Lusonectes

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Extinct genus of reptiles

title: "Lusonectes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["early-jurassic-plesiosaurs-of-europe", "fossil-taxa-described-in-2012", "taxa-named-by-octávio-mateus", "sauropterygian-genera"] description: "Extinct genus of reptiles" topic_path: "general/early-jurassic-plesiosaurs-of-europe" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusonectes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of reptiles ::

Lusonectes (meaning "Portuguese swimmer") is an extinct genus of microcleidid plesiosaur from the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) São Gião Formation of Portugal.

Etymology

The generic name is derived from the prefix Luso, from Latin Lusitania referring to Portugal, and nektes ("swimmer" in Greek). The specific name honors Henri Émile Sauvage, who was the first person to describe the holotype specimen.

Discovery and naming

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Palate_and_basicranium_of_Lusonectes.jpg" caption="Rear of the [[palate]] and [[basicranium"] ::

The holotype, MG33, a partial skull and articulated mandible, was discovered possibly by geologist Paul Choffat and his team during the 19th century within rocks from the São Gião Formation near Murtede, Portugal.

Henri Émile Sauvage (1898) described MG33 as belonging to an unknown species of Plesiosaurus. Other authors, including Bardet et al. (2008) and Ruiz−Omeñaca et al. (2009) also classified MG33 within Plesiosaurus. Castanhinha and Mateus (2007) and Smith & Vincent (2010) instead classified the specimen as an indeterminate member of Plesiosauria.

The specimen was described and named by Adam S. Smith, Ricardo Araújo and Octávio Mateus in 2012 as Lusonectes sauvagei. Lusonectes was described as the first diagnostic plesiosaur species discovered in Portugal to date.

Description

It is based on a single autapomorphy, a broad triangular parasphenoid cultriform process that is as long as the posterior interpterygoid vacuities, and also on a unique character combination.

Classification

Smith, Araújo and Mateus (2012) found Lusonectes to belong to the Plesiosauridae when placed within a cladogram created by Ketchum and Benson (2010).

References

(2012). "A new plesiosauroid from the Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) of Alhadas, Portugal". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
Sauvage, H.E. (1897–1898). Vertébrés fossiles du Portugal. Contribution à l’étude des poissons et des reptiles du Jurassique et du Crétacique. ''Memórias Commissão do Serviço Geológico de Portugal'' 1897–1898: 1–46.
Bardet, Nathalie. (2008-03-12). "A juvenile plesiosaur from the Pliensbachian (Lower Jurassic) of Asturias, Spain". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Ruiz−Omeñaca, J.I., Bardet, N., Piñuela, L., José Carlos García−Ramos, J.C., and Pereda−Suberbiola, X. (2009). El fósil de plesiosaurio (Sauro− pterygia) más antiguo de la Peninsula Ibérica: una vértebra procedente del Hettangiense−Sinemuriense de Asturias. ''Geogaceta'' 46: 79–82.
Castanhinha, R. and Mateus, O. (2007). Short review on the marine reptiles of Portugal: ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 27: 57A.
Smith, Adam. S.. (2010-09-16). "A new genus of pliosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Jurassic of Holzmaden, Germany: NEW PLIOSAUR FROM GERMANY". Palaeontology.
Ketchum, Hilary F.. (2010-04-12). "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses". Biological Reviews.

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