Platypterygius

Platypterygius
Assigned P. australis specimen
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Ichthyosauria
Family: Ophthalmosauridae
Subfamily: Platypterygiinae
Genus: Platypterygius
von Huene, 1922
Type species
Platypterygius platydactylus
(Broili, 1907)
Other species
  • P. americanus
    (Nace, 1939)
  • P. australis
    (McCoy, 1867)
  • P. hercynicus
    Kuhn, 1946
  • P. elsuntuoso
    Fonseca, Cabra, & Camacho, 2024
Synonyms
  • Ichthyosaurus platydactylus
    Broili, 1907
  • Longirostria australis
    McCoy, 1867
  • Myobradypterygius mollensis
    Rusconi, 1938
  • Platypterygius longmani
    Wade, 1990
  • Tenuirostria americanus
    Hace, 1939

Platypterygius is a historically paraphyletic genus of platypterygiine ichthyosaur from the Cretaceous period. It was historically used as a wastebasket taxon, and most species within Platypterygius likely are undiagnostic at the genus or species level, or represent distinct genera, even being argued as invalid. While fossils referred to Platypterygius have been found throughout different continents, the holotype specimen was found in Germany.