Albertonectes
Sign in to saveAlbertonectes (meaning 'Alberta swimmer') is an extinct genus of large plesiosaurs that lived in North America during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, at around 73.5million years ago. The only known species is A. vanderveldei, described in 2012 from an almost complete postcranial skeleton discovered in 2007 near Lethbridge, in the province of Alberta, Canada. Although currently only documented from the holotype, a possible second specimen was discovered in 2015 in the same locality.
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Gastroliths
- Classification
- See also
- References
Albertonectes (meaning 'Alberta swimmer') is an extinct genus of large plesiosaurs that lived in North America during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, at around 73.5million years ago. The only known species is A. vanderveldei, described in 2012 from an almost complete postcranial skeleton discovered in 2007 near Lethbridge, in the province of Alberta, Canada. Although currently only documented from the holotype, a possible second specimen was discovered in 2015 in the same locality.
With a maximum length estimated at , Albertonectes is the longest known elasmosaurid. Like the other representatives of this group, it has a streamlined body with paddle-like limbs, a short tail, a small head, and an extremely long neck. The neck alone is estimated at around long, making Albertonectes one of the animals with the longest known necks. It is also the vertebrate with the greatest number of cervical vertebrae identified to date, 76, ahead of its close relative Elasmosaurus.