Plesionectes

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.