''Archaeonectrus'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
pliosaur from the
Early Jurassic (
Sinemurian) of what is now southeastern
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
is ''Archaeonectrus'' (originally ''"Plesiosaurus"'') ''rostratus'', first named by Sir
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils.
Owe ...
in 1865, which was moved to its own genus by N.I. Novozhilov in 1964. It was a relatively small plesiosaur, measuring long.
Supplementary Information
/ref>
Classification
The cladogram below shows ''Archaeonectrus'' phylogenetic position among other plesiosaurs, following Benson ''et al.'' (2012).
See also
* Timeline of plesiosaur research
This timeline of plesiosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, taxonomic revisions, and cultural portrayals of plesiosaurs, an order of marine reptiles that flourished duri ...
* List of plesiosaur genera
This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Plesiosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered inv ...
References
* Sepkoski, J.J. (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". ''Bulletins of American Paleontology'' 363: 1-560.
External links
''Archaeonectrus''
in the Paleobiology Database
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4785513
Jurassic plesiosaurs of Europe
Rhomaleosaurids
Fossil taxa described in 1964
Sauropterygian genera