biology

Kaiwhekea

Kaiwhekea is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kaiwhekea rather than just read about it. In short: Kaiwhekea ([ˌkaiˈfɛkɛa]) is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) of what is now New Zealand. History of discovery The holotype was discovered in 1983 by Gary Raper, an amateur fossil collector, at the base of a cliff at Shag Point, Otago.

Key takeaways

Kaiwhekea belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kaiwhekea to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kaiwhekea from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kaiwhekea ([ˌkaiˈfɛkɛa]) is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) of what is now New Zealand.

History of discovery

The holotype was discovered in 1983 by Gary Raper, an amateur fossil collector, at the base of a cliff at Shag Point, Otago. It was later recovered by a team from the University of Otago's Geology department. The specimen was enclosed in a large concretion measuring c. 6.5 metres long and weighing an estimated 10 tons. The block was split along natural seams and dragged out on a sledge (made from a car bonnet). The skeleton is mostly preserved as negative moulds as the mineralised bone was too fragile to be preserved. The type species, Kaiwhekea katiki, was first described by Arthur Cruickshank and Ewan Fordyce in 2002. The genus name comes from the Māori words kai meaning "food" and whekea meaning "squid", together meaning "squid-eater". The specific epithet refers to Kātiki Beach, to the north of the find location. Kaiwhekea was approximately 6.5–7 metres (21–23 ft) long. It lived around 70-69 million years ago. The single known specimen, found in the Katiki Formation near Shag Point on the coast of Otago, is nearly complete, and is on display at the Otago Museum in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Classification Kaiwhekea has been placed as an aristonectine plesiosaur close to Aristonectes. In 2010, Kaiwhekea was transferred to Leptocleididae, but more recent analyses do not find the same result. The following cladogram shows the placement of Kaiwhekea within Elasmosauridae following an analysis by Rodrigo A. Otero, 2016:

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kaiwhekea

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kaiwhekea claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kaiwhekea before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kaiwhekea ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kaiwhekea

In research: Kaiwhekea appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kaiwhekea in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kaiwhekea is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Elasmosauridae, Extinct reptiles of New Zealand, Fossil taxa described in 2002, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kaiwhekea outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Kaiwhekea in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kaiwhekea means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kaiwhekea out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kaiwhekea in simple terms?

Kaiwhekea ([ˌkaiˈfɛkɛa]) is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) of what is now New Zealand. History of discovery The holotype was discovered in 1983 by Gary Raper, an amateur fossil collector, at the base of a cliff at Shag Point, Otago.

Why does Kaiwhekea matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kaiwhekea?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kaiwhekea.