Kaiwhekea
{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2025}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Late Cretaceous, {{fossilrange|70|69}}
| image = Kaiwhekea katiki.png
| image_caption = Restoration
| taxon = Kaiwhekea
| authority = Cruickshank & Fordyce, 2002
| type_species = {{extinct}}Kaiwhekea katiki
| type_species_authority = Cruickshank & Fordyce, 2002
}}
Kaiwhekea ({{IPAc-mi|ˌ|k|a|i|ˈ|wh|e|k|e|a}}) is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) of what is now New Zealand.
History of discovery
The holotype was discovered in 1983 by Gary Raper, an amateur fossil collector, at the base of a cliff at Shag Point, Otago. It was later recovered by a team from the University of Otago's Geology department. The specimen was enclosed in a large concretion measuring {{circa|6.5}} metres long and weighing an estimated 10 tons. The block was split along natural seams and dragged out on a sledge (made from a car bonnet). The skeleton is mostly preserved as negative moulds as the mineralised bone was too fragile to be preserved.
The type species, Kaiwhekea katiki, was first described by Arthur Cruickshank and Ewan Fordyce in 2002. The genus name comes from the Māori words {{lang|mi|kai}} meaning "food" and {{lang|mi|whekea}} meaning "squid", together meaning "squid-eater". The specific epithet refers to Kātiki Beach, to the north of the find location.
Kaiwhekea was approximately {{convert|6.5|-|7|m|ft}} long. It lived around 70-69 million years ago. The single known specimen, found in the Katiki Formation near Shag Point on the coast of Otago, is nearly complete, and is on display at the Otago Museum in Dunedin, New Zealand.{{Cite journal|last1=Cruickshank|first1=Arthur R.I. |last2=Fordyce|first2=R. Ewan |year=2002 |title=A new marine reptile (Sauropterygia) from New Zealand: further evidence for a Late Cretaceous austral radiation of cryptoclidid plesiosaurs |journal=Palaeontology |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=557–575 |doi=10.1111/1475-4983.00249 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2002Palgy..45..557C }}{{cite web|url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/geology/research/paleontology/kaiwhekea-katiki.html|last=Fordyce|first=R. Ewan|title=Kaiwhekea katiki, a Late Cretaceous plesiosaur from high southern latitudes|website=otago.ac.nz|date=23 November 2015 |publisher=University of Otago|access-date=11 January 2023}}
Classification
Kaiwhekea has been placed as an aristonectine plesiosaur close to Aristonectes.{{cite journal |last1=O'Keefe |first1=F. Robin |last2=Street |first2=Hallie P. |title=Osteology of the cryptocleidoid plesiosaur Tatenectes laramiensis , with comments on the taxonomic status of the Cimoliasauridae |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |date=12 March 2009 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=48–57 |doi=10.1671/039.029.0118}} In 2010, Kaiwhekea was transferred to Leptocleididae,{{Cite journal|author1=Ketchum, H. F. |author2=Benson, R. B. J. |year=2010 |title=Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses |journal=Biological Reviews |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=361–392 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00107.x |pmid=20002391|s2cid=12193439 }} but more recent analyses do not find the same result.{{cite journal | journal = Cretaceous Research | volume = 71 | pages = 118–136 | title = Redescription of Tuarangisaurus keyesi (Sauropterygia; Elasmosauridae), a key species from the uppermost Cretaceous of the Weddellian Province: Internal skull anatomy and phylogenetic position | first1 = J.P. | last1 = O'Gorman | first2 = R.A. | last2 = Otero | first3 = N. | last3 = Hiller | first4 = J. | last4 = Simes | first5 = M. | last5 = Terezow | year = 2016 | doi = 10.1016/j.cretres.2016.11.014 }}
The following cladogram shows the placement of Kaiwhekea within Elasmosauridae following an analysis by Rodrigo A. Otero, 2016:{{cite journal|last1=Otero|first1=R. A.|title=Taxonomic reassessment of Hydralmosaurus as Styxosaurus: new insights on the elasmosaurid neck evolution throughout the Cretaceous|journal=PeerJ|date=2016|volume=4|pages=e1777|doi=10.7717/peerj.1777|pmid=27019781|pmc=4806632 |doi-access=free }}
{{clade| style=font-size:85%; line-height:85%;
|label1=Elasmosauridae
|1={{clade
|1=Eromangasaurus carinognathus
|2={{clade
|1=Callawayasaurus colombiensis
|2={{clade
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|2=Thalassomedon haningtoni }}
|2={{clade
|1=CM Zfr 115
|2={{clade
|1=Hydrotherosaurus alexandrae
|2=Futabasaurus suzukii }} }}
|3={{clade
|label1=Aristonectinae
|1={{clade
|1=Kaiwhekea katiki
|2={{clade
|1=Alexandronectes zealandiensis
|2={{clade
|2={{clade
|2=Aristonectes quiriquinensis }} }} }} }}
|label2=Elasmosaurinae
|2={{clade
|1=Terminonatator pointeixensis
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|2=Albertonectes vanderveldei }}
|2={{clade
|1=Styxosaurus sp. (="Hydralmosaurus serpentinus")
|2={{clade
|2=Styxosaurus browni }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}
See also
{{Portal|paleontology}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Kaiwhekea}}
- [http://www.otago.ac.nz/geology/research/paleontology/kaiwhekea-katiki.html Kaiwhekea], University of Otago, New Zealand
{{Sauropterygia|Plesiosauroidea}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q786325}}
Category:Late Cretaceous plesiosaurs
Category:Extinct reptiles of New Zealand
Category:Plesiosaurs of Oceania
Category:Fossil taxa described in 2002