Avalonnectes

Avalonnectes
Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 199.6–198 Ma
Holotype of Avalonnectes arturi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Sauropterygia
Order: Plesiosauria
Family: Rhomaleosauridae
Genus: Avalonnectes
Benson, Evans & Druckenmiller, 2012
Type species
Avalonnectes arturi
Benson, Evans & Druckenmiller, 2012

Avalonnectes is an extinct genus of small-bodied rhomaleosaurid known from the Early Jurassic period (most likely earliest Hettangian stage) of the United Kingdom. It contains a single species, A. arturi.[1]

Discovery

Avalonnectes is known from the holotype specimen NHMUK 14550, which consists of the posterior portion of a skull, and a nearly complete, three-dimensionally preserved and articulated postcranial skeleton. Another partial postcranial skeleton which was referred to it is AGT uncatalogued. Both specimens were collected at Street, of Somerset, from the Pre-Planorbis beds of the Blue Lias Formation of the Lower Lias Group. These beds likely occur below the first occurrence of the ammonite Psiloceras planorbis. Thus, they probably fall within the earliest Hettangian P. tilmanni Chronozone, which is about 199.6-198 million years old, immediately following the TriassicJurassic Boundary. Plesiosaurs fossils which were discovered at Street represent the earliest known occurrence of the Plesiosauria. Hence, Avalonnectes is one of the oldest plesiosaurs to date.[1]

Description

Avalonnectes is a small-bodied rhomaleosaurid with 18–19 dorsal vertebrae. This low number represents its autapomorphy. A phylogenetic analysis performed by Benson et al. (2012) found it to be a basal rhomaleosaurid. The cladogram below shows Avalonnectes phylogenetic position among other plesiosaurs following Benson et al. (2012).[1]

Plesiosauria 
 Neoplesiosauria 

Pliosauridae



Plesiosauroidea



 Rhomaleosauridae 

Stratesaurus taylori




Macroplata tenuiceps




Avalonnectes arturi




Eurycleidus arcuatus




Meyerasaurus victor




Maresaurus coccai




Atychodracon megacephalus




Archaeonectrus rostratus




Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni




Rhomaleosaurus thorntoni



Rhomaleosaurus zetlandicus













Etymology

Avalonnectes was first described and named by Roger B. J. Benson, Mark Evans and Patrick S. Druckenmiller in 2012 and the type species is Avalonnectes arturi. The generic name is derived from Avalon, an island from the legend of King Arthur, often identified with Glastonbury, near Street, and from Greek nectes, meaning "swimmer". The specific name honors the paleontologist Arthur Cruickshank (1932–2011), who with M. A. Taylor initiated the restudy of British Lower Jurassic plesiosaurians in the 1990s. It is also a reference to the legendary King Arthur of British folklore.[1]

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, August 29, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.