Dino card No. 1052 of 2,027

Libonectes

Say it: lye-boh-NEK-teez

Name means: “southern swimmer”1

Ate: MeatPlesiosaursLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Libonectes was a long-necked marine reptile that swam in warm seas during the time of the dinosaurs. It used its strong flippers to paddle through the water and may have swallowed fish and ammonites whole. Fossils show it had a skull that is one of the best preserved of any elasmosaurid plesiosaur.1

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

Lived

100 to 90 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Texas, USA and Er-Rachidia, Morocco1 3

Food

Meat1 3

Length

7.2 m1

complete specimen

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 4 bicycles in a rowas long as 40 bananas end to end

How big was Libonectes compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Libonectes had a neck that was 5.06 metres (16.6 feet) long, more than two-thirds of its total body length.1

The first fossils were found by a farmer named T.W. Tidwell in the late 1930s in Texas.1

Its skull is the best preserved skull of any elasmosaurid plesiosaur ever found.1

Libonectes lived about 93 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.3

It was originally named Elasmosaurus morgani in 1949, but was given its own genus, Libonectes, in 1997.1

Gastroliths (stomach stones) have been found inside Libonectes fossils, which may have helped it digest food or control its buoyancy in the water.1

Libonectes probably swam slowly and used its large size to trap prey.1

AI-made picture of Libonectes — An AI-made picture of how Libonectes 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 Libonectes

?How big was Libonectes?

Libonectes was a medium-sized plesiosaur, about 7.2 metres (24 feet) long. Its neck alone was 5.06 metres (16.6 feet) long.1

?What did Libonectes eat?

Libonectes probably ate small fish and ammonites. It may have swallowed prey whole and used stomach stones to help digest food.1

?Where was Libonectes found?

Fossils of Libonectes have been found in Texas, USA, and in Morocco. This shows it lived in warm seas on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.1 2

Ask Rex about Libonectes

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think plesiosaurs like Libonectes could lift their heads and necks high out of the water like a swan.

Truth: Scientists now believe their necks were not flexible enough to lift high above the water. They probably held their necks more horizontally while swimming.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Libonectes
Named by: Carpenter 19973
Group: Plesiosaurs
Family / clade: Elasmosauridae3
Classification: Plesiosauria > Elasmosauridae > Sauropterygia3
Age of the rocks: 100 to 90 million years (Cenomanian / Turonian)3
Rock formations: Britton, Akrabou3
Countries: USA, Morocco3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: The first Libonectes fossils were found by tenant farmer T.W. Tidwell in the late 1930s in Texas. Charles Gill Morgan prepared the fossils, and the species was named Elasmosaurus morgani by Welles in 1949. It was reclassified as its own genus Libonectes by Carpenter in 1997.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether Libonectes was a pure carnivore or an omnivore, because gastroliths could indicate plant eating or just buoyancy control.1

Where the facts come from

Libonectes (en.wikipedia.org)
Libonectes morgani, an elasmosaur with transatlantic dispersal (sachspal.de)
Libonectes 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.

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