Albertonectes
Name:
Albertonectes
(Alberta swimmer).
Phonetic: Al-ber-to-nek-teez.
Named By: Tai Kubo, Mark T. Mitchell &
Donald M. Henderson - 2012.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae.
Species: A. vanderveldei
(type).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Roughly estimated about 11.5 long.
Known locations: Canada, Alberta - Bearpaw
Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete post cranial
skeleton.
Albertonectes
is one of the best preserved elasmosaurid
plesiosaurs to be discovered
in Canada, and has a total of 76 cervical (neck) vertebrae
. Elasmosaurid pesiosaurs like Albertonectes are
noted for having
their long necks that are proportionately much longer than earlier
plesiosaur types. This would have been a specialist feeding
adaptation allowing for a longer reach when feeding upon fish.
The
holotype specimen of
Albertonectes shows signs of being scavenged, as
evidenced by a tooth
marked coracoid as well as two shed teeth believed to have come from
the Sqaulicorax
shark
genus.
Further reading
- Albertonectes
vanderveldei, a new elasmosaur (Reptilia,
Sauropterygia) from
the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Tai Kubo, Mark T. Mitchell
& Donald M. Henderson - 2012.
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