Rediagnosis and redescription of Mosasaurus hoffmannii (Squamata: Mosasauridae) and an assessment of species assigned to the genus Mosasaurus

2016 ◽  
Vol 154 (3) ◽  
pp. 521-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
HALLIE P. STREET ◽  
MICHAEL W. CALDWELL
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Short Length ◽  
Marine Reptile

AbstractThe large Late Cretaceous marine reptile Mosasaurus has remained poorly defined, in part owing to the unorthodox (by today's nomenclatural standards) manner in which the name was erected. The lack of a diagnosis accompanying the first use of either the genus or species names allowed the genus to become a catchall taxon, and subsequent diagnoses did little to refine the concept of Mosasaurus. We herein present emended diagnoses for both Mosasaurus and the type species M. hoffmannii, based solely on personal examination of the holotype, and a description of the type species based on personal examination of many specimens. Mosasaurus exhibits a premaxilla with a short, conical edentulous rostrum, a maxilla with little to no dorsal excavation for the external naris, posteromedial processes of the frontal that deeply invade the parietal, a quadrate taller than long with a short suprastapedial process and the stapedial pit dorsal to the mid-height of the shaft, an angular that is laterally visible for only a short length of the post-dentary unit, a very tall surangular, a humerus with the postglenoid process robust and offset and a distal width greater than the length, and a pubis with an anteriorly projecting tubercle. M. hoffmannii is distinguished from other species assignable to the genus by the anteroventral corner formed on the tympanic rim of the quadrate, the asymmetric carinae of the anterior marginal teeth dividing the tooth circumference into short labial and long lingual segments, and the proximal and distal expansion of the femur.

scholarly journals Isolated pliosaurid teeth from the Albian–Cenomanian (Cretaceous) of Annopol, Poland

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Madzia ◽  
Marcin Machalski
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Morphological Variability ◽  
Original Material ◽  
Tooth Crown ◽  
Similar Morphology ◽  
Faunal Turnover ◽  
Early Late

AbstractBrachauchenine pliosaurids were a cosmopolitan clade of macropredatory plesiosaurs that are considered to represent the only pliosaurid lineage that survived the faunal turnover of marine amniotes during the Jurassic- Cretaceous transition. However, the European record of the Early to early Late Cretaceous brachauchenines is largely limited to isolated tooth crowns, most of which have been attributed to the classic Cretaceous taxon Polyptychodon. Nevertheless, the original material of P. interruptus, the type species of Polyptychodon, was recently reappraised and found undiagnostic. Here, we describe a collection of twelve pliosaurid teeth from the upper Albian-middle Cenomanian interval of the condensed, phosphorite-bearing Cretaceous succession at Annopol, Poland. Eleven of the studied tooth crowns, from the Albian and Cenomanian strata, fall within the range of the morphological variability observed in the original material of P. interruptus from the Cretaceous of England. One tooth crown from the middle Cenomanian is characterized by a gently subtrihedral cross-section. Similar morphology has so far been described only for pliosaurid teeth from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Even though it remains impossible to precisely settle the taxonomic distinctions, the studied material is considered to be taxonomically heterogeneous.

Rediscovery of Choroterpes atramentum in Costa Rica, type species of Tikuna new genus (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae: Atalophlebiinae), and its role in the "Great American Inter-change"

Zootaxa ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 932 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
HARRY M. SAVAGE ◽  
R. WILLS FLOWERS ◽  
WENDY PORRAS V.
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Central America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Type Species ◽  
New Genus ◽  
South American ◽  
Early Tertiary ◽  
Geological Formation

A new genus, Tikuna, is described based on recent collections of adults and nymphs of Choroterpes atramentum Traver from western Costa Rica. All recent collections are from streams on or near the Nicoya Complex, the oldest geological formation in Lower Central America. Tikuna belongs to a lineage of South American Atalophlebiinae (Leptophlebiidae: Ephemeroptera) whose origin is hypothesized to have been in the late Cretaceous–early Tertiary. Some implications of the distribution of Tikuna for theories on the origin of Costa Rica’s biota are discussed.

Bicarinellata a new name for Bicarinella Rode, Lieberman, and Rowell, 2003 (Arthopoda, Bradoriida) preoccupied by Bicarinella Waterhouse, 1966 (Mollusca, Gastropoda) and Bicarinella Akopyan, 1976 (Mollusca, Gastropoda)

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 1220-1220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alycia L. Stigall
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Type Species ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Zoological Nomenclature ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
International Code ◽  
New Name ◽  
Valid Genus ◽  
The One

