A new species of polycotylid plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Turonian of Utah: Extending the stratigraphic range of Dolichorhynchops |
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| Institution: | 1. Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht, De Bosquetplein 6–7, 6211 KJ Maastricht, The Netherlands;2. Uniwersytet Opolski, Katedra Biosystematyki, Pracownia Paleobiologii, ul. Oleska 22, 45-052 Opole, Poland;3. Ooststraat 63, 2584 XC ''s Gravenhage, The Netherlands;1. The Geology Museum, 1215 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706, USA;2. Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, Moscow 117997, Russia;1. Laboratorio de Ontogenia y Filogenia, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Santiago, Chile;2. Área Paleontología, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Casilla 787, Santiago, Chile;3. Comisión de Patrimonio Natural, Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales, Vicuña Mackenna 84, Santiago, Chile;1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada;2. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada;1. División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, FCNyM, UNLP, CONICET, Av. 60 y 122, B1900AVW, La Plata, Argentina;2. Grupo vinculado al Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA). CONICET. Museo de Historia Natural de San Rafael, Parque Mariano Moreno s/n, M5602DPH San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina;3. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología (UNRN-CONICET), Av. Roca 1242, R8332EXZ General Roca, Río Negro, Argentina;4. Instituto de Estudios Andinos “Don Pablo Groeber” (UBA-CONICET), Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, UBA, Intendente Güiraldes 2160 Ciudad Universitaria - Pabellón II, C1428EGA CABA, Argentina;1. Department of Geology, St. Norbert College, 100 Grant Street, De Pere, WI 54115, USA;2. Department of Geology, Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA |
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| Abstract: | Recent work in the Tropic Shale by the Museum of Northern Arizona reveals a high biodiversity for plesiosaurs along the western margin of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway during the Cenomanian and the Turonian. This paper describes a new species of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Tropic Shale, Dolichorhynchops tropicensis, which adds to the known biodiversity from this time period. The identification is based on two specimens, a well-preserved, nearly complete skeleton including the skull and an additional specimen with only fragmentary skeletal elements. The material shares several synapomorphic characters with Dolichorhynchops, including the shape of the temporal fenestrae, the shape of the sagittal crest, the trend of the ectopterygoids, the morphology of the teeth, and the number of teeth within the mandibular symphysis. D. tropicensis differs from other species of Dolichorhynchops in a greater size range of the teeth, moderately constricted dorsal vertebrae, angled anterior processes on the coracoids, and the presence of well-defined facets on the propodials. The specimens are of Early Turonian age (based primarily on ammonite biostratigraphy and bentonite marker beds), and their discovery extends the known stratigraphic range for Dolichorhynchops back by approximately seven million years. This suggests that Dolichorhynchops tropicensis and Trinacromerum bentonianum, a closely related polycotylid, co-existed in the Western Interior Seaway. |
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