Genus
Valid Extinct

Acamptonectes

Fischer et al. 2012

Acamptonectes is a genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs, a type of dolphin-like marine reptiles, that lived during the Early Cretaceous around 130 million years ago. The first specimen, a partial adult skeleton, was discovered in Speeton, England, in 1958, but was not formally described until 2012 by Valentin Fischer and colleagues. They also recognised a partial subadult skeleton belonging to the genus from Cremlingen, Germany, and specimens from other localities in England. The genus contains the single species Acamptonectes densus; the generic name means "rigid swimmer" and the specific name means "compact" or "tightly packed".

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
3
Group
Ichtyosaures
Carnivore nektonic Marine
Acamptonectes
click to enlarge
Wikimedia
Acamptonectes
Acamptonectes
Acamptonectes
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Ichthyosauria Unranked clade
Baracromia Unranked clade
Ophthalmosauridae Family
Ophthalmosaurinae Subfamily
Acamptonectes Genus
Fossil sites 3 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
2
🇩🇪 Germany
1
Geological formations
Speeton Clay
2
Temporal distribution
Hauterivian (132.6–125.77 Ma)
3
Species (1)
Acamptonectes densus 133 Ma
Images 4
Bibliography
Original description
V. Fischer, M. W. Maisch, and D. Naish, R. Kosma, J. Liston, U. Joger, F. J. Krüger, J. Pardo Pérez, J. Tainsh, R. M. Appleby. 2012. New ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs from the European Lower Cretaceous demonstrate extensive ichthyosaur survival across the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary. PLoS One 7(1):e29234 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
V. Fischer, M. W. Maisch, and D. Naish, R. Kosma, J. Liston, U. Joger, F. J. Krüger, J. Pardo Pérez, J. Tainsh, R. M. Appleby. 2012. New ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs from the European Lower Cretaceous demonstrate extensive ichthyosaur survival across the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary. PLoS One 7(1):e29234 DOI ↗