Alexandronectes

Name: Alexandronectes ‭(‬Alexander swimmer‭)‬.
Phonetic: Al-ix-an-dro-nek-teez.
Named By: R.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Otero,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬O'Gorman,‭ ‬N.‭ ‬Hiller,‭ ‬F.‭ ‬R.‭ ‬O'Keefe‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬E.‭ ‬Fordyce‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Sauropterygia,‭ ‬Plesiosauria,‭ ‬Elasmosauridae.
Species: A.‭ ‬zealandiensis‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of fossil‭ ‬remains.
Known locations: New Zealand‭ ‬-‭ ‬Conway Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial skull.




       Described from a single partially preserved skull,‭ ‬Alexandronectes was an elasmosaurid plesiosaur that swam in the waters around what is now New Zealand during the late Cretaceous.‭ ‬These were dangerous waters as fossils of large mosasaurs such as Taniwhasaurus are also known from the same formation as Alexandronectes,‭ ‬and these predators were certainly capable of hunting and killing plesiosaurs.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Alexandronectes zealandiensis gen.‭ ‬et sp.‭ ‬nov.,‭ ‬a new aristonectine plesiosaur from the lower Maastrichtian of New Zealand.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology‭ ‬36‭(‬2‭)‬:e1054494:1-14.‭ ‬-‭ ‬R.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Otero,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬O'Gorman,‭ ‬N.‭ ‬Hiller,‭ ‬F.‭ ‬R.‭ ‬O'Keefe‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬E.‭ ‬Fordyce‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.
- CT-scan description of Alexandronectes zealandiensis (Elasmosauridae, Aristonectinae), with comments on the elasmosaurid internal cranial features. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (2). - Jose P. O'Gorman, Rodrigo A. Otero, Norton Hiller, Robin F. O'Keefe, R. Paul Scofield, & Ewan Fordyce - 2021.



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