Leptonectes Temporal range: Late Triassic - Early Jurassic, | |
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skeleton of Leptonectes tenuirostris (NHMUK PV R 498) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | † Ichthyosauria |
Family: | † Leptonectidae |
Genus: | † Leptonectes McGowan, 1996 [1] |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
LeptopterygiusHuene, 1929 |
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. [3] [4] [5] A possible specimen from Switzerland first reported in 2006, [6] has been reclassified as that of Hauffiopteryx . [7] The type species, L. tenuirostris, reached 4 metres (13 ft) long, whereas L. moorei (NHMUK PV R 14370) likely reached 3 metres (9.8 ft) long [8] ; the largest species, L. solei, was approximately 5–6 metres (16–20 ft) long. [9] [10]