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The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola

Marx, Miguel P. LU orcid ; Mateus, Octávio ; Polcyn, Michael J. ; Schulp, Anne S. ; Gonçalves, A. Olímpio and Jacobs, Louis L. (2021) In PLoS ONE 16(8 August).
Abstract

We report a new specimen of the plesiosaur Cardiocorax mukulu that includes the most complete plesiosaur skull from sub-Saharan Africa. The well-preserved three-dimensional nature of the skull offers rare insight into the cranial anatomy of elasmosaurid plesiosaurians. The new specimen of Cardiocorax mukulu was recovered from Bentiaba, Namibe Province in Angola, approximately three meters above the holotype. The new specimen also includes an atlas-axis complex, seventeen postaxial cervical vertebrae, partial ribs, a femur, and limb elements. It is identified as Cardiocorax mukulu based on an apomorphy shared with the holotype where the cervical neural spine is approximately as long anteroposteriorly as the centrum and exhibits a... (More)

We report a new specimen of the plesiosaur Cardiocorax mukulu that includes the most complete plesiosaur skull from sub-Saharan Africa. The well-preserved three-dimensional nature of the skull offers rare insight into the cranial anatomy of elasmosaurid plesiosaurians. The new specimen of Cardiocorax mukulu was recovered from Bentiaba, Namibe Province in Angola, approximately three meters above the holotype. The new specimen also includes an atlas-axis complex, seventeen postaxial cervical vertebrae, partial ribs, a femur, and limb elements. It is identified as Cardiocorax mukulu based on an apomorphy shared with the holotype where the cervical neural spine is approximately as long anteroposteriorly as the centrum and exhibits a sinusoidal anterior margin. The new specimen is nearly identical to the holotype and previously referred material in all other aspects. Cardiocorax mukulu is returned in an early-branching or intermediate position in Elasmosauridae in four out of the six of our phylogenetic analyses. Cardiocorax mukulu lacks the elongated cervical vertebrae that is characteristic of the extremely long-necked elasmosaurines, and the broad skull with and a high number of maxillary teeth (28-40) which is characteristic of Aristonectinae. Currently, the most parsimonious explanation concerning elasmosaurid evolutionary relationships, is that Cardiocorax mukulu represents an older lineage of elasmosaurids in the Maastrichtian.

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author
; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
marine reptiles, SAUROPTERYGIA, osteology, redescription, Australia.
in
PLoS ONE
volume
16
issue
8 August
article number
e0255773
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:34403433
  • scopus:85112778333
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0255773
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Marx et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
id
3f7833d7-6345-43bc-9de5-d507a5efdf48
date added to LUP
2023-01-31 15:08:52
date last changed
2024-04-15 20:05:30
@article{3f7833d7-6345-43bc-9de5-d507a5efdf48,
  abstract     = {{<p>We report a new specimen of the plesiosaur Cardiocorax mukulu that includes the most complete plesiosaur skull from sub-Saharan Africa. The well-preserved three-dimensional nature of the skull offers rare insight into the cranial anatomy of elasmosaurid plesiosaurians. The new specimen of Cardiocorax mukulu was recovered from Bentiaba, Namibe Province in Angola, approximately three meters above the holotype. The new specimen also includes an atlas-axis complex, seventeen postaxial cervical vertebrae, partial ribs, a femur, and limb elements. It is identified as Cardiocorax mukulu based on an apomorphy shared with the holotype where the cervical neural spine is approximately as long anteroposteriorly as the centrum and exhibits a sinusoidal anterior margin. The new specimen is nearly identical to the holotype and previously referred material in all other aspects. Cardiocorax mukulu is returned in an early-branching or intermediate position in Elasmosauridae in four out of the six of our phylogenetic analyses. Cardiocorax mukulu lacks the elongated cervical vertebrae that is characteristic of the extremely long-necked elasmosaurines, and the broad skull with and a high number of maxillary teeth (28-40) which is characteristic of Aristonectinae. Currently, the most parsimonious explanation concerning elasmosaurid evolutionary relationships, is that Cardiocorax mukulu represents an older lineage of elasmosaurids in the Maastrichtian.</p>}},
  author       = {{Marx, Miguel P. and Mateus, Octávio and Polcyn, Michael J. and Schulp, Anne S. and Gonçalves, A. Olímpio and Jacobs, Louis L.}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  keywords     = {{marine reptiles; SAUROPTERYGIA; osteology; redescription; Australia.}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8 August}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255773}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0255773}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}