恐龍卡第 0948 張，共 2 027 張

Kawanectes

名字的意思： “Kawas swimmer”1

吃：肉蛇頸龍類白堊紀晚期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Kawanectes was a small marine reptile with a long neck that lived in the seas of Patagonia near the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. It was an elasmosaurid plesiosaur, but much smaller than its giant relatives, only about as long as a small car.1

趣味小知識：這種海生爬蟲類在海裡游泳的時候，恐龍正在陸地上走路。大家都叫牠們恐龍，但牠們其實是爬蟲類的另一個分支。

生存年代

72 到 66 百萬年前3

白堊紀晚期

化石發現地

Argentina, in the Allen Formation and La Colonia Formation of Patagonia1 2

長度

3.8 到 4.2 m (12 到 14 ft)1

最高速度

時速約 29 公里（18 英里）

游泳, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 4 隻狗從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 23 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長能在 6.2 秒內游完一座大泳池（50 公尺）

Kawanectes 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡算算數學。什麼都不會被儲存或傳送出去。

牠有多快？

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

Kawanectes 時速約 29 公里 (18 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

Kawanectes is one of the smallest elasmosaurids ever found, with an adult body length of only 3.8 to 4.2 metres (12 to 14 feet).1

Its name comes from the Kawas Sea, an ancient ocean that covered Patagonia during the Late Cretaceous.1

One specimen of Kawanectes was found with 389 gastroliths, or stomach stones, which may have helped it digest food or control buoyancy.1

Kawanectes had a high humerus-to-femur length ratio of about 1.2, meaning its upper arm bone was longer than its thigh bone, which is unusual among elasmosaurids.1

Scientists think Kawanectes may have been sexually dimorphic, with females possibly larger than males.1

Kawanectes lived in a marginal marine environment, probably an estuary, not the open ocean, and it was smaller than open-ocean plesiosaurs.1

Kawanectes 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Kawanectes 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

你們都在問

關於 Kawanectes 最常被問的問題

?How big was Kawanectes?

Kawanectes was about 3.8 to 4.2 metres (12 to 14 feet) long as an adult, which is small for an elasmosaurid.1 2

?What did Kawanectes eat?

Kawanectes likely ate small marine animals, and its jaw shape suggests it could snap its jaws shut quickly for fast bites, but not with a strong bite force.2

?Where did Kawanectes live?

Kawanectes lived in the seas of Patagonia, in what is now Argentina, during the Late Cretaceous, in a coastal or estuarine environment.1 2

?Was Kawanectes a dinosaur?

No, Kawanectes was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile, not a dinosaur.1

給恐龍專家

學名: Kawanectes
命名者: O'Gorman 20163
類群: 蛇頸龍類
科 / 演化支: Elasmosauridae3
分類: Plesiosauria > Elasmosauridae > Sauropterygia3
岩石的年代: 72 到 66 百萬年 (Maastrichtian)3
岩層: La Colonia, Allen3
國家: 阿根廷3
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 8 筆3
發現: Kawanectes was first named as a species of Trinacromerum in 1985 by Gasparini and Goñi, but in 2016 José P. O'Gorman gave it its own genus, Kawanectes, based on new fossils.1
仍有爭議: Scientists are not sure exactly how many neck and tail vertebrae Kawanectes had, because the known fossils are incomplete.1