Kaiwhekea Cruickshank and Fordyce, 2002
Kaiwhekea, also known as the 'Shag Point Plesiosaur', was classified as a cryptoclidid by Cruickshank and Fordyce (2002). More recent classifications regard it as an aristonectid. It has an unusually large number of small needle-like teeth and a shortened snout, much like the closely related Aristonectes. Kaiwhekea katiki is the type and only species.
Classification
Sauropterygia --> Eosauropterygia --> Eusauropterygia --> Pistosauroidea --> Plesiosauria --> Plesiosauroidea --> Cryptoclididae or Aristonectidae
Kaiwhekea katiki Cruickshank and Fordyce, 2002
Material
OU 12649, an almost complete skull, almost complete vertebral column minus the posterior caudal vertebrae, almost complete ribcage, some gastralia, partial pelvic girdle and associated right hindlimb and fragmentary left hindlimb.
Age and Location
Lower to Middle Katiki Formation, Dimitobelus hectori Zone (for belemnites) Palaeocystodinium granulatum Subzone (for dinoflagellates), Boundary between Upper and Lower Maastrichtian, Upper Cretaceous, Shore platform at Shag Point (45* 28' S, 170* 49'E) north of the Shag River Mouth, North Otago, South Island, New Zealand.
Kaiwhekea images
Skull of Kaiwhekea katiki, From Cruickshank and Fordyce (2002)
