Polcyn, M. J., Bardet N., Amaghzaz M., Gon{\c c}alves O. A., Jourani E., Kaddumi H. F., Lindgren J., Mateus O., Meslouhf S., Morais M. L., Pereda-Suberbiola X., Schulp A. S., Vincent P., & Jacobs L. L.
(2016).
An extremely derived plioplatecarpine mosasaur from the Maastrichtian of Africa and the Middle East.
5th Triennial Mosasaur Meeting- a global perspective on Mesozoic marine amniotes. 16-20, May 16-20, 2016., Uppsala, Sweden: Museum of Evolutiom, Uppsala University.
Abstract
Polcyn, M. J., Jacobs L. L., Schulp A. S., & Mateus O.
(2015).
Trolling the Cretaceous Seas: Marine Amniotes of Two West Coast Margins.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. 55.: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 47, No. 4, p.55
AbstractIn this session we review the Upper Cretaceous marine amniote records from the west coasts of North America and Africa. Recent work by our group in Angola, on the west coast of Africa, has opened up new fossiliferous localities, producing well-preserved turtles, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs, ranging in age from Late Turonian to Late Maastrichtian. These African localities were deposited in arid latitudes and highly productive upwelling zones along the passive margin of a growing South Atlantic Ocean. The fossil record of Cretaceous marine amniotes from the West Coast of North America is relatively meager when compared to the African record and the prolific fossil beds laid down in the epicontinental seas of the Western Interior Seaway and northern Europe. Nonetheless, these localities provide an important glimpse of a marine ecosystem that developed on the active margins of a deep ocean basin. Historically considered to be depauperate and endemic, the west coast fauna was characterized by unusual forms such as Plotosaurus, arguably one of the most derived mosasaurs; however, in recent years, additional taxa have been described, revealing species diversity and ecological partitioning within these communities and in some cases, faunal interchange with other regions. The large quantity of well-preserved fossils from the west coast of Africa is influenced in part by its paleogeographic position, deposited within highly productive areas of Hadley Cell controlled upwelling zones. By contrast, the North American west coast localities have been deposited in temperate and higher latitudes since the Late Cretaceous. Nonetheless, the North American and African faunas share some common characteristics in a possessing a mix of endemic and more cosmopolitan forms. Habitat partitioning reflected in tooth form and body size is comparable between the Angolan and the North American west coast, and there is remarkable convergence in taxa which appear to exploit certain like-niches.
Polcyn, M. J., Bardet N., Amaghzaz M., Gonçalves O. A., Jourani E., Kaddumi H. F., Lindgren J., Mateus O., Meslouhf S., Morais M. L., Pereda-Suberbiola X., Schulp A. S., Vincent P., & Jacobs L. L.
(2016).
An extremely derived plioplatecarpine mosasaur from the Maastrichtian of Africa and the Middle East.
5th Triennial Mosasaur Meeting- a global perspective on Mesozoic marine amniotes. 16-20(May 16-20, 2016), May 16-20, 2016., Uppsala, Sweden: Museum of Evolutiom, Uppsala University.
Abstract
Polcyn, M. J., Bardet N., Amaghzaz M., Gon\{\c c\}alves O. A., Jourani E., Kaddumi H. F., Lindgren J., Mateus O., Meslouhf S., Morais M. L., Pereda-Suberbiola X., Schulp A. S., Vincent P., & Jacobs L. L.
(2016).
An extremely derived plioplatecarpine mosasaur from the Maastrichtian of Africa and the Middle East.
5th Triennial Mosasaur Meeting- a global perspective on Mesozoic marine amniotes. 16-20, May 16-20, 2016., Uppsala, Sweden
Abstractn/a
Polcyn, {M. J. }, Jacobs {L. L. }, Schulp {A. S. }, & Mateus O.
(2015).
Trolling the Cretaceous Seas: Marine Amniotes of Two West Coast Margins.
: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 47, No. 4, p.55
AbstractIn this session we review the Upper Cretaceous marine amniote records from the west coasts of North America and Africa. Recent work by our group in Angola, on the west coast of Africa, has opened up new fossiliferous localities, producing well-preserved turtles, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs, ranging in age from Late Turonian to Late Maastrichtian. These African localities were deposited in arid latitudes and highly productive upwelling zones along the passive margin of a growing South Atlantic Ocean. The fossil record of Cretaceous marine amniotes from the West Coast of North America is relatively meager when compared to the African record and the prolific fossil beds laid down in the epicontinental seas of the Western Interior Seaway and northern Europe. Nonetheless, these localities provide an important glimpse of a marine ecosystem that developed on the active margins of a deep ocean basin. Historically considered to be depauperate and endemic, the west coast fauna was characterized by unusual forms such as Plotosaurus, arguably one of the most derived mosasaurs; however, in recent years, additional taxa have been described, revealing species diversity and ecological partitioning within these communities and in some cases, faunal interchange with other regions. The large quantity of well-preserved fossils from the west coast of Africa is influenced in part by its paleogeographic position, deposited within highly productive areas of Hadley Cell controlled upwelling zones. By contrast, the North American west coast localities have been deposited in temperate and higher latitudes since the Late Cretaceous. Nonetheless, the North American and African faunas share some common characteristics in a possessing a mix of endemic and more cosmopolitan forms. Habitat partitioning reflected in tooth form and body size is comparable between the Angolan and the North American west coast, and there is remarkable convergence in taxa which appear to exploit certain like-niches.
Polcyn, M. J., Jacobs L. L., Strganac C., Mateus O., Myers T. S., May S., Araújo R., Schulp A. S., & Morais M. L.
(2014).
Geological and paleoecological setting of a marine vertebrate bonebed from the Lower Maastrichtian at Bentiaba, Angola.
Secondary Adaptation of Tetrapods to Aquatic Life. , 2-4 Jun 2014, Washington DC, USA
Polcyn, M., Jacobs L., Schulp A., & Mateus O.
(2007).
Halisaurus (Squamata: Mosasauridae) from the Maastrichtian of Angola.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27(Suppl. to 3), 130A., Jan: Museu Lourinha, So Methodist Univ, Nat Hist Museum Maastricht
AbstractRecent fieldwork in the Namibe province in southern Angola yielded cranial and postcranial elements of at least two individuals of the rare and enigmatic mosasaur Halisaurus from a single small excavation. The genus Halisaurus is unique in retaining a primitive configuration of the temporal arcade, specifically a broad, vertically oriented contact between the parietal and the supratemporal. The supratemporal is broadly sutured to the opisthotic and prootic, unlike the condition in varanoids in which the simple lunate element lies between the parietal ramus and the squamosal and does not form a sutural contact with the opisthotic or prootic, but as in other halisaurines retains a plesiomorphic, vertically oriented contact with the parietal rami. The squamosal is lightly built and broadly arched as in Varanus. Comparison with known halisaurines indicates the new material is referable to the species Halisaurus arambourgi.
The locality that yielded the new specimens has also yielded a large number of isolated teeth, bones, articulated, and associated skeletons of Mosasaurus, Prognathodon, Globidens, and Plioplatecarpus, which with Halisaurus comprise a mosasaur assemblage most similar to that reported from the Maastrichtian of Morocco.
Polcyn, M. W., Jacobs L. L., Schulp A. S., & Mateus O.
(2007).
The mosasaurs of Angola.
Second Mosasaur Meeting. 21., Hays, Kansas: Sternberg Museum
AbstractAlthough occurrences of marine reptiles have been previously reported from Angola, with the exception of two Turonian taxa, these reports were based largely on isolated teeth. Fieldwork in 2005 and 2006 yielded well-preserved remains of marine reptiles including plesiosaurs, turtles, and mosasaurs. The mosasaurs discussed here were recovered from two field areas: Turonian sediments at Iembe along the north coast and Maastrichtian sediments at Bentiaba on the south coast. The Turonian section near Iembe produced at least two new specimens of Angolasaurus bocagei and one fragmentary specimen of Tylosaurus iembeensis. One of the Angolasaurus specimens is represented by a well preserved, complete and articulated skull and partial postcrania, including portions of the forelimbs and pectoral girdle. The preservation of material from the Bentiaba locality is remarkable due to the grain support of the entombing sandstone, which preserves fine anatomical details with little apparent crushing, and in the number of articulated, semi-articulated, and associated skeletons. Identifications from the field and preliminary preparation show the Bentiaba mosasaur fauna is represented by at least five genera including Mosasaurus, Prognathodon, Globidens, Plioplatecarpus and Halisaurus. Collectively, these new specimens greatly expand our knowledge of the anatomy and systematics of Angolan mosasaurs.