Martinectes

Martinectes
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (late Campanian),
Skeleton mount, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: Sauropterygia
Order: Plesiosauria
Superfamily: Plesiosauroidea
Family: Polycotylidae
Subfamily: Polycotylinae
Clade: Dolichorhynchia
Genus: Martinectes
Clark, O'Keefe & Slack, 2023
Type species
Martinectes bonneri
Adams, 1997
Synonyms

Martinectes is an extinct genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian stage) of North America and possibly European Russia. The genus contains a single species M. bonneri, known from multiple skeletons and skulls. Martinectes was historically considered to represent a species of the genus Trinacromerum and later Dolichorhynchops before it was moved to its own genus. It was a large polycotylid measuring around 5.5–7 metres (18–23 ft) long.