Askeptosauridae [SEP] parent taxon
Askeptosauridae
Askeptosauridae is a family of thalattosaurs within the superfamily Askeptosauroidea. Fossils have been found from Italy, Switzerland, and China. Askeptosaurids are distinguished from other thalattosaurs by their long necks and narrow skulls.
Classification.
Askeptosauridae was named in 1952 to include the genus "Askeptosaurus". In 2000, the genus "Anshunsaurus", which includes two species, was added to the family. In a 2005 phylogenetic analysis, "Endennasaurus" was included within Askeptosauridae. Later that year a new study placed "Endennasaurus"
Taxon in disguise
In bacteriology, a taxon in disguise is a species, genus or higher unit of biological classification whose evolutionary history reveals has evolved from another unit of similar or lower rank, making the parent unit paraphyletic. This happens when rapid evolution makes a new species appear radically different from the ancestral group, so that it is not (initially) recognised as belonging to the parent phylogenetic group, leaving the latter an evolutionary grade.
While the term is from bacteriology, parallel examples are found throughout the tree of