Publications

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Journal Article
Mannion, P. D., Upchurch P., Mateus O., Barnes R. N., & Jonese M. E. H. (2012).  New information on the anatomy and systematic position of Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis (Sauropoda: Diplodocoidea) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal, with a review of European diplodocoids. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10, 521-551., Number 3 Abstract
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Vineyard, D., Mateus O., Jacobs L. L., Polcyn M. J., & Schulp A. (2012).  A new marine turtle from the Maastrichtian of Angola. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts, 2012, 189. ISSN 1937-2809 . 189.vineyard_mateus_et_al_2012_euclastes_chelonia_turtle_angola_svp_2012_abstract.pdf
Schulp, A. S., Polcyn M. J., Mateus O., Jacobs L. L., Morais L. M., & Tavares T. S. (2006).  New mosasaur material from the Maastrichtian of Angola, with notes on the phylogeny, distribution and palaeoecology of the genus Prognathodon. Publicaties van het Natuurhistorisch Genootschap in Limburg Reeks XLV aflevering 1. Stichting Natuurpublicaties Limburg, Maastricht . 57-67 .schulp_polcyn_mateus_jacobs_et_al_2006_new_mosasaur_material_from_the_maastrichtian_of_angola_with_notes_on_the_phylogeny_distribution_and_palaeoecology_of_the_genus_prognathodon.pdf
Schulp, A. S., Polcyn M. J., Mateus O., Jacobs L. L., Morais M. L., & Tavares T. S. (2006).  New mosasaur material from the Maastrichtian of Angola, with notes on the phylogeny, distribution and palaeoecology of the genus Prognathodon. Publicaties van het Natuurhistorisch Genootschap in Limburg Reeks XLV aflevering 1. Stichting Natuurpublicaties Limburg, Maastricht. 57-67. Abstract
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Polcyn, M., Jacobs L., Mateus O., & Schulp A. (2009).  New specimens of Angolasaurus bocagei and comments on the early radiations of plioplatecarpine mosasaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29, 165., Number 3 Abstract
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Polcyn, M. J., Jacobs L. L., Mateus O., & Schulp A. S. (2009).  New specimens of Angolasaurus bocagei and comments on the early radiations of plioplatecarpine mosasaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29, 165–165., Number 3 Abstract
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Polcyn, M. J., Jacobs L. L., Schulp A. S., & Mateus O. (2010).  The North African Mosasaur Globidens phosphaticus from the Maastrichtian of Angola. Historical Biology. 22, 175-185., Number 1 Abstract
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Jacobs, L. L., Mateus O., Polcyn M. J., Schulp A. S., Antunes M. T., Morais M. L., & da Silva Tavares T. (2006).  The occurrence and geological setting of Cretaceous dinosaurs, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and turtles from Angola. Paleont. Soc. Korea. 22(1), 91-110. Abstractjacobs_mateus-et_al_2006_angola.pdf

Vertebrate-bearing fossiliferous outcrops of Cretaceous age in sub-Saharan Africa are rare because of younger superficial deposits, vegetation cover, and the widespread occurrence of Precambrian metamorphic plateau basement comprising much of the continent. However, one area of extensive marine and nonmarine
Cretaceous exposures is found between the plateau and the coast in Angola. The Angolan margin was formed in conjunction with the breakup of Gondwana and subsequent growth of the South Atlantic. Cretaceous deposits are constrained in age by the emplacement of oceanic crust, which began no later than magnetozone M3
(approximately 128 Ma, Barremian). Shallow marine facies are exposed in sea cliffs but equivalent facies become increasingly terrestrial inland. Few vertebrate fossils have been described from Angola aside from sharks.
Notable exceptions are the late Turonian mosasaurs Angolasaurus bocagei and Tylosaurus iembeensis from northern Angola. Those taxa are significant because they are among the earliest derived mosasaurs. Recent field work led to the discovery of a new skull of Angolasaursus as well as sharks, fish, plesiosaurs, the skull of a new taxon of turtle, additional mosasaurs, and the articulated forelimb of a sauropod dinosaur, the first reported dinosaur from Angola. In southern Angola, marine sediments spanning the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary are found.

