A new paper:
Highlights
A new mosasaur skull from Antarctica
The cosmopolitan status of a widespread taxa is questioned
The new findings shed light in the dispersion of plotosaurine mosasaurus in the Late Cretaceous.
Abstract
During the Antarctic summer campaigns and as a result of paleontological fieldworks 2013-2015 several mosasaur remains have been collected from the upper Maastrichtian LÃpez de Bertodano Formation exposed at Marambio (=Seymour) Island, of the Antarctic Peninsula. One of these specimens preserves part of the skull and dentition, which represent one of the few known skulls from Antarctica. The new specimen (MLP 15-I-24-41) is similar to member of the mosasaur tribe Plotosaurini, sharing the same fronto-parietal suture pattern, and a similar dental morphology as some of the species assigned to the genus. As the specimen is not complete enough to propose a new name it is referred to Mosasaurus sp. The presence of these remains on the southern hemisphere represents one of the most complete records of a Mosasaurus mosasaur.