Takuya Konishi, Paulina JimÃnez-Huidobro & Michael W. Caldwell (2018)
The smallest-known neonate individual of Tylosaurus (Mosasauridae, Tylosaurinae) sheds new light on the tylosaurine rostrum and heterochrony.Â
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: e1510835Â
DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1510835
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We here report on the smallest-known, neonate-sized Tylosaurus specimen, FHSM VP-14845, recovered from the lower Santonian portion of the Niobrara Chalk exposed in Kansas, U.S.A. Lacking any associated adult-sized material, FHSM VP-14845 comprises fragmentary and associated cranial bones, here considered to represent a single neonatal individual with an estimated skull length of 30 cm. Despite its small size, a suite of cranial characters diagnoses FHSM VP-14845 as a species of Tylosaurus, including the elongate basisphenoid morphology. At the same time, FHSM VP-14845 unexpectedly lacks a conical predental rostrum on the premaxilla, generally regarded as diagnostic of this genus. Further, the first and the second premaxillary teeth are closely spaced, with the second set positioned posterolateral to the first, contributing to the overall shortness of the dentigerous premaxilla. Because a conical predental rostrum is already present in ontogenetically young specimens of T. nepaeolicus and T. proriger with respective skull lengths of approximately 40 and 60âcm, formation of such a rostrum must have taken place very early in postnatal ontogeny. Our recognition of a neonate-sized Tylosaurus specimen without an elongate predental rostrum of the premaxilla suggests hypermorphosis as a likely heterochronic process behind the evolution of this iconic tylosaurine feature.
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Lene Liebe Delsett, Patrick Scott Druckenmiller, Aubrey Jane Roberts & JÃrn Harald Hurum (2018)
A new specimen of Palvennia hoybergeti: implications for cranial and pectoral girdle anatomy in ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs.
PeerJ 6:e5776
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The Late Jurassic SlottsmÃya Member LagerstÃtte on Spitsbergen preserves a diverse array of marine reptiles, including four named taxa of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs. One of these, Palvennia hoybergeti, is based on the single holotype specimen (SVB 1451) with an incomplete skull. A newly discovered specimen (PMO 222.669) with a disarticulated but largely complete skull and anterior postcranium is described, which considerably expands our knowledge of this taxon. Two additional new ophthalmosaurid specimens with pectoral girdles from the same member are described. The taxonomic utility of the ophthalmosaurid pectoral girdle is contentious, and an assessment of seven pectoral girdles from the SlottsmÃya Member provides a basis for addressing this question via a 2D landmark principal component analysis of baracromian coracoids. The analysis reveals a taxonomic signal in the coracoids but also highlights the degree of individual variation. Commonly used phylogenetic characters do not fully encapsulate the degree of variation seen in coracoids and in some cases combine analogous features.