Nakonanectes

Name: Nakonanectes ‭(‬Nakona swimmer‭)‬.
Phonetic: Nak-o-nek-teez.
Named By: D.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Serratos,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬Druckenmiller‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Benson‭ ‬-‭ ‬2017.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Sauropterygia,‭ ‬Plesiosauria,‭ ‬Elasmosauridae.
Species: N.‭ ‬bradti‭ (‬type‭).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Estimated between‭ ‬5.1‭ ‬and‭ ‬5.6‭ ‬meters in length.
Known locations: USA,‭ ‬Montana‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bearpaw Formation.
Time period: Campanian/Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Skull and most of the Post cranial skeleton.




       Nakonanectes is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur that would have hunted in the Western interior seaway during the late Cretaceous period.‭ ‬Nakonanectes is noted for having short cervical vertebrae and an estimated length of only about five and a half meters at most for the holotype individual.‭ ‬This is small for an elasmosaurid plesiosaur,‭ ‬as most others of its kind were substantially longer.

Further reading
-‭ ‬A new elasmosaurid‭ (‬Sauropterygia,‭ ‬Plesiosauria‭) ‬from the Bearpaw Shale‭ (‬Late Cretaceous,‭ ‬Maastrichtian‭) ‬of Montana demonstrates multiple evolutionary reductions of neck length within Elasmosauridae.‭ ‬Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology‭ ‬37‭(‬2‭)‬:e1278608.‭ ‬-‭ ‬D.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Serratos,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬Druckenmiller‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Benson‭ ‬-‭ ‬2017.



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