Specimen:  KUVP 40001 & 40002 (cast)

Excavated:  1976,  skull in Fall River County, SD & skeleton in Niobrara County, WY

Width:  17 ft front flipper span

Length:  15 ft

Front flipper:  5.1 ft

Skull:  3.2 ft

These short-necked plesiosaurs are believed to have had impressive speeds and maneuverability due to their large, powerful flippers. Their conical, interlocking teeth support the idea that their diet consisted primarily of fish and other soft bodied marine creatures.

This Martinectes represents two of the largest specimens ever discovered. Excavated in 1976, the skull (specimen KUVP 40001) was collected from the Pierre Shale at the Wallace Ranch in Fall River County, SD. The body (specimen KUVP 40002) was collected four miles away in the Pierre Shale at the Johnson Ranch in Niobrara County, WY. The fossils were later prepared at the labs of the University of Kansas and the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in a three-year collaborative effort. The specimens have endured three name changes with the final confirmed in 2023 in honor of famed KU paleontologists Larry Martin and Orville Bonner.