Dino card No. 0062 of 2,027

Albertonectes

Say it: al-BER-toe-NEK-teez

Name means: “Alberta swimmer”1

Ate: MeatPlesiosaursLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Albertonectes was a huge marine reptile that lived in the sea, not a dinosaur. It had an incredibly long neck, longer than a school bus, and swam with four flippers like paddles.1 2

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Alberta, Canada, near Lethbridge1 2

Food

Meat2 3

Length

11.2 to 12.1 m1 2

estimates vary; 11.2 m from Canadian Encyclopedia, 12.1 m from Wikipedia

Weight

4.8 tonnes2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 3 cars

as long as 2.5 cars parked in a rowas long as 67 bananas end to endabout as heavy as an elephantas heavy as 960 watermelons

How big was Albertonectes compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Albertonectes had 76 neck bones, more than any other known animal. Its neck was about 7 metres (23 feet) long.1 2

Its fossils were discovered by accident in 2007 during ammolite mining. An excavator broke part of the skeleton, and some stomach stones were lost.1 2

Albertonectes lived in the Western Interior Seaway, a huge inland sea that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean.2

No skull of Albertonectes has ever been found, so scientists can only guess what its head looked like based on other elasmosaurs.1 2

Over 97 stomach stones were found with the skeleton, but they are too small to help with buoyancy or digestion. Scientists are still not sure why plesiosaurs swallowed stones.1 2

Albertonectes was a plesiosaur, not a dinosaur. Dinosaurs lived on land, while plesiosaurs were air-breathing reptiles that lived in the sea.2

AI-made picture of Albertonectes — An AI-made picture of how Albertonectes might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Albertonectes

?How big was Albertonectes?

Albertonectes was about 12.1 metres (40 feet) long and weighed around 4.8 metric tons (5.3 short tons). Its neck alone was about 7 metres (23 feet) long.1 2

?Was Albertonectes a dinosaur?

No, Albertonectes was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the sea. Dinosaurs lived on land.2

?What did Albertonectes eat?

Scientists think Albertonectes ate small fish and crustaceans. Its small, slender teeth were not for attacking large prey.2

?How many neck bones did Albertonectes have?

Albertonectes had 76 neck bones, more than any other known animal. That is why its neck was so long.1 2

?When did Albertonectes live?

Albertonectes lived about 73.5 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1

?Could Albertonectes swim?

Yes, Albertonectes was a strong swimmer. It used its four paddle-like flippers to move through the water.1 2

Ask Rex about Albertonectes

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

Myth buster

Myth: Albertonectes was a dinosaur.

Truth: Albertonectes was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that lived in the ocean, not a dinosaur. Dinosaurs were land animals.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Albertonectes
Named by: Kubo et al. 20124
Group: Plesiosaurs
Family / clade: Elasmosauridae4
Classification: Plesiosauria > Elasmosauridae > Sauropterygia4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Bearpaw Shale4
Countries: Canada4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The only known skeleton was found in 2007 by an ammolite mining company near Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It was named Albertonectes vanderveldei in 2012 by paleontologist Tai Kubo and his team.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure why Albertonectes swallowed so many stomach stones, since they are too small to help with buoyancy or digestion.2

Where the facts come from

Albertonectes (en.wikipedia.org)
Albertonectes | The Canadian Encyclopedia (thecanadianencyclopedia.ca)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Albertonectes in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex