Cranial anatomy of a Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) mosasaur (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from north-east Mexico
We here describe the first mosasaur from Mexico known by significant cranial remains, from thelate Early Maastrichtian Méndez Formation of Nuevo León, north-east Mexico. The specimen comprisesa fragmentary skull and parts of the mandibles. Some anatomical features suggest a juvenile animal.The skull...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2007 |
| País: | México |
| Institución: | Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León |
| Repositorio: | Redalyc-UANL |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:redalyc.org:57224108 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=57224108 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Ciencias de la Tierra north east Mexico Mosasauridae Méndez Formation Early Maastrichtian |
| Sumario: | We here describe the first mosasaur from Mexico known by significant cranial remains, from thelate Early Maastrichtian Méndez Formation of Nuevo León, north-east Mexico. The specimen comprisesa fragmentary skull and parts of the mandibles. Some anatomical features suggest a juvenile animal.The skull possesses a rostral tuberosity on the premaxilla, as well as a combination of features knownfrom different mosasaur genera, like its frontopremaxillary suture situated caudal to the external naris,its prefrontal and postorbitofrontal being in contact lateral to the orbit, associated with the supra- andinfrastapedial processes of its quadrate which almost contact one another. Despite being clearly distinctfrom any hitherto described mosasaur, the affinities of this specimen with other mosasaurs remain obscure,not only because of incompleteness, but also because of the poorly understood biological significanceof the characters used for the classification of Mosasauridae. |
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