Kawanectes

Name: Kawanectes ‭(‬Kawas swimmer‭)‬.
Phonetic: Ka-wah-nek-teez.
Named By: J.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬O'Gorman‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.
Synonyms: Trinacromerum lafquenianum.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Sauropterygia,‭ ‬Plesiosauria,‭ ‬Elasmosauridae.
Species: K.‭ ‬lafquenianum‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Roughly estimated to be about‭ ‬3.8‭ ‬meters long.
Known locations: Argentina,‭ ‬Rio Negro Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬Allen Formation.
Time period: Late Campanian/Early Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial skeleton.

       Originally described as a species of the polycotylid plesiosaur Trinacomerum,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬lafquenianum was later re-described as a distinct genus of short necked elasmosaurid plesiosaur.‭ ‬Kawanectes is similar to the larger Vegasaurus.‭ ‬Because the bones in Kawanectes have complete fusion in them,‭ ‬we can tell that Kawanectes was fully grown at the time of death,‭ ‬and thus cannot be the younger form of Vegasaurus.

Further reading
-‭ ‬A small body sized non-aristonectine elasmosaurid‭ (‬Sauropterygia,‭ ‬Plesiosauria‭) ‬from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia with comments on the relationships of the patagonian and antarctic elasmosaurids.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Ameghiniana‭ ‬53‭(‬3‭)‬:245-268.‭ ‬-‭ ‬J.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬O'Gorman‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.



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