Aristonectinae is a
clade of
plesiosaurs in the family
Elasmosauridae
Elasmosauridae is an extinct family of plesiosaurs, often called elasmosaurs. They had the longest necks of the plesiosaurs and existed from the Hauterivian to the Maastrichtian stages of the Cretaceous, and represented one of the two groups ...
. It includes the
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...
plesiosaurs ''
Aristonectes'' and ''
Kaiwhekea
''Kaiwhekea'' () is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) of what is now New Zealand.
History of discovery
The type species, ''Kaiwhekea katiki'', was first described by Arthur Cruickshank and Ewan Fordy ...
'', traditionally grouped with the
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987.
In European lithostratigraphy, the ...
''
Tatenectes
''Tatenectes'' is a genus of cryptoclidid plesiosaur known from the Upper Jurassic of Wyoming. Its remains were recovered from the Redwater Shale Member of the Sundance Formation, and initially described as a new species of ''Cimoliosaurus'' ...
'' and ''
Kimmerosaurus
''Kimmerosaurus'' ("lizard from Kimmeridge") is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the family Cryptoclididae. ''Kimmerosaurus'' is most closely related to ''Tatenectes''.
Discovery
There are very few fossil remains of ''Kimmerosaurus'' know ...
'' in the family
Aristonectidae
The Aristonectidae is a taxonomic family of poorly known plesiosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. They are closely related to polycotylid plesiosaurs. The family is made up of ''Tatenectes'', ''Kimmerosaurus'', '' Aristonectes'', an ...
.
References
Late Cretaceous plesiosaurs
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