Aristonectinae

Elasmosauridae, often called elasmosaurs or elasmosaurids, is an extinct family of plesiosaurs that lived from the Hauterivian stage of the Early Cretaceous to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period. The taxon was initially erected in 1869 by Edward Drinker Cope to include the type genus Elasmosaurus with the related Cimoliasaurus, although he did not argue in detail why. Over the following years, many authors recognized this classification on the basis of predominantly postcranial features, becoming one of the three groups in which plesiosaurs were often classified during the 19th century, along with the Pliosauridae and the Plesiosauridae. However, most of these traits led to many genera since recognized as belonging to other plesiosaur families being classified as elasmosaurids. Another family historically considered as distinct, the Cimoliasauridae, has since 2009 been recognized as a junior synonym of the Elasmosauridae. Along with the Polycotylidae, elasmosaurids represent the few plesiosauroids that lived until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

Aristonectinae

MCDinosaurhunter · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
WeddellonectiaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Plesiosauria
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Plesiosauria
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Plesiosauria
Environment
marinePBDB, for Plesiosauria

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 83.6 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 86.1 Mya to 66 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 33 of 33 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 33 occurrences87–86 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences86–85 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences85–84 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences84–84 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences84–83 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences83–82 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences82–82 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences82–81 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences81–80 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences80–80 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences80–79 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences79–78 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences78–77 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences77–77 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences77–76 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences76–75 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences75–75 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences75–74 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences74–73 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences73–73 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences73–72 Mya — about 2 occurrences72–71 Mya — about 3 occurrences71–70 Mya — about 3 occurrences70–70 Mya — about 3 occurrences70–69 Mya — about 3 occurrences69–68 Mya — about 3 occurrences68–68 Mya — about 3 occurrences68–67 Mya — about 3 occurrences67–66 Mya — about 3 occurrences66–66 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences83.6 Mya72.2 Mya86.6 Mya65.5 Mya

33 occurrences of Aristonectinae on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

33 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

12 formations

Conway — 42.85°S, 173.28°EConway — 43.06°S, 172.58°EConway — 42.57°S, 173.52°EQuiriquina — 36.61°S, 73.06°WQuiriquina — 36.59°S, 72.98°WQuiriquina — 35.80°S, 72.57°WLópez de Bertodano — 64.27°S, 56.72°WLópez de Bertodano — 64.28°S, 56.76°WLópez de Bertodano — 63.86°S, 57.57°WDorotea — 51.07°S, 72.50°WDorotea — 51.79°S, 72.44°WDorotea — 50.73°S, 72.47°WLopez de Bertodano — 64.22°S, 56.72°WLopez de Bertodano — 64.25°S, 56.75°WConway Siltstone — 42.55°S, 173.50°ELefipán — 42.67°S, 70.00°WLaidmore — 43.05°S, 172.76°EAllen — 39.57°S, 66.98°WSnow Hill Island — 63.90°S, 57.90°WTahora — 38.92°S, 176.82°EMocuio — 14.27°S, 12.38°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Aristonectinae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Aristonectinae and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Aristonectinae and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

128 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 31 sites for Aristonectinae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

20 references

Each of the 33 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 8 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Aristonectinae

Credit
MCDinosaurhunter
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Aristonectinae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itWeddellonectia through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Otero et al. 2012)