Journal articles: 'Mosasaurus'

1

Giltaij, Tom J., Jesper Milàn, John W. M. Jagt, and Anne S. Schulp. "Prognathodon (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the Maastrichtian chalk of Denmark." Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark 69 (May 31, 2021): 53–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.37570/bgsd-2021-69-03.

Full text

Abstract:

Two mosasaur tooth crowns collected from the Maastrichtian chalk sequences of Stevns Klint and Møns Klint are here assigned to Prognathodon, a mosasaur genus hitherto unknown from Denmark. Together with previous records of the mosasaurs Plioplatecarpus, Mosasaurus and Carinodens, these new finds of Prognathodon document the coexistence of four mosasaurid genera in the Danish chalk and underscore simi-larities to coeval assemblages from the Maastrichtian type area in the Netherlands and Belgium.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

2

Buffetaut, Eric, and Nathalie Bardet. "The mosasaurid (Squamata) Prognathodon in the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of the Cotentin Peninsula (Normandy, northwestern France)." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 2 (2012): 111–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.2.111.

Full text

Abstract:

Abstract Although the presence of mosasaurids in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Baculites limestone of the Cotentin peninsula, in the western part of Normandy (France), was reported as early as 1873 by Henri-Emile Sauvage, this occurrence has largely been overlooked by subsequent authors. In this paper we review Sauvage’s original material (an isolated tooth – the type of Mosasaurus platyodon) and describe an additional, hitherto unpublished, tooth crown also from the Baculites Limestone of the Cotentin and refer both to the globidensine mosasaur Prognathodon. Mosasaurus platyodonSauvage, 1873 is considered a nomen dubium.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

3

Tanimoto, M. "Mosasaur remains from the Upper Cretaceous Izumi Group of southwest Japan." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 373–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021156.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractUntil recently, mosasaur remains from the Izumi Group (Upper Cretaceous) in southwest Japan comprised only scattered finds; now a richer material is available. From the upper Campanian Hiketa Formation in Kagawa Prefecture, Kourisodon sp. has just been recorded, on the basis of portions of skull and mandible which has small and laterally compressed teeth. A few teeth of the same or similar type have previously been described from the Maastrichtian Mutsuo Formation in Osaka Prefecture. A report of Mosasaurus sp. A, which resembles M. missouriensis and M. dekayi, is based on some cranial and mandible remains, inclusive of numerous teeth and a few well-preserved cervical and two incomplete dorsal vertebrae, from the Maastrichtian Mutsuo Formation in Osaka Prefecture. A slender tooth of Mosasaurus sp. from the Mutsuo Formation has since been reassigned to Platecarpus (Plioplatecarpinae); yet, this may indeed by a species of Mosasaurus, here listed as Mosasaurus sp. B. To date, smaller specimens of mosasaurids have been shown to be abundant in the Izumi Group, which suggests two possible explanations. Either most of these represent juveniles, or smaller-sized, Kourisodon-like animals flourished here. Finds of Kourisodon sp. from the upper Campanian Hiketa Formation and the Maastrichtian Mutsuo Formation suggests the second explanation is the more likely one.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

4

Lindgren, J., and J. W. M. Jagt. "Danish mosasaurs." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 315–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021090.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractPresented are the first formal descriptions of mosasaur remains of Maastrichtian age from the Danish mainland (Jylland, Sjælland); just two taxa are recognised, viz. Mosasaurus cf. hoffmanni and Plioplatecarpus sp. Recent finds include an association of skeletal fragments, inclusive of a single marginal tooth crown, from within 10 metres or so of the K/T boundary near Holtug, Stevns Klint (Sjælland, eastern Denmark), here assigned to Plioplatecarpus sp. A brief review of previous records of Danish mosasaurs is added.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

5

Bardet, Nathalie. "Maastrichtian marine reptiles of the Mediterranean Tethys: a palaeobiogeographical approach." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 6 (December 1, 2012): 573–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.6.573.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractA global comparison of coeval Maastrichtian marine reptiles (squamates, plesiosaurs, chelonians and crocodyliformes) of Europe, New Jersey, northwestern Africa and Middle-East has been performed. More than twenty outcrops and fifty species (half of them being mosasaurids) have been recorded. PEA and Cluster Analysis have been performed using part of this database and have revealed that marine reptile faunas (especially the mosasaurid ones) from the Mediterranean Tethys are clearly segregated into two different palaeobiogeographical provinces: 1) The northern Tethys margin province (New Jersey and Europe), located around palaeolatitudes 30-40°N and developping into warm-temperate environments, is dominated by mosasaurid squamates and chelonioid chelonians; it is characterized by the mosasaurid association of Mosasaurus hoffmanni and Prognathodon sectorius. 2) The southern Tethys margin province (Brazil and the Arabo-African domain), located between palaeolatitudes 20°N-20°S and developping into intertropical environments, is dominated by mosasaurid squamates and bothremydid chelonians; it is characterized by the mosasaurid association of Globidens phosphaticus as well as by Halisaurus arambourgi and Platecarpus (?) ptychodon (Arabo-African domain). These faunal differences are interpreted as revealing palaeoecological preferences probably linked to differences in palaeolatitudinal gradients and/or to palaeocurrents.On a palaeoecological point on view and concerning mosasaurids, the mosasaurines (Prognathodon, Mosasaurus, Globidens and Carinodens) prevail on both margins but with different species. The ichthyophageous plioplatecarpines Plioplatecarpus (Northern margin) and Platecarpus (?) ptychodon (Southern margin) characterise respectively each margin. The halisaurine Halisaurus is present on both margins but with different species. Of importance, the tylosaurines remain currently unknown on the southern Tethys margin and are restricted to higher palaeolatitudes. Chelonians (bothremydids and chelonioids) are respective of each margin, which probably indicates lower dispersal capabilities compared to mosasaurids. The relative scarcity of plesiosaurs and crocodyliformes could be linked to different ecological preferences. The noteworthy crocodyliforme diversity increase in the Palaeogene is probably linked to mosasaurid extinction during the biological crisis of the K/Pg boundary.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

6

Fernández, Marta S., and Zulma Gasparini. "Campanian and Maastrichtian mosasaurs from Antarctic Peninsula and Patagonia, Argentina." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 2 (2012): 93–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.2.93.

Full text

Abstract:

Abstract Mosasaurs from Antarctica have been recovered from the late Campanian and early and late Maastrichtian in James Ross, Vega and Seymour Islands within the James Ross basin. Tylosaurinae are represented by the late Campanian-early Maastrichtian remains of Taniwhasaurus antarcticus [Novas et al., 2002] and by late Maastrichtian Tylosaurinae indet.; Plioplatecarpinae by late Maastrichtian Plioplatecarpus sp.; and Mosasaurinae by late Maastrichtian “Liodon” sp., Mosasaurus sp. and Mosasaurinae indet. Materials from Cape Lamb, recently identified in the Museo de La Plata collection (Argentina), suggest that the stratigraphic range of Plioplatecarpus and “Liodon” within the James Ross basin extends back to the early Maastrichtian. At present, the holotype of T. antarcticus is the most complete specimen exhumed from Antarctica. In northern Patagonia, mosasaurs have been recovered from the late Maastrichtian of the Jagüel Formation, Neuquén basin. Patagonian mosasaurs are represented by Mosasaurus sp. aff. M. hoffmanni, Plioplatecarpus sp., Prognathodon sp., and Mosasaurinae indet. Presently, no Tylosaurinae have been found in Patagonia. Both in the James Ross and Neuquén basins, Mosasaurus sp. and Plioplatecarpus sp. occurred close to the K/Pg. boundary.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

7

Grigoriev, D. V. "Giant Mosasaurus hoffmanni (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Penza, Russia." Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS 318, no. 2 (June 25, 2014): 148–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2014.318.2.148.