Jacobs, L. L., Mateus O., Polcyn M. J., Schulp A. S., Antunes M. T., Morais M. L., & Tavares T. S. (2006).  The occurrence and geological setting of Cretaceous dinosaurs, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and turtles from Angola. Journal of the Paleontological Society of Korea. 22, , Number 1 Abstract
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Jacobs, L. L., Mateus O., Polcyn M. J., Schulp A. S., Antunes M. T., Morais M. L., & da Silva Tavares T. (2006).  The occurrence and geological setting of Cretaceous dinosaurs, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and turtles from Angola. JOURNAL-PALEONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF KOREA. 22, 91–91., Number 1 Abstract
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Mateus, O., Jacobs L., Polcyn M., Schulp A. S., Vineyard D., Neto A. B., & Antunes M. T. (2009).  The oldest African eucryptodiran turtle from the Cretaceous of Angola. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 54, 581-588., Jan: Univ Agostinho Neto, Univ Nova Lisboa, Museu Lourinha, Acad Ciencias Lisboa, Nat Hist Museum Maastricht, So Methodist Univ Abstractmateus_et_al_2009_the_oldest_african_angolachelys_angola_turtle.pdfWebsite

A new Late Cretaceous turtle, Angolachelys mbaxi gen. et sp. nov., from the Turonian (90 Mya) of Angola, represents the oldest eucryptodire from Africa. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Angolachelys mbaxi as the sister taxon of Sandownia harrisi from the Aptian of Isle of Wight, England. An unnamed turtle from the Albian Glen Rose Formation of Texas (USA) and the Kimmeridgian turtle Solnhofia parsonsi (Germany), are successively more distant sister taxa. Bootstrap analysis suggests those four taxa together form a previously unrecognized monophyletic clade of marine turtles, herein named Angolachelonia clade nov., supported by the following synapomorphies: mandibular articulation of quadrate aligned with or posterior to the occiput, and basisphenoid not visible or visibility greatly reduced in ventral view. Basal eucryptodires and angolachelonians originated in the northern hemisphere, thus Angolachelys represents one of the first marine amniote lineages to have invaded the South Atlantic after separation of Africa and South America.

Mateus, O., Jacobs L., Polcyn M., Schulp A. S., Vineyard D., Buta Neto A., & Telles Antunes M. (2009).  The oldest African eucryptodiran turtle from the Cretaceous of Angola. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 54, 581-588., Number 4 Abstract
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Myers, T. S., Tabor N. J., Jacobs L. L., & Mateus O. (2012).  Palaeoclimate of the Late Jurassic of Portugal: Comparison with the Western United States. Sedimentology. 59(6), 1695–1717., 2012//01/ Abstractmyers_et_al_2012_palaeoclimate_of_the_late_jurassic_of_portugal_comparison_with_the_western.pdfWebsite

Investigation of the palaeoclimatic conditions associated with Upper Jurassic strata in Portugal and comparison with published palaeoclimate reconstructions of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in western North America provide important insights into the conditions that allowed two of the richest terrestrial faunas of this period to flourish. Geochemical analyses and observations of palaeosol morphology in the informally named Upper Jurassic Lourinhã formation of western Portugal indicate warm and wet palaeoclimatic conditions with strongly seasonal precipitation patterns. Palaeosol profiles are dominated by carbonate accumulations and abundant shrink-swell (vertic) features that are both indicative of seasonal variation in moisture availability. The δ18OSMOW and δDSMOW values of phyllosilicates sampled from palaeosol profiles range from +22·4‰ to +22·7‰ and −53·0‰ to −37·3‰, respectively. These isotope values correspond to temperatures of formation between 32°C and 39°C ± 3°, with an average of 36°C, which suggest surface temperatures between 27°C and 34°C (average 31°C). On average, these surface temperature estimates are 1°C higher than the highest summer temperatures modelled for Late Jurassic Iberia using general circulation models. Elemental analysis of matrix material from palaeosol B-horizons provides proxy (chemical index of alteration minus potassium) estimates of mean annual precipitation ranging from 766 to 1394 mm/year, with an average of approximately 1100 mm/year. Palaeoclimatic conditions during deposition of the Lourinhã formation are broadly similar to those inferred for the Morrison Formation, except somewhat wetter. Seasonal variation in moisture availability does not seem to have negatively impacted the ability of these environments to support rich and relatively abundant faunas. The similar climate between these two Late Jurassic terrestrial ecosystems is probably one of the factors which explains the similarity of their vertebrate faunas.

