Among them, the elasmosaurs were some of the most striking: long-necked plesiosaurs with serpent-like grace and formidable predatory adaptations.
Few scientists have done more to illuminate the biology and evolution of these marine reptiles than Dr. F. Robin O’Keefe.
A vertebrate paleontologist at Marshall University, O’Keefe’s research has ranged across marine reptile phylogeny, functional morphology, and evolutionary innovation.
O'Keefe will be sharing his research at the 15th BCPA Symposium in Courtenay, August 22-25, 2025.
In recent years, his work has helped to reshape our understanding of elasmosaurs, particularly those found in the fossil-rich rocks of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Elasmosaurs (Family: Elasmosauridae) were marine reptiles that thrived during the Late Cretaceous period. Their most distinctive feature was their astonishingly long necks, which in some species accounted for over half their body length. These creatures likely hunted small fish and squid-like cephalopods, using stealth and rapid strikes to seize prey.
Though long thought of as slow-moving and awkward, research led by scientists like O’Keefe suggests a far more dynamic picture—of agile, efficient swimmers with specialized anatomical adaptations.
The Upper Cretaceous marine deposits of Vancouver Island, particularly near the Comox Valley, Courtenay, and Puntledge River areas, are renowned for their abundance of well-preserved marine fossils. These include ammonites, mosasaurs, and notably, elasmosaurs.
The region is part of the Nanaimo Group, a geologic unit consisting of marine sediments deposited in a forearc basin as the Pacific Plate subducted beneath the North American Plate.
One of the most celebrated finds from this region is a nearly complete elasmosaur discovered by local fossil hunter Mike Trask and his daughter Heather in 1988. The fossil was later excavated and housed at the Courtenay and District Museum and Paleontology Centre. It became the focus of detailed scientific analysis—bringing together local efforts and academic expertise, including that of Robin O’Keefe.
O’Keefe's work on elasmosaurs blends detailed anatomical studies with cutting-edge phylogenetic methods and biomechanical modeling. In collaboration with other researchers and citizen scientists, O’Keefe has used elasmosaur fossils from Vancouver Island to explore big questions in marine reptile evolution: How did they swim? Why did their necks evolve to such extreme proportions? What ecological roles did they fill?
In 2017, O’Keefe co-authored a landmark paper with Victoria Arbour and others that analyzed the Nanaimo elasmosaur, revealing key insights into its morphology and evolutionary relationships.
Dr. Robin O’Keefe’s collaboration with Dr. Victoria Arbour, a Canadian paleontologist and Curator of Paleontology at the Royal BC Museum, marked a significant milestone in the scientific study of marine reptiles from British Columbia. Together, they co-authored a 2017 paper describing a new species of elasmosaurid from the Late Cretaceous rocks of Vancouver Island—a specimen that had long fascinated researchers and fossil enthusiasts alike.
The specimen in question—unearthed near Courtenay in the 1980s and later housed at the Courtenay & District Museum—was one of the most complete marine reptile fossils ever discovered in British Columbia. For years, the fossil was known informally, but its scientific description had not been completed. That changed with the collaboration between O’Keefe and Arbour, along with co-authors Patrick Druckenmiller and Matthew E. Burns.
In their 2017 paper titled "A new elasmosaurid from the Upper Cretaceous of Vancouver Island and a revised phylogeny of Elasmosauridae", the team formally described the specimen as a new genus and species: Nakonanectes bradti.
The genus name Nakonanectes pays homage to the Nakwaxda’xw First Nation, while bradti honours Mike Bradt, a local figure who supported paleontological research in the region.
This work helped clarify its position within Elasmosauridae and highlighted the importance of the Vancouver Island specimen in understanding the family’s diversification during the Late Cretaceous.
Noteworthy Insights from O’Keefe’s Research:
- Neck Functionality: O’Keefe has argued that the elongated necks of elasmosaurs were not simply passive structures, but played an active role in prey capture. He used biomechanical modeling to suggest that the neck allowed rapid strikes in a three-dimensional aquatic environment.
- Paleobiogeography: His work has shown that elasmosaurs were far more widespread and ecologically diverse than previously thought. The Vancouver Island specimens offer crucial evidence of North Pacific elasmosaurid diversity and dispersal routes.
- Morphological Evolution: Through detailed studies of skull and limb morphology, O’Keefe has advanced the idea that elasmosaurs represent a distinct and derived lineage of plesiosaurs, with complex adaptations for open-ocean life.
O’Keefe’s collaborative approach is also worth noting. His work on Vancouver Island elasmosaurs brought together professional paleontologists, local museums, and amateur fossil collectors. He has praised the community-based model of paleontology in British Columbia, where important discoveries often begin in the hands of citizen scientists and are then scientifically studied through institutional partnerships.
Robin O’Keefe’s work has been instrumental in reframing how scientists understand elasmosaurs—not as clumsy, bizarre sea reptiles but as highly specialized marine predators with a dynamic evolutionary history.
His research on Vancouver Island’s elasmosaur fossils has revealed new species, resolved evolutionary puzzles, and underscored the importance of community science in paleontology.
Through detailed anatomical work, phylogenetic analysis, and public engagement, O’Keefe continues to deepen our understanding of the ancient oceans and the creatures that ruled them.
ABOUT F. ROBIN O'KEEFE
He has held a faculty position at Marshall University in West Virginia since 2006, where he has taught over two thousand undergraduates in courses ranging from human anatomy to comparative zoology and earth history. Dr. O’Keefe has successfully mentored 19 Master’s degrees, with two in progress.
O’Keefe has published widely in journals including Science, Nature, PNAS, Systematic Biology.
An acknowledged expert on marine reptiles from the age of dinosaurs, O’Keefe was awarded the 2013 Drinko Distinguished Research Fellowship for his work on plesiosaur reproduction.
O’Keefe has also published on the anatomy and relationships of Permian reptiles from Africa, as well as a series of papers on the evolutionary biology of Rancho La Brea carnivores. Doctor O’Keefe has done paleontological field work in the Caribbean, Madagascar, Niger, China, Europe, South America, and throughout the American West, with current digs in the Cretaceous of Wyoming and Montana.
Fancy some additional reading? Here is a list of papers by Robin O’Keefe, including his work on the Vancouver Island specimens including his collaborative efforts with Victoria Arbour and others:
O’Keefe, F.R., Arbour, V., Druckenmiller, P.S., & Burns, M.E. (2017). A new elasmosaurid from the Upper Cretaceous of Vancouver Island and a revised phylogeny of Elasmosauridae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 37(1), e1278608. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2017.1278608
O’Keefe, F.R., & Hiller, N. (2006). Morphologic and ontogenetic patterns in elasmosaur neck length, with comments on the taxonomic utility of neck length variables. Paludicola, 5(4), 206–229.
O’Keefe, F.R. (2001). A cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision of the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia). Acta Zoologica Fennica, 213, 1–63.
O’Keefe, F.R. (2002). Phylogeny and convergence in the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22(1), 58–79. https://doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0058:PACITP]2.0.CO;2
O’Keefe, F.R., & Carrano, M.T. (2005). Correlated trends in the evolution of the plesiosaur locomotor system. Paleobiology, 31(4), 656–675. https://doi.org/10.1666/04026.1
