Genus
Valid Extinct

Kawanectes

O'Gorman 2016

Kawanectes is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur, a type of long-necked marine reptile, that lived in the marginal marine, probably estuarine, environment of Late Cretaceous Patagonia. The genus contains a single species, Kawanectes lafquenianum, described in 2016 by José P. O'Gorman.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
8
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Carnivore aquatic, depth=surface Marine
Kawanectes
click to enlarge
Life reconstruction of Kawanectes lafquenianum © Connor Ashbridge · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
›
Plesiosauria Order
›
Plesiosauroidea Superfamily
›
Elasmosauridae Family
›
Weddellonectia Unranked clade
›
Kawanectes Genus
Fossil sites 4 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇦🇷 Argentina
4
Geological formations
La Colonia
3
Allen
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
4
Species (1)
Kawanectes lafquenianus 72 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
J. P. O'Gorman. 2016. A small body sized non-aristonectine elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia with comments on the relationships of the patagonian and antarctic elasmosaurids. Ameghiniana 53(3):245-268 DOI ↗
Bibliography (4)
J. P. O’Gorman, G. Matelo Mirco, and F. R. Aspromonte. 2026. Cranial anatomy of Kawanectes lafquenianus (Plesiosauria; Elasmosauridae) from La Colonia Formation with comments on the paleobiogeography of the weddellonectians. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology DOI ↗
J. P. O'Gorman. 2021. The most complete specimen of Kawanectes lafquenianum (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria): new data on basicranial anatomy and possible sexual dimorphism in elasmosaurids. Cretaceous Research 125(104836):1-19 DOI ↗
J. P. O'Gorman. 2020. First record of Kawanectes lafquenianum (Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae) from the La Colonia Formation of Argentina, with comments on the mandibular morphology of elasmosaurids. Alcheringa 44(1):176-193 DOI ↗
J. P. O'Gorman. 2016. A small body sized non-aristonectine elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia with comments on the relationships of the patagonian and antarctic elasmosaurids. Ameghiniana 53(3):245-268 DOI ↗