Aristonectes quiriquinensis, sp. nov., a new highly derived elasmosaurid from the upper Maastrichtian of central Chile

Abstract

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Reassessment of the upper Maastrichtian material from Chile referred to Mauisaurus Hector, 1874 (Plesiosauroidea: Elasmosauridae) and the taxonomical value of the hemispherical propodial head among austral elasmosaurids

“…Late Cretaceous records of elasmosaurids (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) within the Weddellian Biogeographic Province (sensu Zinsmeister 1979; WBP hereafter) includes records from Antarctica, Argentina, Chile and New Zealand (Welles & Gregg 1971;Gasparini & Goñi 1985;Cruickshank & Fordyce 2002;Hiller et al 2005;Wilson et al 2005;Consoli & Stilwell 2009;O'Gorman 2012O'Gorman , 2013Otero et al 2012Otero et al , 2014aHiller et al 2014;O'Gorman et al 2014). In New Zealand, extensive descriptions of several proposed taxa have been presented since the late 19th century.…”

“…A re-examination of the holotype of Kaiwhekea katiki Cruickshank & Fordyce, 2002 from the early Maastrichtian of New Zealand also revealed the same morphology of the femoral head. Additionally, the recent description of two fairly complete skeletons from central Chile, the holotype (SGO.PV.957, young adult) and referred specimen (SGO.PV.260, juvenile) of Aristonectes quiriquinensis Otero et al (2014a), and comparison with other Chilean specimens (SGO.PV.135 and SGO.PV.169), provide further evidence that a hemispherical femoral head and a prominent trochanter, as well as a deep fossa between them, are also present in the femur of this species. The Chilean specimens also provide information about humeral morphological changes during ontogeny.…”

Paleoenvironmental context and significance of a partial elasmosaurid skeleton from the Albian of Haute-Provence, France

“…RNNGHP.04214-TA.2015.1 differs from the Campanian taxon Elasmosaurus that possesses lateral longitudinal ridges on all cervical centra (Welles, 1952) and, on the contrary, differs from the Aptian-Albian taxa Opallionectes andamookaensis Kear 2006, the Santonian taxa Futabasaurus suzukii Sato et al, 2006, andthe Maastrichtian Nakonanectes bradti Serratos et al, 2017, which have no lateral longitudinal ridge in any of their cervical centra. RNNGHP.04214-TA.2015.1 presents a straight to posterodorsally slightly inclined posterior cervical neural spine contra that reported for Futabasaurus suzukii, the Campanian taxa Terminonatator ponteixensis Sato, 2003 and the Maastrichtian species Aristonectes quiriquinensis Otero et al, 2014b, which possess neural spines angled anteriorly. It does not present any anterior projection (as in Cardiocorax mukulu) or posterior projection (as seen in the Aptian taxa Callawayasaurus colombiensis (Welles, 1962)) on the cervical neural spine.…”

Cretaceous marine amniotes of Australia: perspectives on a decade of new research

“…The absence of an intercoracoid embayment on the pectoral girdle (see Kear, 2006a, p. 843, fig. 3B), however, clearly differentiates O. andamookaensis from remains referred to Aristonectes Otero et al, 2014). Furthermore, a combination of its prominent caudolateral coracoid cornuae, distally expanded propodials, pre-and post-xial accessory ossicles in the epipodial row, and small labiolingually compressed teeth that lack enamel ridges is alternatively consistent with Late Jurassic -Early Cretaceous cryptoclidids -e.g.…”