The genus Bicarinella Rode et al., 2003 was erected for a new hipponicharionid bradoriid species described from the early Cambrian of East Antarctica, characterized by a subtriangular carapace with prominent anterior and posterior lobes developed as two distinctive, sharp ridges (bi = two, carina = ridges). Unfortunately, the name Bicarinella is preoccupied by two different gastropod genera: Bicarinella Waterhouse 1966, a Permian gastropod from New Zealand and Australia, and Bicarinella Akopyan 1976, a gastropod from Late Cretaceous strata of Armenia, Serbia, Romania, Tajikistan, and Egypt (Mennessier, 1994; Banjac, 1998; Pana, 1998). Mennessier (1994) transferred Bicarinella Akopyan, 1976 from its original status as an independent taxon to a subgenus of Pseudomesalia Douvillé 1916, but subsequent workers have continued to consider Bicarinella a valid genus (Pena, 1998; Banjac, 1998). Due to the preoccupation, the bradoriid genus is herein renamed in accordance with the requirement of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999, article 60). It is also noted here that the one of the two distinct gastropod genera should be renamed. The name Bicarinellata (bi = two, carina = ridges) is proposed as a replacement name for Bicarinella Rode et al., 2003. This name retains the original prefixes to preserve taxonomic stability as much as possible. The type species of Bicarinellata is B. evansi by original designation (Rode et al., 2003).

scholarly journals Rib fracture in Prognathodon saturator (Mosasauridae, Late Cretaceous)

2004 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.S. Schulp ◽  
G.H.I.M. Walenkamp ◽  
P.A.M. Hofman ◽  
B.M. Rothschild ◽  
J.W.M. Jagt
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Internal Surface ◽  
Stress Fractures ◽  
Rib Fracture ◽  
Agonistic Behaviour ◽  
As Stress ◽  
Marine Reptile

AbstractTwo unusual bumps occur on the internal surface of a rib of the marine reptile Prognathodon saturator from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Maastricht, The Netherlands. These bumps are interpreted as stress fractures, possibly related to agonistic behaviour.

Dimorphism and a new record ofBarroisicerasDe Grossouvre (Ammonoidea) from the Coniacian of Bagh, central India

2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. 1377-1387 ◽  
Author(s):  
T K Gangopadhyay ◽  
S Bardhan
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
New Record ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Central India ◽  
Present Species ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Group B ◽  
Standing Problem

Barroisiceras de Grossouvre was hitherto unknown in India. B. onilahyense Basse, which elsewhere belongs exclusively to the Coniacian, has been recorded from the Bryozoan Limestone Formation of central India. This find, as well as the presence of another time-diagnostic Coniacian ammonite, Placenticeras kaffrarium Etheridge and two inoceramid bivalves, Inoceramus (Mytiloides) incertus Jimbo and I. (Platyceramus) mantelli (Barrois) Mercey in the underlying horizons, help in resolving the long standing problem of the age of the Bagh Group. B. onilahyense shows wide intraspecific variability and overlaps morphometrically with the late Turonian type species, B. haberfellneri (Hauer). They may be conspecific. The present species has been found to be sexually dimorphic, a phenomenon previously not well recognised in the subfamily Barroisiceratinae. As in many Late Cretaceous ammonites, dimorphism is manifest mainly by differences in relative adult sizes and in strength of ornamentation, the microconch being smaller and more strongly ornamented.

The santonian through paleogene record of Proteaceae in the southern South America - Antarctic peninsula region

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary A. Askin ◽  
Alicia M. Baldoni
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Pollen Record ◽  
South American ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Nothofagus Forest ◽  
The Antarctic

Proteaceous plants were an important component of the high-latitude Late Cretaceous–Paleogene podocarpaceous conifer and Nothofagus forest vegetation growing in high-rainfall temperate conditions. In the southern South America–Antarctic Peninsula region the fossil record of the Proteaceae comprises pollen, leaves, fruits and wood with affinities to the extant subfamilies Grevilleoideae, Proteoideae, and possibly Carnarvonioideae and Persoonioideae. The oldest reported occurrences of Proteaceae in this region are in the middle–late Santonian of the Antarctic Peninsula and include pollen of Proteacidites subscabratus Couper, with the addition in the Campanian of other species of Proteacidites and Propylipollis, Cranwellipollis spp. and Peninsulapollis spp. Diversity of proteaceous pollen increased through the Campanian and Maastrichtian, reflecting the spread of Proteaceae along the Antarctic Peninsula and into South America. Both endemic species and species derived from the Australian region are represented. Compared to coeval Australian assemblages, however, proteaceous diversity remained relatively low. Interestingly, Beauprea-type species (Beaupreaidites spp., Peninsulapollis spp.) are common and varied in the Antarctic Peninsula from Campanian into the Eocene, yet the South American pollen record does not include these forms, except for rare Peninsulapollis gillii. Possibly drier conditions may have discouraged northward migration of this group. South American fossil proteaceous taxa are primarily related to Grevilleoideae, a trend that continues into the modern flora on that continent.

