Redescription of Tuarangisaurus keyesi (Sauropterygia; Elasmosauridae), a key species from the uppermost Cretaceous of the Weddellian Province: Internal skull anatomy and phylogenetic position

O'gorman, Jose Patricio; Otero, Rodrigo A.; Hiller, Norton; Simes, J.; Terezow, Marianna

doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.11.014

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The overall tree topology broadly agrees with those reconstructed through more recent parsimony analyses (see, e.g., Ketchum & Benson, 2010;Benson et al, 2013;Benson & Druckenmiller, 2014;Fischer et al, 2015;Cau & Fanti, 2016;Otero, 2016;Sachs, Hornung & Kear, 2016;Fischer et al, 2017;O'Gorman et al, 2017;Serratos, Druckenmiller & Benson, 2017;Fischer et al, 2018;O'Gorman, Gasparini & Spalletti, 2018;Páramo-Fonseca, Benavides-Cabra & Gutiérrez, 2018;Sachs, Lindgren & Kear, 2018;Madzia, Sachs & Lindgren, 2019;Morgan & O'Keefe, 2019). Plesiosauria (posterior probability [pp ] = 1; node origin estimated at ∼241 Mya) basally branches into Rhomaleosauridae (pp = 0.96; ∼215 Mya) and Neoplesiosauria (pp = 0.88; ∼215 Mya), consisting of Pliosauridae (pp = 1; ∼206 Mya) and Plesiosauroidea (pp = 0.89; ∼210 Mya).…”

Section: Bayesian Analysis Of Plesiosaur Phylogenetic Relationshipssupporting

confidence: 83%

“…It is essential to note that although the elasmosaurid phylogenetic relationships were a subject of several recent papers (e.g., Otero, 2016;Sachs, Hornung & Kear, 2016;O'Gorman et al, 2017;Serratos, Druckenmiller & Benson, 2017;Sachs, Lindgren & Kear, 2018;O'Gorman et al, 2019), interpretations of morphologies observed in some elasmosaurid specimens differ between these studies. See, for example, conflicting scores for 'Libonectes' atlasense in and Serratos, Druckenmiller & Benson (2017), and for Styxosaurus snowii in Serratos, Druckenmiller & Benson (2017) and Sachs, Lindgren & Kear (2018).…”

Section: Bayesian Inferencementioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating the evolutionary rates in mosasauroids and plesiosaurs: discussion of niche occupation in Late Cretaceous seas

Madzia

Cau²

2020

PeerJ

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Observations of temporal overlap of niche occupation among Late Cretaceous marine amniotes suggest that the rise and diversification of mosasauroid squamates might have been influenced by competition with or disappearance of some plesiosaur taxa. We discuss that hypothesis through comparisons of the rates of morphological evolution of mosasauroids throughout their evolutionary history with those inferred for contemporary plesiosaur clades. We used expanded versions of two species-level phylogenetic datasets of both these groups, updated them with stratigraphic information, and analyzed using the Bayesian inference to estimate the rates of divergence for each clade. The oscillations in evolutionary rates of the mosasauroid and plesiosaur lineages that overlapped in time and space were then used as a baseline for discussion and comparisons of traits that can affect the shape of the niche structures of aquatic amniotes, such as tooth morphologies, body size, swimming abilities, metabolism, and reproduction. Only two groups of plesiosaurs are considered to be possible niche competitors of mosasauroids: the brachauchenine pliosaurids and the polycotylid leptocleidians. However, direct evidence for interactions between mosasauroids and plesiosaurs is scarce and limited only to large mosasauroids as the predators/scavengers and polycotylids as their prey. The first mosasauroids differed from contemporary plesiosaurs in certain aspects of all discussed traits and no evidence suggests that early representatives of Mosasauroidea diversified after competitions with plesiosaurs. Nevertheless, some mosasauroids, such as tylosaurines, might have seized the opportunity and occupied the niche previously inhabited by brachauchenines, around or immediately after they became extinct, and by polycotylids that decreased their phylogenetic diversity and disparity around the time the large-sized tylosaurines started to flourish.

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Section: Bayesian Analysis Of Plesiosaur Phylogenetic Relationshipssupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Bayesian Inferencementioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating the evolutionary rates in mosasauroids and plesiosaurs: discussion of niche occupation in Late Cretaceous seas