Full text

Abstract:

This study provides a morphological description of the fragmentary skull of a mosasaur discovered in 1927 in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) deposits in the city of Penza (Russia). Some bones from the original material had been lost since their discovery; their description is based on plaster casts. The Penza mosasaur displays characteristic features of Mosasaurus hoffmanni such as the posterior carina that shifts from a somewhat lateral position in the anterior teeth to a posterior position further along the tooth row, a frontal with convex lateral margins, and a powerfully built dentary. This is the first unequivocal record of this taxon from Russia. M. hoffmanni from the Penza is one of the largest mosasaurs ever known with an overall length of the body about 17 m.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

8

Harrell, T. L., and A. Pérez-Huerta. "Habitat preference of mosasaurs indicated by rare earth element (REE) content of fossils from the Upper Cretaceous marine deposits of Alabama, New Jersey, and South Dakota (USA)." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw 94, no. 1 (October 20, 2014): 145–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/njg.2014.29.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractKnowledge of habitat segregation of mosasaurs has been based on lithology and faunal assemblages associated with fossil remains of mosasaurs and stable isotopes (δ13C). These approaches have sometimes provided equivocal or insufficient information and, therefore, the preference of habitat by different mosasaur taxa is still suboptimally constrained. The present study is focused on the analysis of rare earth element (REE) ratios of mosasaur fossils from the Upper Cretaceous formations of western Alabama, USA. Results of the REE analysis are used to infer the relative paleobathymetry associated with the mosasaur specimens and then to determine if certain taxonomic groups showed a preference for a particular water depth. Comparisons are then made with mosasaur specimens reported in the literature from other regions of North America from different depositional environments. Results indicate that Mosasaurus, Platecarpus and Plioplatecarpus may have preferred more restricted habitats based on water depth whereas Tylosaurus and Clidastes favoured a wider range of environments. Results also suggest that Plioplatecarpus lived in a shallower environment than its Platecarpus predecessor. Although the results of this study are encouraging, caution must be exercised before drawing any final conclusions due to the small sample size of most of the taxa analysed.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

9

Gallagher, William B., Kenneth G. Miller, Robert M. Sherrell, James V. Browning, M. Paul Field, Richard K. Olsson, Peter J. Sugarman, Steven Tuorto, and Hendra Wahyudi. "On the last mosasaurs: Late Maastrichtian mosasaurs and the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in New Jersey." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 2 (2012): 145–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.2.145.

Full text

Abstract:

Abstract New data regarding the placement of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary in New Jersey is presented based on a recent campaign of drill coring boundary sections in the Atlantic coastal plain of southern New Jersey. The occurrence of late Maastrichtian mosasaurs worldwide and in New Jersey is reviewed in light of the continuing controversy over the rate and cause of the extinction at the K/Pg boundary. At the Meirs Farm site in Monmouth County, NJ, the biostratigraphic position of mosasaur specimens (Halisaurus platyspondylus, Mosasaurus hoffmann) is related to the occurrence of an iridium excursion of 0.5 ppb (5x background levels) in the basal Hornerstown Formation just above the upper Maastrichtian New Egypt Formation. Other specimens in museum collections obtained during the acme of nineteenth century marl mining are from this area of the Maastrichtian outcrop belt in New Jersey. It is concluded that late Maastrichtian mosasaurs show no diminution of their biogeographic ranges and are not particularly rare in New Jersey in comparison to older mosasaur faunas. Mosasaurs became extinct in association with the collapse of the marine food web at the K/Pg boundary, and were replaced as apical marine predators in the early Danian by a variety of crocodilians.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

10

Harrell, T. L., and J. E. Martin. "A mosasaur from the Maastrichtian Fox Hills Formation of the northern Western Interior Seaway of the United States and the synonymy of Mosasaurus maximus with Mosasaurus hoffmanni (Reptilia: Mosasauridae)." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw 94, no. 1 (September 30, 2014): 23–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/njg.2014.27.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractWe report here a large mosasaur skull, preserved three-dimensionally in a concretion recovered from Ziebach County, South Dakota, USA. This fossil represents the first articulated mosasaur skull from the Trail City Member of the Fox Hills Formation and the first definitive occurrence of Mosasaurus hoffmanni Mantell, 1829 from that area and the northernmost occurrence in the Western Interior Seaway, greatly extending the paleobiogeographic range of this taxon. The age of this specimen is determined to be between 68.3 and 67.6 Ma based on the associated invertebrate fauna. Although previous authors have suggested synonomy of the North American Mosasaurus maximus Cope, 1869 and the European M. hoffmanni, this is the most comprehensive analysis to date and is based on comparisons with Mosasaurus specimens recovered across the Northern Hemisphere, allowing an emended diagnosis of the species M. hoffmanni. Minor differences are considered individual variation or to reflect ontogenetic stage, including slender dentaries in some individuals, range of development of the C-shaped notch of the coronoid and differences in the shape of the supratemporal fenestra.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

11

Rothschild, B. M., and L. D. Martin. "Mosasaur ascending: the phytogeny of bends." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 341–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021120.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractRecognition of decompression syndrome-related pathology (in the form of avascular necrosis) reveals diving behaviour in mosasaurs. Macroscopic and radiologic examination was performed to identify linear bone death characteristic of avascular necrosis in vertebrae from the major North American and European collections. This survey of mosasaurs extends throughout most of their geographic and stratigraphic range and includes examples across their diversity.Avascular necrosis was invariably present in Platecarpus coryphaeus and P. ictericus, Tylosaurus proriger, Mosasaurus lemonnieri and M. conodon, Plioplatecarpus houzeaui and Pl. primaevus, Prognathodon giganteus, Hainosaurus bernardi and an as yet unnamed Antarctic mosasaur. The frequency of occurrence in a given genus was independent of geography, present equally in European and North American and in the Niobara and Selma chalks. It was invariably absent from Clidastes propython and C. liodontus, Ectenosaurus, Halisaurus and Kolposaurus.The bone pathology, avascular necrosis, has a characteristic distribution in seven genera and thirteen species of mosasaurs and is absent in five genera and seven species. It segregated according to diving habits, uniformly present in supposed deep divers and uniformly absent in the shallow-habitat group.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

12

Gallagher, W. B. "Greensand mosasaurs of New Jersey and the Cretaceous–Paleogene transition of marine vertebrates." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw 94, no. 1 (November 14, 2014): 87–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/njg.2014.30.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractHistorical records of mosasaur discoveries in the Hornerstown Formation of the Atlantic Coastal Plain of New Jersey (USA) are reviewed in the light of recent geochemical and biostratigraphic investigations. The highest (i.e. youngest) mosasaur remains are from the basal Hornerstown Formation fossil assemblage, a widespread concentration of vertebrate and invertebrate remains that coincides with an iridium excursion and the micropalaeontological K/Pg boundary. Most of the mosasaur specimens from this horizon are single elements, but at least one specimen from the Hornerstown Formation, YPM 773, is a multi-element specimen, a skull with vertebrae. This specimen is a very large individual of Mosasaurus hoffmanni from the West Jersey Marl Company works at Barnsboro, New Jersey. It represents the stratigraphically highest multi-element articulated specimen in the K/Pg section here. In and above the basal Hornerstown, the fauna is dominated by crocodylians, lamnid sharks and chelonians. The extinction of mosasaurs created a vacant ecological niche at the top of the marine food web, and a trophic cascade of smaller predators ensued. Later in the Neogene the appearance of Elvis taxa archaeocetes such as Basilosaurus converged on mosasaur body shape.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