scholarly journals Bone-eating Osedax worms lived on Mesozoic marine reptile deadfalls

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 20150072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Danise ◽  
Nicholas D. Higgs
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Hydrothermal Vents ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Sea Turtle ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Marine Birds ◽  
Late Mesozoic ◽  
Marine Reptile ◽  
Early Late

We report fossil traces of Osedax , a genus of siboglinid annelids that consume the skeletons of sunken vertebrates on the ocean floor, from early-Late Cretaceous (approx. 100 Myr) plesiosaur and sea turtle bones. Although plesiosaurs went extinct at the end-Cretaceous mass extinction (66 Myr), chelonioids survived the event and diversified, and thus provided sustenance for Osedax in the 20 Myr gap preceding the radiation of cetaceans, their main modern food source. This finding shows that marine reptile carcasses, before whales, played a key role in the evolution and dispersal of Osedax and confirms that its generalist ability of colonizing different vertebrate substrates, like fishes and marine birds, besides whale bones, is an ancestral trait. A Cretaceous age for unequivocal Osedax trace fossils also dates back to the Mesozoic the origin of the entire siboglinid family, which includes chemosynthetic tubeworms living at hydrothermal vents and seeps, contrary to phylogenetic estimations of a Late Mesozoic–Cenozoic origin (approx. 50–100 Myr).

Youngest representative of the extinct genus Microphorites in the Eocene amber of France (Diptera: Dolichopodidae: Microphorinae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4231 (4) ◽  
pp. 590 ◽  
Author(s):  
SIMONE BRAMUZZO ◽  
ANDRÉ NEL
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Female Specimen ◽  
Extinct Genus ◽  
Eocene Amber

Prior to the present study, seven species of the fossil microphorine (Dolichopodidae s. lat.) genus Microphorites Hennig, 1971 have been described: Microphorites extinctus Hennig, 1971 (type species), M. oculeus Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999, and M. similis Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999 (all from the Early Cretaceous Lebanese amber), M. deploegi Nel et al., 2004 (from the Early Cretaceous of France), M. utrillensis Peñalver, 2008 (from the Early Cretaceous amber of Spain), M. magaliae Perrichot & Engel, 2014 (from the Late Cretaceous amber of France), M. moravicus Tkoč et al., 2016 (possibly from the Paleogene amber of Moravia) (Hennig 1971; Grimaldi & Cumming 1999; Nel et al. 2004; Arillo et al. 2008; Perrichot & Engel 2014; Tkoč et al. 2016). Based on the dating of these amber species, Microphorites could be among the rare insect genera recorded from both the Cretaceous and the Paleogene. Here we describe Microphorites erikai sp. nov., first accurate Eocene Microphorites from the Oise amber (France), on the basis of a complete female specimen. 

scholarly journals Notes on some Late Cretaceous goniasterid starfish (Echinodermata, Asteroidea) from Belgium and Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. A030321
Author(s):  
John W. M. Jagt ◽  
Elena A. Jagt-Yazykova ◽  
Barry W. M. Van Bakel ◽  
René H. B. Fraaije
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Radial Line ◽  
Large Crater ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Large Spine ◽  
Upper Maastrichtian ◽  
Upper Campanian

Both partially articulated specimens and dissociated marginal ossicles form the basis for erection of two new species of Late Cretaceous goniasterids from the Mons and Liège-Limburg basins (Belgium) and the Hannover area (Germany). Chomataster breizh sp. nov., which recalls the type species, Chomataster acules Spencer, 1913, but differs in several respects, is based on a partial external mould of the marginal frame of disc and arms in flint (upper Campanian Spiennes Chalk Formation; Mons Basin), as well as on a more or less complete individual, preserving small, spherical spines and granules and encased in a flint nodule from the upper Maastrichtian Nekum Member (Maastricht Formation; Liège-Limburg Basin). In Ch. breizh sp. nov., supero- and inferomarginals bear close-set granule pits, of varying sizes, as well as bivalved alveolar scars of pedicellariae; median superomarginals and all inferomarginals lack large, crater-shaped spine pits – such are found only in the disc/arm transition and along the arms. Dissociated supero- and inferomarginal ossicles from the lower and upper Campanian of the Hannover area and the upper Campanian of northeast Belgium, previously recorded either as indeterminate astropectinids or as Nymphaster obtusus (Forbes, 1848) var. nov. and as Nymphaster sp., respectively, here are assigned to Nymphaster mudzborgh sp. nov. This species is characterised by a row of 3–5 large spine pits on the aboral and lateral surfaces of superomarginals; inferomarginals have an angular profile and a close cover of granule pits. Nymphaster tethysiensis Villier, 2001, from the upper Campanian of Landes (southwest France; Villier and Odin, 2001) appears best accommodated in Chomataster as well, because in the arm superomarginals alternate rather than meet over the mid-radial line.

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