Marine Reptiles
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Recent papers in Marine Reptiles
Metriorhynchid thalattosuchians represent the most extreme archosaurian adaptation to the marine realm. Metriorhynchids possess aquatic adaptations throughout the skeleton. These adaptations were so extensive that some have suggested that... more
The rostrum fragment of an ichthyosaur from Northland in New Zealand is described. The specimen appears to belong to the genus Platypterygius. It is the first Mesozoic marine vertebrate fossil reported from Northland and the first cranial... more
The Early Jurassic ichthyosaur Ichthyosaurus displays a variety of bony features surrounding the external naris: a small triangular process on the lacrimal protruding into the external naris; a raised edge on the posterior portion of the... more
Pliosaurier gehören zu den größten Meeresreptilien, die je gelebt haben. Vom Mittleren Jura bis in die obere Unterkreide erreichten einige Gattungen gigantische Ausmaße und standen meist an der Spitze der Nahrungskette. In den letzten... more
The most aggressive reptile is Crocodylus porosus (CPO), the saltwater crocodile. CPO can tolerate saline environments and typically found in brackish water around coastal areas. The study from Charles Darwin University stated the... more
Cretaceous ichthyosaurs have typically been considered a small, homogeneous assemblage sharing a common Late Jurassic ancestor. Their low diversity and disparity have been interpreted as indicative of a decline leading to their Cenomanian... more
Woolungasaurus glendowerensis erected by PERSSON, 1960, was based on an incomplete postcranial skeleton, comprising cervical, pectoral, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, an almost complete sacrum, as well as elements of the pectoral and pelvic... more
Step back to a time when Australia's red centre was flooded by a vast shallow ocean, the Eromanga Sea. While dinosaurs stalked the scattered islands that made up the Australian continent, giant marine reptiles rule teh waves.... more
During the Late Jurassic, important palaeogeographic events occurred in Eurasia, North America and Gondwana. Continental rift, subduction and orogeny produced different levels of marine inundation of terrestrial systems, with rising sea... more
Se resumen los registros de ictiosaurios (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) conocidos hasta la fecha en Chile. Los hallazgos en el norte del país incluyen abundantes registros desde el Triásico tardío hasta el Jurásico Medio, sin embargo, el... more
Thalassomedon haningtoni is one of the most thoroughly documented elasmosaurids. The type specimen, a nearly complete skeleton representing an osteologically mature individual with a well preserved postcranium (but damaged skull) was... more
The middle to late Berriasian Bückeberg Group of northwestern Germany has yielded a number of plesiosaurian fossils. These include Europe's most complete Lower Cretaceous plesiosaurian, Brancasaurus brancai, in the fine grained,... more
From one of the most complete Lower Cretaceous rock sequences in the world (in Villa de Leiva region, central Colombia), we describe a new genus and species of pliosaurid plesiosaur Stenorhynchosaurus munozi. Stenorhynchosaurus displays a... more
Background Ichthyosauria is a diverse clade of marine amniotes that spanned most of the Mesozoic. Until recently, most authors interpreted the fossil record as showing that three major extinction events affected this group during its... more
Mosasaurids (Mosasauridae) were specialized marine lizards that evolved and radiated in the Late Cretaceous. Their diversity peaked in the Maastrichtian, with the most diverse faunas known from Morocco. Here we describe a new species of... more
Cretaceous marine amniote fossils have been documented from Australia for more than 150 years, however, their global significance has only come to the fore in the last decade. This recognition is a product of accelerated research coupled... more
Polycotylids were a predominately Late Cretaceous radiation of large-skulled “pliosauromorphs” whose remains are found globally after a sudden appearance in the rock record at around the Aptian-Albian boundary. The stratigraphically... more
The Lower Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) southern high latitude deposits of Australia have yielded a diverse range of marine reptile fossils. Ichthyosaurs and at least five distinct plesiosaur taxa have been recorded. Most of the current... more
Marginal tooth crowns from the hypercarnivorous marine reptile Mosasaurus hoffmannii Mantell, 1829 are reported for the first time from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) phosphates of Morocco. Fossilized remains of this species are... more
In June 1977, the skeleton of a large sauropterygian marine reptile was discovered by local farmers in Vereda de Monquirá, Departamento de Boyacá, Colombia, South America. The skeleton was a large pliosaurid plesiosaur, almost complete... more
Bisher unbeschriebene Reste von marinen Tetrapoden aus dem Oberaalenium (Ludwigienton-Formation) und Oberbajocium (Parkinsonienton-Formation) von Bielefeld-Bethel werden vorgestellt. In beiden stratigraphischen Intervallen lassen sich... more
Fossil reptiles from the Mesozoic are rarities in Nordrhein-Westfalen (western Germany), and the majority of specimens found are only fragmentarily preserved. The first report of a fossil reptile, parts of a mosasaur skeleton from the... more
The skull and associate cervical vertebrae of an elasmosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of northeastern Queensland are described as a new species of Tuarangisaurus, Tuarangisaurus australis. They represent the oldest record of that genus... more