1905年,John C. Merriam建立海龍目同埋海龍科,包含一群特化的海生爬行動物,當時只包含海龍屬。自從部分科學家將阿氏開普吐龍科歸類於海龍目之後,海龍目的分類經常更動。部分科學家將阿氏開普吐龍科、海龍科共同歸類於海龍目,並建立海龍超科,以包含海龍屬的近親;而部分科學家提出狹義的海龍目,並建立海龍形類(Thalattosauriformes)以包含海龍目、阿氏開普吐龍超科。[1]
↑Rieppel, O., Liu, J., and Bucher, B. (2000). "The fist record of a thalattosaur reptile from the Late Triassic of Southern China (Guizhou Province, PR China)." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 20(3): 507-514.
↑Cheng, Y., Wu, X., Li, C., and Tamaki, S. (2007). "A new thalattosaurian (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Upper Triassic of Guizhou, China."
↑Müller, J., Renesto, S., and Evans, S.E. (2005). "The marine diapsid reptile Endennasaurus (Reptilia: Thalattosauriformes) from the Late Triassic of Italy." Palaeont, 48: 15-30.