13

Bardet, Nathalie. "The Mosasaur collections of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle of Paris." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 1 (January 1, 2012): 35–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.1.35.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractTaking advantage of the venue in Paris of the Third Mosasaur Meeting (May 2010), the mosasaur collections of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) have been entirely checked and revised. The French holotypes have all been restored and most specimens kept at the MNHN have been placed in the Paleontology Gallery as part as a small exhibition organized especially for the meeting. The MNHN mosasaur collections include specimens from the 18th, 19th and 20th century from France, The Netherlands, Belgium, the United States of America, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Niger. Most of the mosasaur specimens discovered in France – including most holotypes – are kept in Paris. Besides the French types, the MNHN collections include several important historical specimens from abroad, the most famous being undoubtedly the Cuvier’s ‘Grand Animal Fossile des Carrières de Maestricht’, type specimen of Mosasaurus hoffmanniMantell, 1829, recognized as the first mosasaur to be named. This work aims to briefly present most of these specimens, with special focus on those found in France. The MNHN mosasaurid collections as a whole reflects the development of palaeontological researches in this Institution, from its foundation at the end of the 18th century up to the present time.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

14

Ikejiri, T., and S. G. Lucas. "Osteology and taxonomy of Mosasaurus conodon Cope 1881 from the Late Cretaceous of North America." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw 94, no. 1 (October 29, 2014): 39–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/njg.2014.28.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractTwo well-preserved skeletons of Mosasaurus conodon Cope 1881 (Squamata, Mosasaurinae) from the Pierre Shale (late Campanian) of Colorado and the Bearpaw Shale (Late Campanian to Early Maastrichtian) of Montana are described. The two specimens are important because they provide new osteological information, especially on the skull (including jaws with teeth) and forelimbs, whereas those elements are largely missing in the holotype (AMNH 1380) of M. conodon. Morphological comparisons of the holotype with the two new specimens allow us to emend the diagnosis of the species in the genus Mosasaurus, primarily using tooth and forelimb morphologies. Teeth of M. conodon are unique in their combination of having a slender, gently recurved overall shape (similar to Clidastes) with no serration on the developed carinae (less developed in Clidastes). The tooth count of M. conodon tends to be low (14–15 in the maxilla, 16 in the dentary and eight in the pterygoid, respectively) when compared to other species, such as Mosasaurus lemonnieri, Mosasaurus missouriensis and Mosasaurus hoffmanni–Mosasaurus maximus. The forelimb is short in the species, characterised by a much lower number of the manual digital formula, 4(+1?)–4(+2?)–4(+1?)–4(+1)–2 than other species of Mosasaurus. The forelimb bones are generally robust, especially the box-shaped humerus (width-to-length ratio 3/2). A variety of new morphological data support the conclusions that (1) M. conodon is a nominal species, (2) the European species M. lemonnieri is not a junior synonym and (3) one of the most complete skeletons of Mosasaurus from South Dakota (SDSM 452) is not assigned to M. conodon (but is likely to be Mosasaurus sp.). To date, M. conodon occurs only in North America during the late Campanian to early Maastrichtian.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

15

Buchy, M. C., K. T. Smith, E. Frey, W. Stinnesbeck, A. H. González González, C. Ifrim, J. G. López-Oliva, and H. Porras-Muzquiz. "Annotated catalogue of marine squamates (Reptilia) from the Upper Cretaceous of northeastern Mexico." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 195–205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600020977.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractRecent work in the Upper Cretaceous of northeastern Mexico has produced a diversity of vertebrate remains. For specimens referable to Squamata, both old and new, an annotated catalogue is here provided, wherein are summarised the geological context and morphological features of each specimen. All specimens appear to represent marine squamates, including an aigialosaur-like reptile preserving integumentary structures, several vertebrae possibly representing mosasauroids, the first Mexican mosasaur known from significant cranial material, an isolated mosasaur mandibular fragment, and the holotype of Amphekepubis johnsoni (considered to belong to Mosasaurus). These discoveries are auspicious and should deepen our understanding of palaeobiogeographic and evolutionary patterns

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

16

Bardet, Nathalie, Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, J. Carmelo Corral, Juan Ignacio Baceta, José Ángel Torres, Benjamín Botantz, and Gorka Martin. "A skull fragment of the mosasaurid Prognathodon cf. sectorius from the Late Cretaceous of Navarre (Basque-Cantabrian Region)." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 2 (2012): 117–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.2.117.

Full text

Abstract:

Abstract In recent years, the discovery of isolated teeth from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) of the Basque-Cantabrian Region, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, has permitted to recognise at least four different mosasaurid taxa in several sites of Alava and Condado de Treviño: Mosasaurus lemonnieri, Prognathodon solvayi, Platecarpus cf. ictericus and Tylosaurus sp. A new specimen, which consists of a fragment of skull with articulated portions of the maxilla and prefrontal, from the Campanian of Navarre is described here. This material is assigned to Prognathodon cf. sectorius on the basis of dental features. It constitutes the only cranial remain and the most significant mosasaurid fragment known to date in the Iberian Peninula. P. sectorius was previously recorded from the Maastrichtian of New-Jersey and The Netherlands.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

17

Schulp, A. S., M. J. Polcyn, O. Mateus, and L. L. Jacobs. "Two rare mosasaurs from the Maastrichtian of Angola and the Netherlands." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw 92, no. 1 (April 2013): 3–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s001677460000024x.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractWe report here the addition of two rare mosasaur taxa to the Maastrichtian marine amniote fauna of Angola, both of which are also found in northern Europe. The new specimens include a dentary fragment referable to the large carnivore Prognathodon cf. saturator and an isolated tooth of the small durophage Carinodens belgicus. Both were recovered from Maastrichtian outcrops in southern Angola in 2011. Additionally, a complete posterior mandibular unit of a large mosasaur from the type Maastrichtian of the Netherlands, collected some time prior to 1879 and previously identified as ‘Mosasaurus giganteus’, is described and reassigned here to Prognathodon saturator; historical issues surrounding the taxonomic attribution of this specimen are clarified. The new material extends the known geographic distribution of Prognathodon saturator and Carinodens belgicus.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

18

MULDER, E. W. A., and B. THEUNISSEN. "Hermann Schlegel's investigation of the Maastricht mosasaurs." Archives of Natural History 13, no. 1 (February 1986): 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.1986.13.1.1.

Full text

Abstract:

SUMMARY In 1852, Hermann Schlegel (1804–1884), as a correspondent of the ’Committee for the Geological Map and Description of the Netherlands’, was charged with the description of the fossil reptiles Mosasaurus and Allopleuron (Testudinata). However, as a consequence of the premature dissolution of the Geological Committee in 1855, Schlegel never completed his task. He only published a preliminary note on his investigations, which is extensively discussed in this paper. Schlegel turns out to have been the first to prove, by means of anatomical arguments, that Mosasaurus had flipper–like limbs. Furthermore, several recently discovered drawings shed new light on Schlegel's claim that some of the fossils of Mosasaurus in the famous Camper collection had been falsified.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

19

Jagt, John, Neda Motchurova-Dekova, Plamen Ivanov, Henri Cappetta, and Anne Schulp. "Latest Cretaceous mosasaurs and lamniform sharks from Labirinta cave, Vratsa District (northwest Bulgaria): A preliminary note." Annales g?ologiques de la Peninsule balkanique, no. 67 (2006): 51–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/gabp0667051j.

