Paralonectes is an extinct genus of reptile which lived in the Early Triassic or Middle Triassic of what is today British Columbia. The type species and only species is P. merriami. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek and means "shore swimmer", and the species epithet is in honor of J. C. Merriam, a paleontologist who has done extensive work on Triassic marine reptiles.
Discovery and description
Paralonectes was described in 1993 in the same publication that described the
sympatric species
Thalattosaurus borealis and
Agkistrognathus campbelli. All three taxa were discovered in the rocks of the Sulphur Mountain Formation. All known specimens of
Paralonectes were transported to and prepared at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology. The
holotype includes a mostly complete skull with an associated mandible, several vertebrae, ribs, an
ischium, and a few limb bones, and it was given the designation TMP 89.127.1. Two referred specimens (TMP 89.127.2 and TMP 91.120.21) include several additional isolated skull elements.
Classification
The classification of
Thalattosauria has been controversial, and it is not known with confidence to which other reptiles they are closely related. They have been suggested to be relatives of
Sauropterygia,
Archosauromorpha, or possibly being part of a more primitive lineage. A cladogram summarizing the internal interrelationships of thalattosaurs is shown below.