Myers, T. S., Tabor N. J., Jacobs L. L., & Mateus O. (2012).  Palaeoclimate of the late jurassic of portugal: Comparison with the western united states. Sedimentology. 59, 1695-1717., Number 6 Abstract
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Ceríaco, L. M. P., Gutiérrez E. E., Dubois A., Abdala C. S., Alqarni A. S., Adler K., et al. (2016).  Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences. Zootaxa. 4196(3), 435 - 445., 2016 AbstractWebsite
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Ceríaco, L. M. P., Gutiérrez E. E., Dubois A., Abdala C. S., Alqarni A. S., Adler K., et al. (2016).  Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences. Zootaxa. 4196, 435-445., Number 3 Abstract
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Polcyn, M. J., Jacobs L. L., Ara´ujo R., Schulp A. S., & Mateus O. (2014).  Physical drivers of mosasaur evolution. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 400, 17-27. Abstractpolcyn_et_al_2014_physical_drivers_mosasaurs.pdf

Mosasaurs are marine squamates with a 32.5 million-year history from their appearance at 98 Ma to their extinction at the K-Pg boundary (65.5 Ma). Using a database of 43 generic and 94 species-level taxa, we compare the taxonomic diversity and patterns of morphological disparity in mosasaurs with sea level, sea surface temperature, and stable carbon isotope curves for the Upper Cretaceous to explore factors that may have influenced their evolution. No single factor unambiguously accounts for all radiations, diversification, and extinctions; however, the broader patterns of taxonomic diversification and
morphological disparity point to niche differentiation in a “fishing up” scenario under the influence of “bottom-up” selective pressures. The most likely driving force in mosasaur evolution was high productivity in the Late Cretaceous, driven by tectonically controlled sea levels and climatically controlled ocean stratification and nutrient delivery. When productivity collapsed at the end of the Cretaceous, coincident with bolide impact, mosasaurs became extinct.

Polcyn, M. J., Jacobs L. L., Araújo R., Schulp A. S., & Mateus O. (2014).  Physical drivers of mosasaur evolution. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 400, 17-27. Abstract
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Jacobs, L. L., Polcyn M. J., Mateus O., Schulp A. S., Gonçalves A. O., & Morais M. L. (2016).  Post-Gondwana Africa and the vertebrate history of the Angolan Atlantic Coast. Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 74, 343–362. Abstractjacobs_et_al_2016_post-gondwana_africa_and_the_vertebrate_history_of_the_angolan_atlantic_coast_343-362_mmv74_jacobs_4_web.pdf

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Jacobs, L. L., Polcyn M. J., Mateus O., Schulp A. S., Gon?alves A. O., & Morais M. L. (2016).  Post-Gondwana Africa and the vertebrate history of the Angolan Atlantic Coast. Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 74, 343-362. Abstract
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Jacobs, L. L., Polcyn M. J., Mateus O. \á\}vio, Schulp A. S., Gon\{\c c\}alves A. \ó\}nio O., & Morais M. L. (2016).  Post-Gondwana Africa and the vertebrate history of the Angolan Atlantic Coast. Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 74, 343\–\}362. Abstract
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Fernandes, A. E., Mateus O., Andres B., Polcyn M. J., Schulp A. S., Gonçalves A. O., & Jacobs L. L. (2022).  Pterosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Angola. Diversity. 14, , Number 9 Abstractdiversity-14-00741.pdfWebsite

Here, we describe the first pterosaur remains from Angola, an assemblage of fourteen bones from the Lower Maastrichtian marine deposits of Bentiaba, Namibe Province. One new species is introduced, Epapatelo otyikokolo, gen. et sp. nov., which comprises an articulated partial left humerus and ulna as well as an articulated left ulna and radius (from a second individual). Phylogenetic analysis confirms a non-nyctosaurid pteranodontian attribution for this new taxon and supports a new apomorphy-based clade, Aponyctosauria, which is here defined. Late Cretaceous pteranodontians are rare in Sub-Saharan Africa and throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Preliminary histological analysis also reveals a likely sub-adult age for one of the specimens. This fossil assemblage provides a first glimpse of Angolan pterosaur paleobiodiversity providing further insight into the Gondwanan ecosystems of the Upper Cretaceous.

Mateus, O., & Jacinto J. J. (1997).  Ritmos de Actividade e habitat de Hemidactylus turcicus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) em Évora, Portugal. Cuadernos de INICE. 74-75, 207-214. Abstract
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Tschopp, E., Mateus O., Kosma R., Sander M., Joger U., & Wings O. (2014).  A specimen-level cladistic analysis of Camarasaurus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) and a revision of camarasaurid taxonomy. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Program and Abstracts, 2014, 241-242.tschopp_et_al._2014_a_specimen-level_cladistic_analysis_of_camarasaurus.pdf
Strganac, C., Jacobs L. L., Polcyn M. J., Ferguson K. M., Mateus O., Gonçalves O. A., Morais M. - L., & da Silva Tavares T. (2015).  Stable oxygen isotope chemostratigraphy and paleotemperature regime of mosasaurs at Bentiaba, Angola. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. FirstView, 1–7., 2 Abstractstrganac_etal2015_stable_oxigen_isotopes.pdfWebsite

ABSTRACT Stable oxygen isotope values of inoceramid marine bivalve shells recovered from Bentiaba, Angola, are utilised as a proxy for paleotemperatures during the Late Cretaceous development of the African margin of the South Atlantic Ocean. The δ18O values derived from inoceramids show a long-term increase from –3.2‰ in the Late Turonian to values between –0.8 and –1.8‰ in the Late Campanian. Assuming a constant oceanic δ18O value, an ∼2‰ increase may reflect cooling of the shallow marine environment at Bentiaba by approximately 10°. Bentiaba values are offset by about +1‰ from published records for bathyal Inoceramus at Walvis Ridge. This offset in δ18O values suggests a temperature difference of ∼5° between coastal and deeper water offshore Angola. Cooler temperatures implied by the δ18O curve at Bentiaba coincide with the stratigraphic distribution of diverse marine amniotes, including mosasaurs, at Bentiaba.

Strganac, C., Jacobs L. L., Polcyn M. J., Ferguson K. M., Mateus O., Gon?alves A. O., Morais M. - L., & da Silva Tavares T. (2014).  Stable oxygen isotope chemostratigraphy and paleotemperature regime of mosasaurs at Bentiaba, Angola. Geologie en Mijnbouw/Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 94, 137-143., Number 1 Abstract
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Schulp, A. S., Polcyn M. J., Mateus O., & Jacobs L. L. (2013).  Two rare mosasaurs from the Maastrichtian of Angola and the Netherlands. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences — Geologie en Mijnbouw. 92(1), 3-10. Abstractschulp_et_al_2013_two_rare_mosasaurs_from_the_maastrichtian_of_angola__njg-92-1-schulp.pdf

We report here the addition of two rare mosasaur taxa to the Maastrichtian marine amniote fauna of Angola. The new specimens include a dentary fragment referable to the large carnivore Prognathodon saturator and an isolated tooth of the small durophage Carinodens belgicus. Both were recovered from Maastrichtian outcrops in southern Angola in 2011. Additionally, a complete posterior mandibular unit of a large mosasaur from the type Maastrichtian of The Netherlands, collected some time prior to 1879 and previously identified as ‘Mosasaurus giganteus’, is described and reassigned here to Prognathodon saturator; historical issues surrounding the taxonomic attribution of this specimen are clarified. The new material extends the known geographic distribution of Prognathodon saturator and Carinodens belgicus.

Schulp, A. S., Polcyn M. J., Mateus O., & Jacobs L. L. (2013).  Two rare mosasaurs from the Maastrichtian of Angola and the Netherlands. Geologie en Mijnbouw/Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 92, 3-10., Number 1 Abstract
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Jackson, Y., Economos R., Jacobs L., Mateus O., & Gonçalves A. O. (2021).  When Dinosaurs Walked Through Diamonds: Constraining the Age of Early Cretaceous Footprints in Volcanic Crater Sediments. SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research. 6(1), : DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.25172/jour.6.1.1 Available at: https://scholar.smu … Abstractwhen_dinosaurs_walked_through_diamonds.pdf

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