Full text

Abstract:

Preliminary descriptions are given of selected specimens from an assemblage of >65 isolated vertebrate remains, collected in 1985 at the Labirinta cave situated between the villages of Drashan and Breste, east of Cherven Briag (Vratsa district, northwest Bulgaria), from strata of late Maastrichtian age (Kajl?ka Formation). Recorded are a fragmentary lower jaw of a mosasaurine squamate, Mosasaurus cf. hoffmanni (MANTELL, 1829), with two teeth preserved in situ, as well as two isolated teeth of lamniform sharks, assigned to Squalicorax pristodontus (AGASSIZ, 1843) and Anomotodon sp. Other vertebrate remains in this assemblage include rather poorly preserved fragments of skull and appendicular skeleton of mosasaurs, but it cannot be ruled out that other vertebrate groups (elasmosaurid plesiosaurs) are represented as well. To establish this, the additional material needs to be studied in detail and compared with existing collections; it will be described in full at a later date. A partial phragmocone of a scaphitid ammonite, found associated, is here assigned to Hoploscaphites constrictus (J. SOWERBY, 1817) and briefly described as well. This record dates the Labirinta cave sequence as Maastrichtian, as does the echinoid Hemipneustes striatoradiatus (LESKE 1778); tooth morphology of Squalicorax pristodontus and a find of the pachydiscid ammonite Anapachydiscus (Menuites) cf. terminus WARD and KENNEDY 1993 from correlative strata nearby narrow this down to late, or even latest Maastrichtian. Finally, some remarks on mosasaur and plesiosaur distribution during the Campanian-Maastrichtian across Europe are added.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

20

Cornelissen, Dirk, Louis Verding, Anne S. Schulp, and John W. M. Jagt. "The mosasaurs (Squamata, Mosasauridae) of the Garcet Collection." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 1 (January 1, 2012): 67–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.1.67.

Full text

Abstract:

Abstract Robert Garcet (April 12, 1912 – December 26, 2001) amassed a remarkable collection of mosasaur fossils from upper Maastrichtian strata in the Eben Emael-Lava area (Liège, Belgium), just south of the type section of the Maastrichtian Stage at the St Pietersberg (Maastricht, the Netherlands). His small-scale, non-mechanised quarrying activities permitted the recovery of numerous articulated vertebrate fossils. Garcet’s quarries were situated at a deeper level than most of the current, large-scale excavations in the area. This explains why material of Mosasaurus hoffmanni contained in his collections enables an extension of the known range of that species on the basis of articulated, unequivocally identified specimens, to comprise the last c. 2,3 m.y. of the Cretaceous.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

21

STREET, HALLIE P., and MICHAEL W. CALDWELL. "Rediagnosis and redescription of Mosasaurus hoffmannii (Squamata: Mosasauridae) and an assessment of species assigned to the genus Mosasaurus." Geological Magazine 154, no. 3 (May 13, 2016): 521–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756816000236.

Full text

Abstract:

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.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

22

Hornung, J. J., and M. Reich. "Tylosaurine mosasaurs (Squamata) from the Late Cretaceous of northern Germany." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw 94, no. 1 (November 24, 2014): 55–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/njg.2014.31.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractTwo genera of tylosaurine mosasaurs, Tylosaurus and Hainosaurus, are recorded for the first time from Germany. Tylosaurus sp. is represented by two isolated tooth crowns, originally described as Mosasaurus? alseni (here considered a nomen dubium) from the latest Santonian–Early Campanian, which are very similar to T. ivoensis and T. gaudryi. The material of Hainosaurus sp. comprises a maxillary with associated postorbitofrontal, two pterygoid teeth and several indeterminate cranial fragments. The specimen from the Late Campanian is slightly less derived than H. bernardi from the Maastrichtian in retaining labiolingually less compressed anterior maxillary teeth and unserrated pterygoid teeth with only very weak carinae. Despite only minor skeletal differences, the genus Hainosaurus is considered to be distinct from Tylosaurus because of its significant modification of the dental apparatus compared to the plesiomorphic condition in the latter. This dental morphology suggests a phylogenetic trend from a generalised-piercing marginal dentition in Tylosaurus towards the increasingly labiolingually compressed, symmetrical, strongly bicarinate cutting marginal teeth in Hainosaurus spp. from the Early through Late Campanian and Maastrichtian. A similar trend is also present in pterygoid teeth with very indistinct unserrated carinae in the Campanian Hainosaurus sp. towards serrated ones in the Maastrichtian H. bernardi. A short review indicates the presence of Hainosaurus in northern, central and western Europe (Sweden to Spain) since the Early Campanian, and the occurrence of Tylosaurus spp. in the same area until the Late Campanian. Hainosaurus persisted until the end of the Maastrichtian; outside Europe it may have been present in the Late Campanian of the USA and the Maastrichtian of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Judging from a simple, uni- to bicarinate, stoutly conical tooth morphology in aigialosaurs and very basal mosasaurs as well as phylogenetic patterns, the development of blade-like cutting tooth crowns appears to have been convergent in several clades of large-bodied Campanian–Maastrichtian mosasaurids. These include both mosasaurines ('Leiodon' mosasauroides, Prognathodon? sectorius, Prognathodon? kianda, Eremiasaurus heterodontus) and tylosaurines (Hainosaurus spp.).

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

23

Brahic, Catherine. "A mosasaurus breathed into your stove." New Scientist 228, no. 3047 (November 2015): 32–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0262-4079(15)31610-9.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

24

Giltaij, Tom J., van der Lubbe Jeroen, Bent Lindow, Anne S. Schulp, and John W. M. Jagt. "Carbon isotope trends in north-west European mosasaurs (Squamata; Late Cretaceous)." Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark 69 (May 31, 2021): 59–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.37570/bgsd-2021-69-04.

Full text

Abstract:

The carbon stable isotope composition (δ13C) of tooth enamel in mosasaurid squa-mates reflects aspects of their diet and diving behaviour. Here we present new δ13C data for such marine squamates from the Maastrichtian of Denmark and compare these with results obtained in previous studies from the lower-latitude type area of the Maastrichtian Stage (latest Cretaceous; 72.1–66.0 Ma) in the south-east Nether-lands and north-east Belgium. For the Danish samples, there is a weak correlation between mosasaur body size and δ13C values, with larger-sized taxa having lower δ13C values, comparable to what has previously been observed for mosasaurs from the Maastrichtian type area.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

25

Chinsamy, Anusuya, Cemal Tunoǧlu, and Daniel B. Thomas. "Dental microstructure and geochemistry of Mosasaurus hoffmanni (Squamata: Mosasauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Turkey." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 2 (2012): 85–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.2.85.

