Fluvionectes

Fluvionectes Temporal range: Campanian ~76–75  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype with gastroliths
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	† Sauropterygia
Order:	† Plesiosauria
Family:	† Elasmosauridae
Genus:	† Fluvionectes Campbell et al., 2021
Species:	†F. sloanae
Binomial name
†Fluvionectes sloanae Campbell et al., 2021

Fluvionectes (meaning "river swimmer", from both Latin and Greek) is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur found in the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada. ^[1]

Description

Quarry map (A) and reconstruction of the holotype (B).

The holotype specimen of Fluvionectes is a partial skeleton preserving an osteologically mature, likely a young adult individual that would have reached 5–5.2 m (16–17 ft) long and weighed 392 kilograms (864 lb). ^{[1] [2]} A more mature, larger, but more fragmentary specimen (TMP 2009.037.0007) is also known, consisting of a partial rib and gastralium, and left humerus, indicating that this taxon may have reached 7 m (23 ft) in maximum body length. A number of other fragmentary specimens are also known. ^[1]

The holotype skeleton had 76 gastroliths, largely disc-shaped stones. All were composed of black chert and grey quartzite, the largest of which weighed 15.3 grams. ^{[1] [2]}

Life restoration

Classification

The describers placed Fluvionectes in Elasmosauridae, in a clade with Albertonectes , Nakonanectes , Styxosaurus , and Terminonatator , which by definition places it in the Elasmosaurinae subfamily. ^[1]

Palaeoecology

Fluvionectes appears to have been a freshwater and brackish water animal based on its discovery from a non-marine to paralic sedimentary unit. Both the holotype and the largest specimen (TMP 2009.037.0007) were found in brackish estuarine deposits, but a number of other specimens were found in nearby freshwater fluvial deposits. This is significantly different in contrast to most elasmosaurs which were oceanic. ^[1]

Other fossils associated with the holotype specimen included the turtle Kimurachelys slobodae and the rhinobatoid ray Myledaphus. Three dinoflagellates were also found, suggesting a marine influenced environment, although their low abundance and diversity suggests that it was not an open-marine environment. ^[1]

The holotype was discovered alongside many pieces of coalified wood, which is interpreted as the carcass having been caught in a log jam. ^[2]

Gallery

Holotype tooth

Holotype vertebrae.

Holotype gastralia

Holotype ribs

Holotype pectoral girdle

Holotype forelimb (A-J) and hindlimb (K)

Holotype pelvic girdle

TMP 2009.037.0007

Various specimens: vertebrae, pectoral and pelvic girdles, and humeri

References

1. Campbell, Mitchel, Ryan and Anderson, James A., Mark T., Michael J., Jason S. (2021). "A new elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the non-marine to paralic Dinosaur Park Formation of southern Alberta, Canada". PeerJ. 9: e10720. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10720 . PMC   7882142 . PMID   33614274.
2. Henderson, Donald M. (2024-08-28). "Lost, hidden, broken, cut-estimating and interpreting the shapes and masses of damaged assemblages of plesiosaur gastroliths". PeerJ. 12: e17925. doi: 10.7717/peerj.17925 . ISSN   2167-8359. PMC   11373562 . PMID   39234235.