Fluvionectes
Extinct genus of reptiles
| Fluvionectes Temporal range: Campanian ~76–75 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Holotype with gastroliths | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Family: | †Elasmosauridae |
| Genus: | †Fluvionectes Campbell et al., 2021 |
| Species: | †F. sloanae |
| Binomial name | |
| †Fluvionectes sloanae Campbell et al., 2021 | |
Fluvionectes (meaning "river swimmer", from both Latin and Greek) is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur found in the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada.[1]
Description
The holotype specimen of Fluvionectes is a partial skeleton preserving an osteologically mature individual that would've reached 5 m (16 ft) long, likely a young adult. A more mature, larger, but more fragmentary specimen (TMP 2009.037.0007) is also known, consisting of a partial rib and gastralium, and left humerus, indicating that this taxon may have reached 7 m (23 ft) in maximum body length. A number of other fragmentary specimens are also known.[1]
The holotype skeleton had 76 gastroliths, largely disc-shaped stones. All were composed of black chert and grey quartzite, the largest of which weighed 15.3 grams.[1][2]
Classification
The describers placed Fluvionectes in Elasmosauridae, in a clade with Albertonectes, Nakonanectes, Styxosaurus, and Terminonatator, which by definition places it in the Elasmosaurinae subfamily.[1]
Palaeobiology
Fluvionectes appears to have been a freshwater and brackish water animal based on its discovery from a non-marine to paralic sedimentary unit. Both the holotype and the largest specimen (TMP 2009.037.0007) were found in brackish estuarine deposits, but a number of other specimens were found in nearby freshwater fluvial deposits. This is significantly different in contrast to most elasmosaurs which were oceanic.[1]
Other fossils associated with the holotype specimen included the turtle Kimurachelys slobodae and the rhinobatoid ray Myledaphus. Three dinoflagellates were also found, suggesting a marine influenced environment, although their low abundance and diversity suggests that it was not an open-marine environment.[1]
The holotype was discovered alongside many pieces of coalified wood, which is interpreted as the carcass having been caught in a log jam.[2]
Gallery
Holotype tooth
Holotype vertebrae.
Holotype gastralia
Holotype ribs
Holotype pectoral girdle
Holotype forelimb (A-J) and hindlimb (K)
Holotype pelvic girdle
TMP 2009.037.0007
Various specimens: vertebrae, pectoral and pelvic girdles, and humeri
References
- ^ a b c d e f Campbell, Mitchel, Ryan and Anderson, James A., Mark T., Michael J., Jason S. (2021). "A new elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the non-marine to paralic Dinosaur Park Formation of southern Alberta, Canada". PeerJ. 9: e10720. doi:10.7717/peerj.10720. PMC 7882142. PMID 33614274.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Henderson, Donald M. (2024-08-28). "Lost, hidden, broken, cut-estimating and interpreting the shapes and masses of damaged assemblages of plesiosaur gastroliths". PeerJ. 12: e17925. doi:10.7717/peerj.17925. ISSN 2167-8359.
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