
- Marked reduction of the hyposphene-hypantrum accessory articulations in the dorsal vertebrae of derived members
Clades within Diplodocimorpha
- Rebbachisauridae 22 genera
- Flagellicaudata 22 genera
References
-
Calvo, J. O.; Salgado, L. (1995). Rebbachisaurus tessonei sp. nov. a new Sauropoda from the Albian-Cenomanian of Argentina; new evidence on the origin of the Diplodocidae. Gaia 11: 13-33.
Coined the clade name Diplodocimorpha.
calvo1995a -
Taylor, M. P.; Naish, D. (2005). The phylogenetic taxonomy of Diplodocoidea (Dinosauria: Sauropoda). PaleoBios 25(2): 1-7.
Provided the node-based phylogenetic definition of Diplodocimorpha.
taylor2005a