Lusonectes
{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = Early Jurassic, {{fossil_range|Toarcian}}
| image = Lusonectes.jpg
| image_caption = Holotype partial skull and explanatory drawings
| extinct = yes
| parent_authority = Smith, Araújo & Mateus, 2012
| genus = Lusonectes
| species = sauvagei
| authority = Smith, Araújo & Mateus, 2012
}}
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
File:Palate_and_basicranium_of_Lusonectes.jpg 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.{{cite journal |author1=Adam S. Smith |author2=Ricardo Araújo |author3=Octávio Mateus |year=2012 |title=A new plesiosauroid from the Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) of Alhadas, Portugal |url=http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app57/app20110023.pdf |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=257–266 |doi=10.4202/app.2011.0023 |s2cid=55764533 |doi-access=free}}
Henri Émile Sauvage (1898) described MG33 as belonging to an unknown species of Plesiosaurus.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. Other authors, including Bardet et al. (2008){{Cite journal |last=Bardet |first=Nathalie |last2=Fernández |first2=Marta |last3=Garciáa-Ramos |first3=José Carlos |last4=Suberbiola |first4=Xabier Pereda |last5=Piñuela |first5=Laura |last6=Ruiz-Omeñaca |first6=José Ignacio |last7=Vincent |first7=Peggy |date=2008-03-12 |title=A juvenile plesiosaur from the Pliensbachian (Lower Jurassic) of Asturias, Spain |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[258:ajpftp]2.0.co;2 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=258–263 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[258:ajpftp]2.0.co;2 |issn=0272-4634}} and Ruiz−Omeñaca et al. (2009)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. also classified MG33 within Plesiosaurus. Castanhinha and Mateus (2007)Castanhinha, R. and Mateus, O. (2007). Short review on the marine reptiles of Portugal: ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27: 57A. and Smith & Vincent (2010){{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Adam. S. |last2=Vincent |first2=Peggy |date=2010-09-16 |title=A new genus of pliosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Jurassic of Holzmaden, Germany: NEW PLIOSAUR FROM GERMANY |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00975.x |journal=Palaeontology |language=en |volume=53 |issue=5 |pages=1049–1063 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00975.x|url-access=subscription }} 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
Classification
Smith, Araújo and Mateus (2012) found Lusonectes to belong to the Plesiosauridae when placed within a cladogram created by Ketchum and Benson (2010).{{Cite journal |last=Ketchum |first=Hilary F. |last2=Benson |first2=Roger B. J. |date=2010-04-12 |title=Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185x.2009.00107.x |journal=Biological Reviews |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=361–392 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-185x.2009.00107.x |issn=1464-7931|url-access=subscription }}
See also
{{Portal|Paleontology}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Sauropterygia|Pliosauroidea}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3840891}}
Category:Early Jurassic plesiosaurs of Europe
Category:Fossil taxa described in 2012