[1] It had a graceful 3.5 m (11 ft) long dolphin-shaped body, and its jaws were well adapted for catching squid.

[2] Major fossil finds of this genus have been recorded in North America.

[4] Baptanodon was considered a junior synonym of Ophthalmosaurus by Maisch & Matzke (2000).

[5] However, cladistic analyses published in the 2010s indicate that Baptanodon is not congeneric with Ophthalmosaurus icenicus.

[7] Ichthyosaurus Stenopterygius Chacaicosaurus Arthropterygius Mollesaurus Ophthalmosaurus Baptanodon Acamptonectes Brachypterygius Maiaspondylus Aegirosaurus Sveltonectes "Platypterygius" hercynicus Caypullisaurus Athabascasaurus "Platypterygius" australis (=Longirostria)[9] Fossils of Baptanodon have been found in the Oxfordian-age Sundance Formation of Wyoming, which also has yielded fossils of the cryptoclidids Tatenectes and Pantosaurus, and the pliosaurid Megalneusaurus.