Brachypterygius is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur

Ichthyosaur

Ichthyosaurs were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins...

 known from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. Brachypterygius was named by Friedrich von Huene

Friedrich von Huene

Friedrich von Huene was a German paleontologist who named more dinosaurs in the early 20th century than anyone else in Europe.-Biography:...

 in 1922

1922 in paleontology

-Insects:-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.-New taxa:-Non-mammalian:...

 and the type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is therefore Brachypterygius extremus. The holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 of B. extremus is known from Kimmeridgian

Kimmeridgian

In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age or stage in the Late or Upper Jurassic epoch or series. It spans the time between 155.7 ± 4 Ma and 150.8 ± 4 Ma . The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxfordian and precedes the Tithonian....

 stage of the Late Jurassic

Late Jurassic

The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 161.2 ± 4.0 to 145.5 ± 4.0 million years ago , which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age...

 of Kimmeridge Clay

Kimmeridge Clay

The Kimmeridge Clay Formation is a sedimentary deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Jurassic age. It occurs in Europe.Kimmeridge Clay is arguably the most economically important unit of rocks in the whole of Europe, being the major source rock for oil fields in the North Sea hydrocarbon...

, area of Bath, England. McGowan, 1976 named a new genus of ichthyosaur, Grendelius mordax from Kimmeridgian stage of Kimmeridge Clay, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

. In 1997, McGowan described additional specimens of the same taxon from the Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, and referred it to a species of Brachypterygius. Efimov, 1998 named a new genus of ichthyosaur, Otschevia pseudoscythia on the basis of a single specimen (the holotype) from the Pseudoscythia Zone (late Tithonian

Tithonian

In the geologic timescale the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic epoch or the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic series. It spans the time between 150.8 ± 4 Ma and 145.5 ± 4 Ma...

 stage of the Late Jurassic) of Ulyanovsk, Volga region

Volga Region

Volga Region is a historical region of Russia that encompasses the territories adjacent to the flow of Volga River. According to the flow of the river, it is usually classified into the Middle Volga Region and Lower Volga Region...

, Russia.Efimov VM. 1998. An Ichthyosaur, Otschevia pseudoscythica gen. et sp. nov. from the Upper Jurassic Strata of the Ulyanovsk Region (Volga Region). Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal 32 (2): 187-191. Later, Arkangelsky, 1998 described Brachypterygius zhuravlevi from a Tithonian-stage locality in Saratov

Saratov

-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...

, Russia. Maisch & Matzke, 2000 considered both russian taxa to be synonym

Synonym

Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...

s of each other, and referred the new combination B. pseudoscythius to Brachypterygius. Thus, Grendelius and Otschevia are considered to be junior synonyms of Brachypterygius. Brachypterygius is closely related to Platypterygius

Platypterygius

Platypterygius was an ichthyosaur of the family Ophthalmosauridae. It is most closely related to the genera Caypullisaurus and Brachypterygius.-Discovery and species:...

and Caypullisaurus

Caypullisaurus

Caypullisaurus is an extinct genus of large ichthyosaur from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous of Argentina. Its holotype was collected from the Vaca Muerta Formation of Cerro Lotena, Neuquen, dating to the early Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago...

. Maisch, 2010 also referred Ochevia alekseevi (named by Arkangelsky, 2001 from the late Jurassic of Russia) and an ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

of England to this genus.