| Lusonectes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Holotype partial skull and explanatory drawings | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Superfamily: | †Plesiosauroidea |
| Family: | †Plesiosauridae |
| Genus: | †Lusonectes Smith, Araújo &Mateus,2012 |
| Species: | †L. sauvagei |
| Binomial name | |
| †Lusonectes sauvagei Smith, Araújo & Mateus, 2012 | |
Lusonectes (meaning "Portuguese swimmer") is anextinctgenus ofmicrocleididplesiosaur from theEarly Jurassic (Toarcian)São Gião Formation ofPortugal.
The generic name is derived from the prefixLuso, from LatinLusitania referring to Portugal, andnektes ("swimmer" inGreek). Thespecific name honorsHenri Émile Sauvage, who was the first person to describe theholotype specimen.
The holotype,MG33, a partialskull and articulatedmandible, was discovered possibly bygeologistPaul Choffat and his team during the 19th century within rocks from theSão Gião Formation nearMurtede,Portugal.[1]
Henri Émile Sauvage (1898) described MG33 as belonging to an unknown species ofPlesiosaurus.[2] Other authors, including Bardetet al. (2008)[3] and Ruiz−Omeñacaet al. (2009)[4] also classified MG33 withinPlesiosaurus. Castanhinha andMateus (2007)[5] and Smith & Vincent (2010)[6] instead classified the specimen as an indeterminate member ofPlesiosauria.
The specimen was described and named by Adam S. Smith, Ricardo Araújo andOctávio Mateus in2012 asLusonectes sauvagei.[1]Lusonectes was described as the first diagnostic plesiosaur species discovered in Portugal to date.[1]
It is based on a single autapomorphy, a broad triangular parasphenoid cultriform process that is as long as the posterior interpterygoid vacuities, and also on a unique character combination.[1]
Smith, Araújo andMateus (2012) foundLusonectes to belong to thePlesiosauridae[1] when placed within a cladogram created by Ketchum and Benson (2010).[7]
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