Tatenectes
Encyclopedia
Tatenectes is an extinct genus
of cryptoclidid
plesiosaur
known from the Upper Member of the Sundance Formation
(late Jurassic
) of Wyoming
. It was named by O'Keefe and Wahl in 2003
and the type species
is Tatenectes laramiensis.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of cryptoclidid
Cryptoclididae
Cryptoclididae is a family of medium-sized plesiosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous. In 2010, Kaiwhekea was transferred to Leptocleididae and Aristonectes was transferred to Elasmosauridae.-Appearance:...
plesiosaur
Plesiosaur
Plesiosauroidea is an extinct clade of carnivorous plesiosaur marine reptiles. Plesiosauroids, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods...
known from the Upper Member of the Sundance Formation
Sundance Formation
The Sundance Formation is a western North American sequence of Upper Jurassic age marine shales, sandy shales, and sandstones.The Sundance Formation underlies the western North American Morrison Formation, the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in the Americas, and is separated by a...
(late Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
) of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. It was named by O'Keefe and Wahl in 2003
2003 in paleontology
-New taxa:-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.-New taxa:-New taxa:-Non-mammalian:-newly named:-Conifers:-Angiosperms:...
and the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
is Tatenectes laramiensis.