Aristonectes was a plesiosaur, a type of marine reptile. It was not a dinosaur, though it coexisted with many dinosaurs. Aristonectes lived during the Late Cretaceous and resided in South America and Antarctica. The first Aristonectes fossil was discovered in 1941.

Quick facts about Aristonectes:

  • Existed from Campanian Age to 66 million years ago
  • Lived in a marine environment
  • Was a carnivore
  • Reproduced by live birth
  • 7 different specimens have been found by paleontologists

All the Aristonectes illustrations below were collected from the internet. Enjoy and explore:

Aristonectes was described by the following scientific paper(s):
  • C. V. Miller, J. P. O'Gorman, and S. W. Salisbury, R. A. Coria, E. M. Roberts, P. M. O.'Connor, M. A. Reguero, M. C. Lamanna. 2020. A new plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) specimen from the Upper Cretaceous of west Antartica, with comments on the ontogeny and morphological diversity of the elasmosaurid pelvic girdle. Annals of Carnegie Museum 86(2):93-106
  • J. E. Powell. 2003. Revision of South American titanosaurid dinosaurs: palaeobiological, palaeobiogeographical and phylogenetic aspects. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum Launceston 111:1-173
  • J. P. O'Gorman, Z. Gasparini, and L. Salgado. 2013. Postcranial morphology of Aristonectes (Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia and Antarctica. Antarctic Science 25(1):71-82