Mateus, O., Marzola M., Schulp A. S., Jacobs L. L., Polcyn M. J., Pervov V., Gonçalves A. O. {\'ı}mpio, & Morais M. L.
(2017).
Angolan ichnosite in a diamond mine shows the presence of a large terrestrial mammaliamorph, a crocodylomorph, and sauropod dinosaurs in the Early Cretaceous of Africa.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 471, 220–232., apr: Elsevier {BV}
Abstractn/a
Marx, M. P., Mateus O., Polcyn M. J., Schulp A. S., Gonçalves O. A., & Jacobs L. L.
(2021).
The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.
PLOS ONE. 16(8), e0255773 - ., 2021/08/17: Public Library of Science
AbstractWe 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.
Jacobs, L. L., Mateus O., Polcyn M. J., Schulp A. S., Scotese C. R., Goswami A., Ferguson K. M., Robbins J. A., Vineyard D. P., & Neto A. B.
(2009).
Cretaceous paleogeography, paleoclimatology, and amniote biogeography of the low and mid-latitude South Atlantic Ocean.
BULLETIN DE LA SOCIETE GEOLOGIQUE DE FRANCE. 180, 333-341., Jan: Univ Agostinho Neto, Univ Nova Lisboa, So Methodist Univ, Univ Texas Arlington, Museu Lourinha, Nat Hist Museum
Abstract
Ning, L., Guozhong C., Mateus O., Tao J., Yan X., Daqing L., Hailu Y., & Guangzhao P.
(2024).
A new stegosaur (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Upper Jurassic Qigu Formation of Xinjiang, China and a revision on Chinese stegosaurs phylogeny.
bioRxiv. : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
AbstractStegosaurs are a small but iconic clade of ornithischian dinosaurs. They and their sister taxa, the ankylosaurs, formed the clade Eurypoda which means ‘broad-footed’. Here, we describe a stegosaur from the Upper Jurassic Qigu Formation of Xinjiang, China, based on an associated partial skeleton that includes axial, pectoral girdle, pelvic girdle, limb and armor elements. It can be diagnosed as a new taxon, Angustungui, based on numerous autapomorphies. Some morphologies of Angustungui are more similar to the taxa from Europe, Africa and North America than to those from Asia. Our phylogenetic analysis recovers it as the sister taxon of Loricatosaurus. More importantly, the narrow and claw-shaped ungual of Angustungui proves that Eurypoda, at least stegosaur, has claw-shaped unguals. Besides, we revised the character scores for Chinese stegosaurs based on observations of the specimens.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.
Xing, L., Lockley M. G., Marty D., Zhang J., Wang Y., Klein H., McCrea R. T., Buckley L. G., Belvedere M., Mateus O., Gierliński G. D., Piñuela L., Persons, IV S. W., Wang F., Ran H., Dai H., & Xie X.
(2015).
An Ornithopod-Dominated Tracksite from the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation (Barremian–Albian) of Qijiang, South-Central China: New Discoveries, Ichnotaxonomy, Preservation and Palaeoecology.
PLoS ONE. 10, e0141059., 10, Number 10: Public Library of Science
AbstractThe historically-famous Lotus Fortress site, a deep 1.5–3.0-meter-high, 200-meter-long horizonal notch high up in near-vertical sandstone cliffs comprising the Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation, has been known since the 13th Century as an impregnable defensive position. The site is also extraordinary for having multiple tetrapod track-bearing levels, of which the lower two form the floor of part of the notch, and yield very well preserved asseamblages of ornithopod, bird (avian theropod) and pterosaur tracks. Trackway counts indicate that ornithopods dominate (69%) accounting for at least 165 trackmakers, followed by bird (18%), sauropod (10%), and pterosaur (3%). Previous studies designated Lotus Fortress as the type locality of Caririchnium lotus and Wupus agilis both of which are recognized here as valid ichnotaxa. On the basis of multiple parallel trackways both are interpreted as representing the trackways of gregarious species. C. lotus is redescribed here in detail and interpreted to indicate two age cohorts representing subadults that were sometimes bipedal and larger quadrupedal adults. Two other previously described dinosaurian ichnospecies, are here reinterpreted as underprints and considered nomina dubia. Like a growing number of significant tetrapod tracksites in China the Lotus Fortress site reveals new information about the composition of tetrapod faunas from formations in which the skeletal record is sparse. In particular, the site shows the relatively high abundance of Caririchium in a region where saurischian ichnofaunas are often dominant. It is also the only site known to have yielded Wupus agilis. In combination with information from other tracksites from the Jiaguan formation and other Cretaceous formations in the region, the track record is proving increasingly impotant as a major source of information on the vertebrate faunas of the region. The Lotus Fortress site has been developed as a spectacular, geologically-, paleontologically- and a culturally-significant destination within Qijiang National Geological Park.
Guillaume, A. R. D., Natário C., Mateus O., & Moreno-Azanza M.
(2022).
Plasticity in the morphology of the fused frontals of Albanerpetontidae (Lissamphibia; Allocaudata).
Historical Biology. 1 - 18., 2022: Taylor & Francis
AbstractABSTRACTAlbanerpetontidae form an enigmatic extinct group of lissamphibians, ranging from the early Bathonian to the early Pleistocene. The Upper Jurassic outcrops of Portugal yield a large collection of material, suitable for addressing the intraspecific variation in and diagnostic potential of the characteristic fused frontals. We revise 58 specimens from the Guimarota beds of the Kimmeridgian Alcobaça Formation and describe 62 new frontal bones from the Kimmeridgian ? Tithonian Lourinh? Formation. Smaller specimens exhibit a vermicular dorsal ornamentation, while it is polygonal in larger specimens and other albanerpetontids. Compared to small specimens, larger specimens display: (1) larger ventrolateral crests extending posteriorly after the parietal margin; (2) a relatively shorter internasal process; (3) a frontal width across posterior edges relatively smaller; and (4) a ventromedian crest less pronounced. Morphometric analyses suggest a single species with different ontogenetic stages. Specimens are attributed to aff. Celtedens sp., based on a bell-shaped outline with a curved orbital margin (although variable in Portuguese specimens), and a flabellate, bulbous-shaped internasal process. The species is more similar to C. megacephalus than C. ibericus, but its phylogenetic position comprises an unresolved trichotomy. Our results show that intraspecific variation and homoplasy render the fused frontal non-diagnostic below the generic level.