Full text

Abstract:

Abstract Mosasaurus hoffmanni from Devrekani, Turkey is among the geologically youngest of the ancient aquatic predators. In addition, M. hoffmanni is the only Mesozoic vertebrate reported from Turkey, and has proven useful in the understanding of paleogeographic segregation within Mosasauridae. Here we provide an analysis of the histology and geochemistry of a functional maxillary tooth of this Turkish mosasaur. Dental histology included descriptions of lines of von Ebner and contour lines of Owen in dentine, as well as microstructural details pertaining to the enamel structure. Considering the spacing of the lines of von Ebner, the odontoblast deposition of the dentine (at the level of sectioning of the crown) was estimated to have taken approximately 511 days. A replacement tooth was fortuitously discovered upon sectioning the functional tooth, and given the thickness of the dentine visible, it is estimated that it took 233 days to deposit the centripetal layer of dentine. Energy dispersive spectroscopy, x-ray diffractometry, fusion disc x-ray fluorescence and Sr isotope measurements suggested that the tooth had undergone heterogeneous diagenetic alteration. Despite signs of alteration, the anatomy and chemistry of the M. hoffmanni teeth provided significant paleobiological and paleo-environmental insight.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

26

Lindgren, Johan, and Mikael Siverson. "Tylosaurus ivoensis: a giant mosasaur from the early Campanian of Sweden." Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 93, no. 1 (March 2002): 73–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s026359330000033x.

Full text

Abstract:

ABSTRACTThe nominal species Mosasaurus ivoensis from the latest early Campanian of the Kristianstad Basin in southern Sweden, is redescribed and assigned to the tylosaurine genus Tylosaurus on the basis of its dental and vertebral morphology. A partial skeleton (KUVP 1024) from the late Coniacian to earliest Campanian Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation in western Kansas, USA, was previously referred to “M”. ivoensis. Nevertheless, its marginal teeth are markedly different, both in size and morphology, from those of topotypic T. ivoensis.Examination of type specimens and topotypic material of the nominal tylosaurines Hainosaurus pembinensis from the late early Campanian of Manitoba, Canada, H. gaudryi from the late Santonian or early Campanian of northwestern France, and H. lonzeensis from the Coniacian or Santonian of Belgium, indicates that all three may be Tylosaurus.The utility of isolated tooth-crowns in mosasaur taxonomy has been hampered by the often poor quality of the published illustrations of these fossils in combination with poor stratigraphic control. All Swedish remains of T. ivoensis, including 172 marginal teeth, 6 pterygoid teeth, several jawbone fragments and 12 vertebrae, were collected from a narrow stratigraphic interval corresponding to the highest biozone in the German eight-fold division of the early Campanian, providing the first good insight into the intraspecific dental variation in a tylosaurine mosasaur.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

27

LI, HOUHUN. "Notes on Coleophora (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae) injurious to Lycium (Solanaceae), with descriptions of two new species from China." Zootaxa 1184, no. 1 (April 24, 2006): 57. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1184.1.4.

Full text

Abstract:

This paper treats three species of Coleophora injurious to Lycium barbarum Linnaeus (Solanaceae) in China. Coleophora ningxiana n. sp. and Coleophora neolycii n. sp. are described as new, and Coleophora mosasaurus (Falkovitsh) is reported for the first time from China. A checklist and key to Coleophora injurious to Lycium on a worldwide basis are provided. Descriptions and illustrations of the Chinese species are given.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

28

Caldwell, Michael W. "A challenge to categories: “What, if anything, is a mosasaur?”." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 1 (January 1, 2012): 7–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.1.7.

Full text

Abstract:

Abstract The concept of “mosasaur” is explored from the perspective of its historical origins, and tested empirically and phylogenetically in order to examine the concept in its modern application. Historical analysis of the origins of the concept of “mosasaur” makes it clear that the term bears significant historical burden (comparative anatomic, empirical, phylogenetic, paleontological, etc.). In order to address the flaws in the concept of mosasaur properly, this treatise critically assesses Camp’s [1923] diagnostic characters for Anguimorpha, Platynota, Varanoidea, and Mosasauroidea, concluding that Camp’s data permit mosasaurs to be viewed only as anguimorphans, not platynotans nor varanoids. A similar critical assessment is given for the characters used to diagnose anguimorphans and varanoids in Estes et al. [1988], concluding here that not a single character out of twenty-two is shared between varanoids and mosasaurs. The character concept developed by Romer [1956] for the “posteriorly retracted nares” of varanoids, and then later mosasaurs, is critically examined and found to be insufficient as a test of similarity of the intended primary homologs. The recent work of Rieppel et al. [2007], Conrad [2008] and Conrad et al. [2010] is critically reviewed as these authors revive the use, and subdivision, of the “posteriorly retracted nares” as a character in anguimorph phylogenetic analysis. Based on these criticisms, it is concluded here that there is no character-based evidence to support phylogenetic hypotheses that mosasaurs are derived aquatic varanoid lizards. A key recommendation of this treatise is that the hypothesis conceiving of mosasaurs as derived aquatic varanoids be abandoned. The final critical review presented in this treatise examines the taxonomic implications, relating to the concept of “mosasaur”, arising from the hypothesis of convergent paddle-like limb evolution in mosasaurs as presented by Bell and Polcyn [2005]. In conclusion, it is recognized that the concept and term “mosasaur” has ceased to exist in any biologically meaningful way, and that the future requires the construction of a new suite of terms and concepts to convey what we now think we know about these animals.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

29

Pieters, Florence F. J. M., Peggy G. W. Rompen, John W. M. Jagt, and Nathalie Bardet. "A new look at Faujas de Saint-Fond’s fantastic story on the provenance and acquisition of the type specimen of Mosasaurus hoffmanni Mantell, 1829." Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, no. 1 (January 1, 2012): 55–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.183.1.55.

Full text

Abstract:

Abstract Based on continued archive and literature research, the fantastic tale of the acquisition of what was to become the type specimen of Mosasaurus hoffmanni Mantell, 1829 –the first mosasaurid specimen to be named– told by the geologist B. Faujas de Saint-Fond (1741–1819) in his book Histoire naturelle de la Montagne Saint-Pierre de Maestricht issued in ten parts between 1798 and 1803, is retold and demystified. Significantly, Faujas ‘forgot’ to mention the real reason for his stay at Maastricht, namely his appointment as one of the four commissioners charged with inventory and confiscation of objects of science and art in the conquered countries. Faujas arrived at Maastricht about two months after the fortress had been taken by French troops on 4 November 1794, while the mosasaur skull was confiscated four days later; so that he never was a direct witness of the story he told. The decree issued by the Convention Nationale announcing the fossil’s destination to be the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN) in Paris was enacted on 12 November 1794. It appears that the representative of the people A.-L. de Frécine (1751–1804) was involved in the confiscation and withdrawal of the Grand animal de Maestricht from its legal owner, the clergyman Th. J. Godding (1722–1797). In a reclamation request (written c. 1815), his single heiress, R. Godding, stated that six soldiers appeared with a carriage to collect the ‘petrified crocodile’ by force of arms at Godding’s country house, acting under orders of Frécine. The definite proof of Faujas’s unreliability is given by his co-commissioner, the botanist A. Thouin (1747–1824). In Thouin’s memoirs, Faujas is depicted as a great liar and storyteller, fond of embellishing stories. Obviously, Faujas falsified the truth to disguise the fact that looting from a private person had occurred, which was unlawful, even in wartime. Faujas also used to make propaganda for the French army, which is typical of the spirit of those revolutionary years. Besides, he was rather inaccurate, his book containing a lot of mistakes that were easy to check. Finally, it seems that J. L. Hoffmann (1710–1782), a famous local fossil collector presented by Faujas as the legal owner of this particular skull specimen, never actually owned it. Here we summarise our previous findings and include a few additional ones, which lead to the conclusion that it must have been patriotism as well as his great fancy for story telling that induced Faujas to falsify the facts. In 2009, the famous war trophy temporarily returned to Maastricht, on loan from the MNHN to the Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht, within the framework of an exhibit during the international Darwin Year, entitled, Darwin, Cuvier et le Grand Animal de Maestricht. Of course, the mosasaur owes its great scientific value to G. Cuvier (1769–1832), who stated that, “above all, the precise determination of the famous animal from Maestricht seems to us as important for the theory of zoological laws, as for the history of the globe”. However, by embellishing the story, Faujas added a substantial supplementary cultural value to the fossil.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

