page_title: Microcleidus
section_title: Classification
hierarchical_section_title: Microcleidus / Classification
caption_attribution_description: Microcleidus
context_page_description: Microcleidus is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the Plesiosauroidea. It was about the size of a medium-sized dolphin, reaching a length of 3 metres. The species has 40 neck vertebrae and a short tail of 28 vertebrae. Fossils of the genus have been found in France, the Posidonia Shale in Germany and the Alum Shale Formation of England.
context_section_description: Species include: Microcleidus homalospondylus (Owen 1865) and Microcleidus macropterus (Seeley 1865).
  Occitanosaurus tournemirensis (originally "Plesiosaurus" tournemirensis), was named by Sciau et al. in 1990, based on a nearly complete skeleton of an animal approximately 4 meters (13 ft) long. It was later found to be a species of Microcleidus.
  The following cladogram follows an analysis by Ketchum & Benson, 2011.
caption: Restoration
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