New MOEH Fossil, part 3

We are blessed and excited to have on the road another impressive full skeleton of a large marine reptile. Martinectes was a species of short-necked plesiosaurs in the Polycotylidae family, whose kind was created on the 5^th Day of history. These marine reptiles are believed to have had impressive speeds and maneuverability due to their large, powerful flippers. Each flipper has five digits (fingers) with hyperphalangism, meaning they have a large number of phalanges (up to 18 bones) per digit. Their conical, interlocking teeth support the idea that their diet consisted primarily of fish and other soft bodied marine creatures.

Fossils of this created kind have been found in marine sediments in Australia, Canada, Eastern Europe, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, South America, and the United States. The global result of rapidly buried creatures in marine sediments can best be explained by a global cause – the global flood recorded in Genesis.

CTF’s Martinectes fossil 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 were originally identified as Trinacromerum bonneri in 1977, were reclassified as Dolichorhynchops bonneri in 1996, and then reclassified again as Martinectes bonneri in 2023 due to its much larger size and slight anatomical differences with all other Dolichorhynchops specimens. A 2017 study suggested that the body to which the skull belonged (KUVP 40001) may have reached 23 feet in length.

The genus name Martinectes is in honor of University of Kansas paleontologist Larry Martin (1943-2013). Though an evolutionist, Martin was a vocal opponent to the idea of dinosaurs evolving into birds. The species name bonneri is in honor of Marion Bonner (1911-1992), who spent 60 years collecting fossils in western Kansas. Again, we are blessed to have such an incredible specimen of aquatic engineering to display for the glory of our Creator God.