30

Gallagher, W. B. "Recent mosasaur discoveries from New Jersey and Delaware, USA: stratigraphy, taphonomy and implications for mosasaur extinction." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 241–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021028.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractThe Upper Cretaceous deposits of New Jersey and Delaware produced the first mosasaur specimens collected in North America. Recent recovery of mosasaur specimens from streambank exposures and new excavation sites has increased our knowledge of the stratigraphic distribution of these animals in the northern Atlantic coastal plain. Reassessment of the source and age of mosasaur specimens from the Big Brook site and other localities in Monmouth County (NJ) has greatly increased the number of known Campanian mosasaur specimens from this region. Two main taphonomic occurrence modes are noted: 1 - single, worn and broken bones and isolated teeth in mixed faunal deposits probably accumulated due to current action in nearshore environments; 2 - partial skeletons, skulls and single bones in deeper-water settings were the aftermath of biological modification of carcasses and deadfalls. The mosasaurs of the New Egypt Formation represent some of the last (i.e., stratigraphically highest) mosasaur fossils in North America. Mosasaur extinction was due to the collapse of the rich Late Cretaceous marine food web at the K/T boundary. Subsequently in the early Paleocene, with the disappearance of the mosasaurs, crocodilians became the apical predators of the marine environment in this area.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

31

Madzia, Daniel. "Dental variability and distinguishability in Mosasaurus lemonnieri (Mosasauridae) from the Campanian and Maastrichtian of Belgium, and implications for taxonomic assessments of mosasaurid dentitions." Historical Biology 32, no. 10 (March 19, 2019): 1340–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2019.1588892.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

32

Jagt, John W. M., Mart J. M. Deckers, Magda De Leebeeck, Stephen K. Donovan, and Eric Nieuwenhuis. "Episkeletozoans and bioerosional ichnotaxa on isolated bones of Late Cretaceous mosasaurs and cheloniid turtles from the Maastricht area, the Netherlands." Geologos 26, no. 1 (April 1, 2020): 39–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/logos-2020-0003.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractIsolated bones of three taxa of marine reptiles (Mosasaurus hoffmannii Mantell, Plioplatecarpus marshi Dollo and Allopleuron hofmanni (Gray)) from various levels within the Maastricht Formation (upper Maastrichtian) at the former ENCI-HeidelbergCement Group quarry (Maastricht, the Netherlands) exhibit bioerosional traces and encrustation. Episkeletozoans include dimyid, ostreid and monopleurid bivalves, at least three species of cheilostome and cyclostome bryozoans and two adnate calcareous foraminifera. The bones show biting traces (Gnathichnus pentax Bromley, Linichnus cf. serratus Jacobsen & Bromley and Machichnus isp.), as well as borings. The latter may be referred to Karethraichnus lakkos Zonneveld, Bartels, Gunnell & McHugh, which is here considered to be a junior synonym of Gastrochaenolites isp.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

33

Caldwell, M. W., and G. L. Bell. "Of German princes and North American rivers: Harlan’s lost mosasaur snout rediscovered." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 207–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600020989.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractThe lost snout of Richard Harlan’s specimen of Mosasaurus missouriensis has been rediscovered in the vertebrate palaeontology collections of the Muséum national d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) in Paris, France. The specimen (MNHN 9587) bears the handwritten description, ‘Amérique du Nord. Par M. Harlan.’, which translated reads, ‘North America. By/From Mr. Harlan’. Accession information indicates the specimen was a gift to the museum prior to 1860 and was likely gifted from Harlan’s estate after his death. We examine the available history of the collection of the specimen present a description of the rediscovered snout, and demonstrate conclusively the conspecificity of M. maximiliani Goldfuss, 1845 and M. missouriensis (Harlan, 1834a) by providing a revised diagnosis of the taxon.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

34

Bardet, Nathalie, Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, Mohamed Iarochene, Fatima Bouyahyaoui, Baadi Bouya, and Mbarek Amaghzaz. "Mosasaurus beaugei Arambourg, 1952 (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco." Geobios 37, no. 3 (May 2004): 315–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2003.02.006.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

35

Longrich, Nicholas R., Nour-Eddine Jalil, Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola, and Nathalie Bardet. "Stelladens mysteriosus: A Strange New Mosasaurid (Squamata) from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Morocco." Fossils 1, no. 1 (May 17, 2023): 2–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fossils1010002.

Full text

Abstract:

Mosasaurids, a clade of specialized marine squamates, saw a major adaptive radiation in the Late Cretaceous, evolving a wide range of body sizes, shapes, and specialized tooth morphologies. The most diverse known mosasaurid faunas come from the late Maastrichtian phosphates of Morocco. Here, we report an unusual new mosasaurid, Stelladens mysteriosus, based on a partial jaw and associated tooth crowns from lower Couche III phosphatic deposits at Sidi Chennane, Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco. Stelladens is characterized by short, triangular tooth crowns with a series of strong, elaborate, and serrated ridges on the lingual surface of the tooth, functioning as accessory carinae. Morphology of the teeth and associated jaw fragment suggest affinities with Mosasaurinae. No close analogues to the unique tooth morphology of Stelladens are known, either extant or extinct. It may have had an unusual and highly specialized diet, a specialized prey-capture strategy, or both. The diversity of mosasaurid teeth is much higher than that of plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, or extant marine mammals, and likely reflects both the ecological diversity of mosasaurids and complex developmental mechanisms responsible for tooth formation in mosasaurines. Mosasaurid diversity continued to increase up to the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

36

Schulp, A. S. "Feeding the Mechanical Mosasaur: what did Carinodens eat?" Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 345–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021132.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractCarinodens is among the smallest known mosasaurs, and one of the most elusive at that. This enigmatic taxon is known from only two dentary fragments and just over a dozen of isolated teeth. Based on this material, an attempt is made to improve our understanding of the dietary habits of this mosasaur, by comparing tooth and jaw morphology to extant analogues, and by testing a biomechanical model with ‘feeding’ experiments using an artificial mosasaur jaw equipped with a force gauge. Carinodens appears to have been a durophagous mosasaur, capable of crushing small molluscs and arthropods, although its dietary habits may not necessarily have been limited to hard-shelled food.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

37

Dortangs, Rudi W., Anne S. Schulp, Eric W. A. Mulder, John W. M. Jagt, Hans H. G. Peeters, and Douwe Th de Graaf. "A large new mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous of The Netherlands." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw 81, no. 1 (March 2002): 1–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600020515.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractWe report the discovery of a new species of marine reptile, a mosasaur, from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of The Netherlands. Prognathodon saturator sp. nov. is represented by an almost complete skull and much of the postcranial skeleton, and is one of the largest mosasaurs discovered to date. The stout skull and extremely massive jaws are more powerfully built than in any other known mosasaur. Bite marks, the partial disarticulation and scattering of the skeleton, and the presence of associated teeth of Squalicorax and Plicatoscyllium suggest extensive scavenging by sharks.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

38

El-Kheir, Gebely A. Abu, Ahmed A. Shaker, Hallie P. Street, Nicholas R. Longrich, Amin Strougo, Anhar Asan, and Mohamed AbdelGawad. "A Prognathodontin Mosasaur from the Maastrichtian of the Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt." Fossils 1, no. 1 (November 9, 2023): 60–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fossils1010007.

