Plesionectes
Sign in to savePlesionectes (meaning "near swimmer") is an extinct genus of basal plesiosauroid plesiosaurs known from the Early Jurassic (Toarcian age) Posidonia Shale of Germany. The genus contains a single species, Plesionectes longicollum, known from a well-preserved, nearly complete skeleton.
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 230 inbound references to Plesionectes, and connects out to Elasmosauridae, Plesiosauroidea and Cryptoclididae.
It is catalogued under topics including Early Jurassic plesiosaurs of Europe, Fossils of Germany and Fossil taxa described in 2025.
Vinony links it to 4 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
Show 2 more facts
- taxon name
- Plesionectes
- Commons category
- Plesionectes
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Classification
- References
- External links
Plesionectes (meaning "near swimmer") is an extinct genus of basal plesiosauroid plesiosaurs known from the Early Jurassic (Toarcian age) Posidonia Shale of Germany. The genus contains a single species, Plesionectes longicollum, known from a well-preserved, nearly complete skeleton.
== Discovery and naming == The Plesionectes holotype specimen, SMNS 51945, was discovered in 1978 by Gotthilf Fischer in outcrops of the Posidonia Shale (Posidonienschiefer Formation) in Holzmaden in Southwest Germany. The specimen, consisting of a very well-preserved, mostly articulated, nearly complete skeleton, was obtained by the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart (SMNS) the following year, where it has been accessioned since. The specimen belongs to a skeletally immature individual.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Plesionectes” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.