Madzia

Cau²

2020

PeerJ

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“…Each premaxilla of MGUAN PA278 has a lateral tooth count of five, as indicated by the number of premaxillary alveoli ( Fig 6 ). The lateral tooth count in MGUAN PA278 is the same as Styxosaurus snowii [ 42 ], Libonectes morgani [ 61 ], Tuarangisaurus keyesi Wiffen and Moisley, 1986 [ 62 , 63 ], Lagenanectes richterae Sachs, Hornung, and Kear, 2017 [ 11 ], Leivanectes bernandoi Páramo-Fonseca, O’Gorman, Gasparini, Padilla, and Parra Ruge, 2019 [ 20 ], and Callawayasaurus colombiensis [ 10 ], but differs from Thalassomedon haningtoni [ 13 ] (4 premaxillary teeth), Elasmosaurus platyurus Cope, 1868 [ 64 , 65 ] (6 premaxillary alveoli), Eromangasaurus australis Sachs, 2005 [ 15 , 17 , 21 ] (3–4 premaxillary alveoli), and the aristonectines Kaiwhekea katiki Cruickshank and Fordyce, 2002 [ 53 , 66 ] (7 premaxillary alveoli), Morturneria seymourensis Chatterjee and Smalls, 1989 [ 67 , 68 ] (8–9 premaxillary teeth) and Aristonectes parvidens Cabrera, 1941 [ 53 , 69 , 70 ] (~13 premaxillary alveoli). Premaxillary alveoli become sequentially larger posteriorly.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The premaxilla contributes slightly to the palate lateral to the anterior projection of the vomer ( Fig 6 ). A narrow opening between the third and fourth tooth position of the premaxillae is identified as the vomeronasal fenestra, although O’Gorman et al (2017) [ 63 ] questions this homology.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola

et al. 2021

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We report a new specimen of the plesiosaur Cardiocorax mukulu that includes the most complete plesiosaur skull from sub-Saharan Africa. The well-preserved three-dimensional nature of the skull offers rare insight into the cranial anatomy of elasmosaurid plesiosaurians. The new specimen of Cardiocorax mukulu was recovered from Bentiaba, Namibe Province in Angola, approximately three meters above the holotype. The new specimen also includes an atlas-axis complex, seventeen postaxial cervical vertebrae, partial ribs, a femur, and limb elements. It is identified as Cardiocorax mukulu based on an apomorphy shared with the holotype where the cervical neural spine is approximately as long anteroposteriorly as the centrum and exhibits a sinusoidal anterior margin. The new specimen is nearly identical to the holotype and previously referred material in all other aspects. Cardiocorax mukulu is returned in an early-branching or intermediate position in Elasmosauridae in four out of the six of our phylogenetic analyses. Cardiocorax mukulu lacks the elongated cervical vertebrae that is characteristic of the extremely long-necked elasmosaurines, and the broad skull with and a high number of maxillary teeth (28–40) which is characteristic of Aristonectinae. Currently, the most parsimonious explanation concerning elasmosaurid evolutionary relationships, is that Cardiocorax mukulu represents an older lineage of elasmosaurids in the Maastrichtian.

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“…Its condition (small and shallow) in SMNS 81783 raises questions relative to its true or artefactual absence in advanced elasmosaurids. In addition, the absence of stapes was considered as a synapomorphy of Elasmosauridae (Carpenter, 1997) but its occurrence in the elasmosaurids Tuarangisaurus keyesi (O'Gorman et al, 2017) and SMNS 81783 challenges this hypothesis. According to Sato et al (2011), it is possible that some plesiosaurians lacked an ossified stapes.…”

Section: Paleobiogeography and Paleoecological Interpretationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual reexamination of a plesiosaurian specimen (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) of Goulmima, Morocco, using computed tomography

Allemand

Bardet

Houssaye³

et al. 2017

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

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Turonian deposits of the Goulmima area, Er-Rachidia Province in Southern Morocco, have yielded a diverse marine vertebrate fauna, including chondrichthyans, bony fishes and large marine reptiles such as plesiosaurians, mosasauroids and turtles. These fossils are included in ovoid calcareous nodules that are difficult to prepare. Moreover, bones may be partially or totally dissolved, making their study difficult. Using computed tomography, we have reconstructed the entire skull anatomy of SMNS 81783, one of the rare plesiosaurian specimens found in this locality and more generally in Africa. The digital 3D reconstruction of the skull and mandible offers for the first time the possibility to exhaustively describe this specimen. The new anatomical characters recorded confirm that the SMNS 81783 belongs to Elasmosauridae on the basis of: (1) slender triangular skull; (2) a beak index equal to 42%; (3) temporal fossa estimated to occupy about 40% of the skull length; (4) long process of the premaxillae extending posteriorly to meet the parietal above the orbit and separating the frontals; (5) margin of the temporal fenestra lacking obvious contribution from the frontal. A preliminary phylogenetic analysis confirms its elasmosaurid affinity. The relationships between SMNS 81783, Libonectes atlasense and Libonectes morgani, as well as the presence of stapes and pineal foramen are discussed.

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Redescription of Tuarangisaurus keyesi (Sauropterygia; Elasmosauridae), a key species from the uppermost Cretaceous of the Weddellian Province: Internal skull anatomy and phylogenetic position

Cited by 24 publications

References 54 publications

Estimating the evolutionary rates in mosasauroids and plesiosaurs: discussion of niche occupation in Late Cretaceous seas

Estimating the evolutionary rates in mosasauroids and plesiosaurs: discussion of niche occupation in Late Cretaceous seas

The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola

Virtual reexamination of a plesiosaurian specimen (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) of Goulmima, Morocco, using computed tomography

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