Martinectes

Martinectes
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (late Campanian), 80.57–78.25 Ma
Skeleton mount, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Sauropterygia
Order: Plesiosauria
Family: Polycotylidae
Subfamily: Polycotylinae
Clade: Dolichorhynchia
Genus: Martinectes
Clark, O'Keefe & Slack, 2023
Type species
Martinectes bonneri
Adams, 1997
Synonyms

Martinectes is an extinct genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous Sharon Springs Formation of the United States. The genus contains a single species M. bonneri, known from multiple skeletons and skulls. Martinectes was historically considered to represent a species of the genus Trinacromerum and later Dolichorhynchops before it was moved to its own genus.[1] It was a large polycotylid measuring around 6–7 metres (20–23 ft) long.

  1. ^ Clark, Robert O.; O’Keefe, F. Robin; Slack, Sara E. (2023-12-24). "A new genus of small polycotylid plesiosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of the Western Interior Seaway and a clarification of the genus Dolichorhynchops". Cretaceous Research. 157: 105812. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105812. ISSN 0195-6671.