Alexandronectes
Alexandronectes is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur, a type of long-necked marine reptile, that lived in the oceans of Late Cretaceous New Zealand. It contains one species, A. zealandiensis.[1] Fossils of Alexandronectes were found in the Conway Formation of Canterbury.[2]
| Alexandronectes | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Family: | †Elasmosauridae |
| Genus: | †Alexandronectes Otero et al., 2016 |
| Species: | †A. zealandiensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Alexandronectes zealandiensis Otero et al., 2016 | |
Description
Alexandronectes belongs to the elasmosaurid subfamily Aristonectinae based on the pterygoid structure and an A-shaped squamosal arch. However, it differs from other aristonectines in its smaller skull, different paroccipital processes, and different mandibular glenoid.[1]
References
- Otero, Rodrigo A.; O'Gorman, José P.; Hiller, Norton; O'Keefe, F. Robin; Fordyce, R. Ewan (2016). "Alexandronectes zealandiensis gen. et sp. nov., a new aristonectine plesiosaur from the lower Maastrichtian of New Zealand". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 36 (2): e1054494. doi:10.1080/02724634.2015.1054494.
- Waipara River, M34/f1073 at Fossilworks.org
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