Full text

Abstract:

Mosasaurs were diverse in the Upper Cretaceous in Africa, but relatively little is known about the mosasaur fauna of Egypt. Here, associated teeth and postcranial skeletal elements are reported for a mosasaur from the Maastrichtian Dakhla Shale of the Dakhla Oasis. The specimen includes tooth crowns, cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, and ribs. Teeth and bones exhibit features allowing referral to Prognathodontini. The teeth are relatively straight and blunt, suggesting affinities with Prognathodon overtoni or P. currii. Prognathodontins were important predators in the Maastrichtian of Africa, previously being recorded in Morocco, Congo, and Angola.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

39

Polcyn, M. J., and G. L. Bell. "Russellosaurus coheni n. gen., n. sp., a 92 million-year-old mosasaur from Texas (USA), and the definition of the parafamily Russellosaurina." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 321–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021107.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractA new mosasaur, Russellosaurus coheni, is described from the Collignoniceras woollgari Zone (lower Middle Turonian) at Cedar Hill, Dallas County, Texas. At approximately 92 Ma, it is the oldest well-preserved mosasaur skull from North America. It possesses characters diagnostic of Plioplatecarpinae but retains numerous plesiomorphies as well. Phylogenetic analysis indicates a close relationship with Yaguarasaurus columbianus, and these two, together with Tethysaurus nopcsai, form a clade that occupies a position basal to the divergence of the subfamilies Tylosaurinae and Plioplatecarpinae. Russellosaurus coheni is proposed as the nominal taxon of a new mosasaur clade, parafamily taxon novum Russellosaurina, which includes Plioplatecarpinae, Tylosaurinae, their common ancestor and all descendants. Tethysaurus retains a plesiopedal limb and girdle morphology, and along with Russellosaurus and Yaguarasaurus, cranial plesiomorphies. Dallasaurus turneri, a temporally and geographically sympatric plesiopedal mosasaur, occupies a basal position within Mosasaurinae. This phyletic arrangement confirms that marine adaptations, such as development of paddle-like limbs, occurred independently in at least two lineages of mosasaurs, once within Mosasaurinae and once within Russellosaurina.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

40

Schulp, A. S., E. W. A. Mulder, and K. Schwenk. "Did mosasaurs have forked tongues?" Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 359–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021144.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractEver since the first mosasaur restorations were published, these extinct marine reptiles have been pictured with either notched, forked or undivided tongues. Here, we present an overview of existing iconography, a review of the previous literature, and we discuss how best to reconstruct tongue form in mosasaurs. Despite disagreement about their precise phylogenetic position, most authors consider mosasaurs members of the Varanoidea, derived anguimorphans including Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Lanthanotus and probably snakes. All anguimorphans share a diploglossan (two-part) tongue, in which the foretongue is derived and modified into a highly protrusible chemosensor, while the hindtongue is plesiomorphic, retaining well-developed papillae, mucocytes and robust posterior lobes. We suggest that mosasaurs had a diploglossan tongue that remained in a relatively underived state. The form of the tongue would probably have been most like modern Heloderma or Lanthanotus with a protrusible chemosensory foretongue and a plesiomorphic, papillose hindtongue. Such a tongue is consistent with well-developed vomeronasal chemoreception through tongue-flicking, with the retention of the ancestral function of hyolingual food transport and swallowing following jaw-prehension of prey. The presence of paired fenestrae in the palate associated with the vomers, as well as the presence of pterygoid teeth are in accordance with such a tongue form in mosasaurs.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

41

Rothschild, B. M., L. D. Martin, and A. S. Schulp. "Sharks eating mosasaurs, dead or alive?" Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 335–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021119.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractShark bite marks on mosasaur bones abound in the fossil record. Here we review examples from Kansas (USA) and the Maastrichtian type area (SE Netherlands, NE Belgium), and discuss whether they represent scavenging and/or predation. Some bite marks are most likely the result of scavenging. On the other hand, evidence of healing and the presence of a shark tooth in an infected abscess confirm that sharks also actively hunted living mosasaurs.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

42

Diedrich, C., and E. W. A. Mulder. "A new record of Clidastes (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the Upper Campanian of the Münster Basin (NW Germany)." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en Mijnbouw 83, no. 1 (March 2004): 67–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600020473.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractFrom Upper Campanian turbiditic marls at Beckum in the Münster Basin (NW Germany) the anterior portion of a mosasaurid premaxilla with abutting fragments of the left and right maxilla is described and referred to the genus Clidastes. It shows the process of tooth replacement very well. This taxon is recorded for the first time from Germany. Clidastes co-existed in central Europe with other mosasaurids such as representatives of the genus Leiodon and Mosasauridae indet.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

43

Zietlow, Amelia R. "Craniofacial ontogeny in Tylosaurinae." PeerJ 8 (October 20, 2020): e10145. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10145.

Full text

Abstract:

Mosasaurs were large, globally distributed aquatic lizards that lived during the Late Cretaceous. Despite numerous specimens of varying maturity, a detailed growth series has not been proposed for any mosasaur taxon. Two taxa—Tylosaurus proriger and T. kansasensis/nepaeolicus—have robust fossil records with specimens spanning a wide range of sizes and are thus ideal for studying mosasaur ontogeny. Tylosaurus is a genus of particularly large mosasaurs with long, edentulous anterior extensions of the premaxilla and dentary that lived in Europe and North America during the Late Cretaceous. An analysis of growth in Tylosaurus provides an opportunity to test hypotheses of the synonymy of T. kansasensis with T. nepaeolicus, sexual dimorphism, anagenesis, and heterochrony. Fifty-nine hypothetical growth characters were identified, including size-dependent, size-independent, and phylogenetic characters, and quantitative cladistic analysis was used to recover growth series for the two taxa. The results supported the synonymy of T. kansasensis with T. nepaeolicus and that T. kansasensis represent juveniles of T. nepaeolicus. A Spearman rank-order correlation test resulted in a significant correlation between two measures of size (total skull length and quadrate height) and maturity. Eleven growth changes were shared across both species, neither of the ontogram topologies showed evidence of skeletal sexual dimorphism, and a previous hypothesis of paedomorphy in T. proriger was not rejected. Finally, a novel hypothesis of anagenesis in Western Interior Seaway Tylosaurus species, driven by peramorphy, is proposed here.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

44

Kear, B. P., J. A. Long, and J. E. Martin. "A review of Australian mosasaur occurrences." Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84, no. 3 (September 2005): 307–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021089.

Full text

Abstract:

AbstractMosasaurs are rare in Australia with fragmentary specimens known only from the Cenomanian-lower Turonian Molecap Greensand (Perth Basin), Campanian - lower Maastrichtian Korojon Calcarenite (Carnarvon Basin), and upper Maastrichtian Miria Formation (Carnarvon Basin), Western Australia. These units were laid down during a near-continuous marine inundation of the western margin of the Australian landmass (which followed separation from India in the Valanginian and genesis of the Indian Ocean) in the Early-Late Cretaceous. The Australian mosasaur record incorporates evidence of derived mosasaurids (mainly plioplatecarpines); however, as yet no specimen can be conclusively diagnosed to genus or species level. The fragmentary nature of the remains provides little basis for direct palaeobiogeographic comparisons. However, correlation with existing data on associated vertebrates, macroinvertebrates and microfossils suggests that the Western Australian mosasaur fauna might have been transitional in nature (particularly following palaeobiogeographic separation of the northern and southern Indian Oceans during the mid-Campanian), potentially sharing elements with both northern Tethyan and austral high-latitude regions.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

45

Bell, Gorden L., Kenneth R. Barnes, and Michael J. Polcyn. "Late Cretaceous mosasauroids (Reptilia, Squamata) of the Big Bend region in Texas, USA." Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 103, no. 3-4 (September 2012): 571–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1755691013000406.

