Leptonectes

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Late Triassic - Early Jurassic, {{fossil range|Rhaetian|Pliensbachian}}

| image = Leptopterygius NHM.jpg

| image_caption = skeleton of Leptonectes tenuirostris (NHMUK PV R498)

| taxon = Leptonectes

| authority = McGowan, 1996{{Cite web|url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=150185|title=Fossilworks: Leptonectes}}

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• L. moorei McGowan and Milner, 1999{{Cite web|url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=171229|title=Fossilworks: Leptonectes moorei}}
• L. solei (McGowan, 1993)
• L. tenuirostris (Conybeare, 1822) (type species)

| synonyms = Leptopterygius Huene, 1929

}}

File:Leptonectes tenuirostris, Lyme Regis, England, Early Jurassic - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC09972.JPG]]

Image:Leptonectes SW 1.png]]

Leptonectes is a genus of ichthyosaur that lived in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic (Rhaetian - Pliensbachian). Fossils have been found in Belgium, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.Maisch MW, Matzke AT. 2000. The Ichthyosauria. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie) 298: 1-159McGowan C, Motani R. 2003. Ichthyopterygia. – In: Sues, H.-D. (ed.): Handbook of Paleoherpetology, Part 8, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 175 pp., 101 figs., 19 plts; München{{Cite journal|author1=Marta S. Fernández |author2=Laura Piñuela |author3=José Carlos García-Ramos |year=2018 |title=First report of Leptonectes (Ichthyosauria: Leptonectidae) from the Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian) of Asturias, northern Spain |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=Article number 21.2.29A |doi=10.26879/802 |doi-access=free |hdl=11336/85063 |hdl-access=free }} A possible specimen from Switzerland first reported in 2006,Maisch MW, Reisdorf AG. 2006. Evidence for the longest stratigraphic range of a post-Triassic Ichthyosaur: a Leptonectes tenuirostris from the Pliensbachian (Lower Jurassic) of Switzerland. Geobios 39: 491-505. has been reclassified as that of Hauffiopteryx.{{cite journal|author1=Klug, C.|author2=Sivgin, T.|author3=Miedema, F.|author4=Scheffold, B.|author5=Reisdorf, A.G.|author6=Stössel, I.|author7=Maxwell, E.E.|author8=Scheyer, T.M.|year=2024|title=Swiss ichthyosaurs: a review|journal=Swiss Journal of Palaeontology|volume=143|at=31|doi=10.1186/s13358-024-00327-4|doi-access=free |pmc=11366730}} The type species, L. tenuirostris, reached {{convert|4|m|ft}} long, while L. moorei reached {{convert|3|m|ft}} long; the largest species, L. solei, was approximately {{convert|5|-|6|m|ft}} long.{{cite journal |author=Michael W. Maisch and Andreas T. Matzke |year=2000 |title=The Ichthyosauria |url=http://www.naturkundemuseum-bw.de/stuttgart/pdf/b_pdf/B298.pdf |journal=Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde: Serie B |volume=298 |pages=1–159 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718120150/http://www.naturkundemuseum-bw.de/stuttgart/pdf/b_pdf/B298.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-18 }}{{cite journal|author1=Martin, J.E.|author2=Vincent, P.|author3=Suan, G.|author4=Sharpe, T.|author5=Hodges, P.|author6=William, M.|author7=Howells, C.|author8=Fischer, V.|year=2015|journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica|volume=60|issue=4|publisher=Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences|title=A Mysterious Giant Ichthyosaur from the Lowermost Jurassic of Wales|pages=837–842|doi=10.4202/app.00062.2014|s2cid=13714078 |doi-access=free}} [https://app.pan.pl/SOM/app60-Martin_etal_SOM.pdf Supplementary Information]