Lagenanectes

Lagenanectes is one of the earliest known elasmosaurids, a group of plesiosaurs with very long necks. It lived about 130 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous.21

The front part of its lower jaw had a unique platform with dents, and the tooth sockets pointed sideways. This is different from most other plesiosaurs.1

Grooves on the top of its skull may have held electroreceptors, which helped Lagenanectes detect prey hidden in the dark water.1

The only known fossil of Lagenanectes shows signs of bone disease. The back of the skull and first neck vertebra had bony outgrowths, possibly from a bacterial infection.21

The fossil was discovered in 1964 by a private collector named Kurt Wiedenroth in a clay pit near Sarstedt, Germany. The pit no longer exists.21

Lagenanectes was named in 2017, more than 50 years after its discovery. Scientists finally studied the bones and realized it was a new genus.1