A carregar...
Publicação
A new specimen of Cardiocorax mukulu with a nearly complete cranium from Angola
| Nome: | Descrição: | Tamanho: | Formato: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.44 MB | Adobe PDF |
Autores
Orientador(es)
Resumo(s)
We report a plesiosaur specimen that includes the most well complete skull of an
Elasmoaurid plesiosaurian from Sub-Saharan Africa. The new specimen, MGUAN PA278 from
the Maastrichtian outcrops of Bentiaba, Angola includes fully preserved semicircular canals,
both hyoids, a nearly complete mandible, seventeen cervical vertebrae, a rib and rib fragment, a
propodial, and paddle elements. A CT scan of the cranium was performed at UTCT in Austin,
TX to visualize all aspects of the cranium and to produce a digital model of the skull and casts of
the endosseous labyrinths. The cranium was segmented at SMU using AMIRA software and
compared to other well preserved elasmosaurid plesiosaurian skulls from collection visits and
from the literature. MGUAN PA278 is diagnosed as Cardiocorax mukulu based on the
morphology of the middle cervical neural spines. C. mukulu is returned from a phylogenetic
analysis as a basal elasmosaurid outside of the Elasmosaurinae-Aristonectinae clade and the
sister taxon of Libonectes morgani. The compact morphology of the endosseous labyrinth in
MGUAN PA278 may be an adaptation to living in a pelagic environment.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Africa Angola Maastrichtian cranium endosseous labyrinth