Leptonectidae

Leptonectidae is a family of ichthyosaurs known from Late Triassic to Early Jurassic marine deposits in Europe. They were all small to medium-sized creatures, most noted for their very long, swordfish-like snouts, which could have been used like a weapon, slashing through schools of fish.^[1][2]

Leptonectids Temporal range: Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, Rhaetian–Toarcian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeleton of Leptonectes tenuirostris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Ichthyopterygia
Order:	†Ichthyosauria
Node:	†Neoichthyosauria
Family:	†Leptonectidae Maisch, 1998
Genera
†Eurhinosaurus †Excalibosaurus †Leptonectes †Wahlisaurus †Hauffiopterygia? Lomax, Massare & Maxwell, 2025 †Hauffiopteryx †Xiphodracon

Classification

Speculative life restoration of Hauffiopteryx typicus, a possible leptonectid

In their 2025 description of Xiphodracon, Lomax and colleagues recovered this taxon as the sister taxon to the genus Hauffiopteryx within the broader ichthyosaurian clade Neoichthyosauria. Based on this close relationship, they named the new clade Hauffiopterygia to house both genera. Using extended implied weights parsimony, the Hauffiopterygia was recovered within the family Leptonectidae, which comprises the genera Eurhinosaurus, Excalibosaurus, Leptonectes, and Wahlisaurus. Using equal weights parsimony, the Hauffiopterygia was instead recovered in a position diverging immediately after the Leptonectidae. The results of the former analysis, which are preferred by the researchers, are displayed in the cladogram below:^[2]

Neoichthyosauria	Temnodontosauridae Temnodontosaurus azerguensis Temnodontosaurus crassimanus Ichthyosauridae Leptonectidae Wahlisaurus massarae Leptonectes moorei Leptonectes tenuirostris Eurhinosaurus longirostris Excalibosaurus costini Leptonectes solei Hauffiopterygia Xiphodracon goldencapensis Hauffiopteryx spp. Baracromia Stenopterygius spp. Chacaicosaurus cayi Ophthalmosauria

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