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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random favourites
 |
 |
 |