Full text

Abstract:

ABSTRACTUpper Cretaceous marine rocks of the Big Bend Region of trans-Pecos Texas preserve a number of marine-adapted mosasauroids. At least three unnamed taxa of basal mosasauroids are represented by remains from shaly limestones in the middle Turonian portion of the Boquillas Formation. These occur along with remains of larger derived mosasaurs referable to Russellosaurina and an undescribed tylosaurine. Derived mosasaurs from the middle to late Coniacian include the first report of Tylosaurus kansasensis outside of Kansas, T. nepaeolicus, Platecarpus planifrons, and Platecarpus aff. P. planifrons. Clidastes liodontus is found in the latest Coniacian or early Santonian part of the Pen Formation. An undescribed species of Ectenosaurus, Clidastes sp. and an indeterminate plioplatecarpine occurs in the middle Santonian to early Campanian interval of the Pen Formation. The mosasaur fauna from the Big Bend region is quite similar to that from the Smoky Hill Chalk of Kansas, a thousand kilometres to the north. We refine the position of the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary within the Ernst Member of the Boquillas Formation, based on ammonite faunas. We also corroborate previous interpretations describing the time-transgressive nature of the onset of deposition of the Pen Formation based on a west-to-east descending level of the Inoceramus (Cremnoceramus) undulatoplicatus FAD.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

46

Stewart, Robert F., and Jordan Mallon. "Allometric growth in the skull of Tylosaurus proriger (Squamata: Mosasauridae) and its taxonomic implications." Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology 6 (July 23, 2018): 75–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.18435/vamp29339.

Full text

Abstract:

Ontogeny—the growth and development of an organism—is among the more poorly understood aspects of the life history of mosasaurs, largely owing to a dearth of fossil material from young individuals. We describe the partial and complete skulls of two subadult individuals of the mosasaurid Tylosaurus proriger from the upper Smoky Hills Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation in Kansas. We include the more complete of the two specimens in an allometric analysis to better understand proportional changes of the skull through growth. Although our small sample size produces several instances of ‘soft isometry’, we recover the length of the edentulous rostrum as significantly negatively allometric, and quadrate height as significantly positively allometric. In light of our findings, we go on to consider the question of whether T. kansasensis represents an immature ontogimorph of T. nepaeolicus, but find no convincing evidence that this is the case.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

47

Dutchak, Alex R., and Michael W. Caldwell. "Redescription of Aigialosaurus dalmaticus Kramberger, 1892, a Cenomanian mosasauroid lizard from Hvar Island, Croatia." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 43, no. 12 (December 1, 2006): 1821–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e06-086.

Full text

Abstract:

Redescription of the type and only specimen of Aigialosaurus dalmaticus (BSP 1902II501), an "aigialosaurian" squamate from the Cenomanian–Turonian of Hvar, Croatia, and, at the time of collection, the Italian island of Lesina, indicates that previous reviews of the specimen include erroneous anatomical interpretations. The type specimen presents a new and unique pelvic anatomy: the ilium of A. dalmaticus is an elongate element with well-developed anterior and posterior iliac processes. A scenario is presented for mosasaurid pelvic evolution, whereby the anteriorly elongate and dorsally directed ilium of mosasauroids is not derived from the forward rotation of the posterior iliac process, but rather the reduction of that process and the elaboration of the anterior iliac process. Recent phylogenetic analysis of Mosasauroidea finds A. dalmaticus to be the sistergroup to Opetiosaurus bucchichi and all other mosasaurids and "aigialosaurs." We examine the character state assignments for A. dalmaticus in that study and refute those assignments owing to the absence of preservation of all four characters states found to separate A. dalmaticus from O. bucchichi.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

48

Holmes, Robert B., and Hans-Dieter Sues. "A partial skeleton of the basal mosasaur Halisaurus platyspondylus from the Severn Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Maastrichtian) of Maryland." Journal of Paleontology 74, no. 2 (March 2000): 309–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022336000031516.

Full text

Abstract:

A new specimen of the basal mosasaur Halisaurus platyspondylus from the Severn Formation of Prince Georges County, Maryland (Upper Cretaceous: middle Maastrichtian) represents the most complete partial skeleton of this uncommon taxon to be described to date. The characteristic dorsoventral compression of the vertebral centrum is most pronounced in the anterior trunk vertebrae, and the centra of the posterior trunk vertebrae exhibit proportions more similar to those in other mosasaurs such as Plioplatecarpus. The postorbitofrontal forms its primary contact with the frontal rather than the parietal, and the supraoccipital is firmly attached to the ventral side of the parietal. The plane of articulation between the parietals and supratemporal is neither vertical (as in Varanidae) nor horizontal (as in Mosasauridae), but forms an angle of about 55 degrees with the horizontal. The quadrate bears a long, ventrally-flared suprastapedial process but appears to lack an infrastapedial process. Close similarities in the structure of the frontal and parietal with “Clidastes” sternbergii support referral of the latter to Halisaurus, but reference of Phosphorosaurus ortliebi to Halisaurus is questionable. Halisaurus has been recorded from the Santonian to the late Maastrichtian.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

49

Longrich, Nicholas R., Nathalie Bardet, Fatima Khaldoune, Oussama Khadiri Yazami, and Nour-Eddine Jalil. "Pluridens serpentis, a new mosasaurid (Mosasauridae: Halisaurinae) from the Maastrichtian of Morocco and implications for mosasaur diversity." Cretaceous Research 126 (October 2021): 104882. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104882.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

50

Palmer, Colin, and Mark T. Young. "Surface drag reduction and flow separation control in pelagic vertebrates, with implications for interpreting scale morphologies in fossil taxa." Royal Society Open Science 2, no. 1 (January 2015): 140163. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.140163.

Full text

Abstract:

Living in water imposes severe constraints on the evolution of the vertebrate body. As a result of these constraints, numerous extant and extinct aquatic vertebrate groups evolved convergent osteological and soft-tissue adaptations. However, one important suite of adaptations is still poorly understood: dermal cover morphologies and how they influence surface fluid dynamics. This is especially true for fossil aquatic vertebrates where the soft tissue of the dermis is rarely preserved. Recent studies have suggested that the keeled scales of mosasaurids (pelagic lizards that lived during the Late Cretaceous) aided in surface frictional drag reduction in a manner analogous to the riblets on shark placoid scales. However, here we demonstrate that mosasaurid scales were over an order of magnitude too large to have this effect. More likely they increased the frictional drag of the body and may have played a role in controlling flow separation by acting as surface roughness that turbulated the boundary layer. Such a role could have reduced pressure drag and enhanced manoeuvrability. We caution those studying fossil aquatic vertebrates from positing the presence of surface drag reducing morphologies, because as we show herein, to be effective such features need to have a spacing of approximately 0.1 mm or less.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Journal articles on the topic 'Mosasaurus'

Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles