# Kirktonecta

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kirktonecta
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kirktonecta.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirktonecta
> Source revision: 1212249995
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

***Kirktonecta*** is an [extinct](/source/Extinct) [genus](/source/Genus) of [microsaur](/source/Microsaur) known from the [Carboniferous](/source/Carboniferous) of [West Lothian](/source/West_Lothian), [Scotland](/source/Scotland).[1]

## Discovery

*Kirktonecta* is known from the [holotype](/source/Holotype) specimen [UMZC](/source/UMZC) 2002, a and b, an almost complete [skeleton](/source/Skeleton) including the [skull](/source/Skull), and preserved evidence for soft tissues, in part (slab a) and counterpart (slab b). The holotype was collected in the East Kirkton Quarry, near [Bathgate](/source/Bathgate) of [West Lothian](/source/West_Lothian), from "Bed 82" East Kirkton Limestone of the [Bathgate Hills Volcanic Formation](/source/Bathgate_Hills_Volcanic_Formation), dating to the [Brigantian](/source/Brigantian) substage, of the late [Viséan](/source/Vis%C3%A9an) [stage](/source/Faunal_stage), of the [Dinantian](/source/Dinantian) [series](/source/Series_(stratigraphy)) ([Early Carboniferous](/source/Early_Carboniferous)), about 333–328.3 [million years ago](/source/Million_years_ago). It represents the first microsaur to be discovered in the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom) and the earliest occurrence of a microsaur in the fossil record. The next oldest being *[Utaherpeton](/source/Utaherpeton)* and an unnamed taxon from the [Chesterian](/source/Chesterian) of Goreville, [Illinois](/source/Illinois).[1]

## Description

*Kirktonecta* is diagnosed by the following [autapomorphies](/source/Autapomorphies): "deep tail, [*sic*] long, posteriorly directed, round-ended haemal spines in contact along their anterior and posterior margins distally, combined with low rounded neural spines; large pes, with tarsus breadth equivalent to the length of 3.5 or 4 presacral vertebrae." Jennifer A. Clack, who named this genus, found it to be most closely related to [basal](/source/Basal_(phylogenetics)) [microsaurs](/source/Microsaur), such as *[Asaphestera](/source/Asaphestera)*, *[Saxonerpeton](/source/Saxonerpeton)*, *[Hyloplesion](/source/Hyloplesion)* and *[Llistrofus](/source/Llistrofus)*.[1]

## Etymology

*Kirktonecta* was first named by [Jennifer A. Clack](/source/Jennifer_A._Clack) in [2011](/source/2011_in_paleontology) and the [type species](/source/Type_species) is *Kirktonecta milnerae*. The [generic name](/source/Name_of_a_biological_genus) is derived from the name of the [East Kirkton Quarry](/source/East_Kirkton_Quarry), where the holotype was found, and [Greek](/source/Greek_language) *necta*, "swimmer". The [specific name](/source/Specific_name_(zoology)) honours the [paleontologist](/source/Paleontologist) [Angela C. Milner](/source/Angela_Milner).[1]

## References

1. Clack, Jennifer A. (2011). "A new microsaur from the early Carboniferous (Viséan) of East Kirkton, Scotland, showing soft tissue evidence". *Special Papers in Palaeontology*. **86**: 1–11.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kirktonecta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirktonecta) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirktonecta?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.