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ABSTRACT
A fragmentary plesiosaur skull from lower Maastrichtian levels of the Conway Formation, New Zealand, is redescribed. Originally regarded as pertaining to two separate individuals, we argue that they represent a single individual belonging to a new aristonectine elasmosaurid, Alexandronectes zealandiensis gen. et sp. nov. This new taxon has common morphologies with other aristonectines such as expansion of the pterygoids extending posteriorly beyond the occipital condyle (as observed in Ar. quiriquinensis and probably in Kaiwhekea katiki) and the presence of an ‘A’-shaped squamosal arch in dorsal view. Otherwise, it is distinguished from these latter species by having different paraoccipital processes, a different mandibular glenoid, and an adult skull comparatively smaller than K. katiki and Aristonectes spp. The new taxon is a morphologically intermediate form between the dorsoventrally high skull of K. katiki and the mediolaterally expanded skulls of Aristonectes spp. The studied specimen is the second genus and species and the third report of an aristonectine recovered from lower Maastrichtian beds of New Zealand, emphasizing the diversity of this group in New Zealand and also indicating that aristonectines could include smaller species than those already known.
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5167B8FB-82F7-4F33-8663-EBF16692A9A0
SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP
Citation for this article: Otero, R. A., J. P. O'Gorman, N. Hiller, F. R. O'Keefe, and R. E. Fordyce. 2016. Alexandronectes zealandiensis gen. et sp. nov., a new aristonectine plesiosaur from the lower Maastrichtian of New Zealand. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2015.1054494.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
RAO was supported by the Antarctic Ring Project (Anillos de Ciencia Antártica ACT-105, Conicyt-Chile) and additional support was provided by the Domeyko II UR-C12/1 grant–Red Paleontológica U-Chile of the Universidad de Chile. JPO'G was supported by projects PIP 0433, PICT 2012–0748, PICTO 2010–0093, UNLP N 677, UNLP N607. The authors thank P. Scofield and C. Vink (Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand) for allowing us to review the elasmosaur material hosted in the Canterbury Museum. P. Druckenmiller (Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks) and a second anonymous reviewer are thanked for their very valuable comments and observations that improved this article.
Submitted March 17, 2014; revisions received December 10, 2014; accepted April 20, 2015.
Handling editor: Emily Rayfield.