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Smart S, Sakamoto M. Using linear measurements to diagnose the ecological habitat of Spinosaurus. PeerJ 2024; 12:e17544. [PMID: 38881866 PMCID: PMC11180429 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Much of the ecological discourse surrounding the polarising theropod Spinosaurus has centred on qualitative discussions. Using a quantitative multivariate data analytical approach on size-adjusted linear measurements of the skull, we examine patterns in skull shape across a range of sauropsid clades and three ecological realms (terrestrial, semi-aquatic, and aquatic). We utilise cluster analyses to identify emergent properties of the data which associate properties of skull shape with ecological realm occupancy. Results revealed terrestrial ecologies to be significantly distinct from both semi- and fully aquatic ecologies, the latter two were not significantly different. Spinosaurids (including Spinosaurus) plotted away from theropods in morphospace and close to both marine taxa and wading birds. The position of nares and the degree of rostral elongation had the greatest effect on categorisation. Comparisons of supervised (k-means) and unsupervised clustering demonstrated categorising taxa into three groups (ecological realms) was inappropriate and suggested instead that cluster division is based on morphological adaptations to feeding on aquatic versus terrestrial food items. The relative position of the nares in longirostrine taxa is associated with which skull bones are elongated. Rostral elongation is observed by either elongating the maxilla and the premaxilla or by elongating the maxilla only. This results in the nares positioned towards the orbits or towards the anterior end of the rostrum respectively, with implications on available feeding methods. Spinosaurids, especially Spinosaurus, show elongation in the maxilla-premaxilla complex, achieving similar functional outcomes to elongation of the premaxilla seen in birds, particularly large-bodied piscivorous taxa. Such a skull construction would bolster "stand-and-wait" predation of aquatic prey to a greater extent than serving other proposed feeding methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean Smart
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Manabu Sakamoto
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
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2
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Sachs S, Madzia D, Thuy B, Kear BP. The rise of macropredatory pliosaurids near the Early-Middle Jurassic transition. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17558. [PMID: 37845269 PMCID: PMC10579310 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43015-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of gigantic pliosaurid plesiosaurs reshaped the trophic structure of Mesozoic marine ecosystems, and established an ~ 80 million-year (Ma) dynasty of macropredatory marine reptiles. However, the timescale of their 'defining' trait evolution is incompletely understood because the fossil record of gigantic pliosaurids is scarce prior to the late-Middle Jurassic (Callovian), ~ 165.3 Ma. Here, we pinpoint the appearance of large body size and robust dentitions to early-Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) pliosaurids from northeastern France and Switzerland. These specimens include a new genus that sheds light on the nascent diversification of macropredatory pliosaurids occurring shortly after the Early-Middle Jurassic transition, around ~ 171 Ma. Furthermore, our multivariate assessment of dental character states shows that the first gigantic pliosaurids occupied different morphospace from coeval large-bodied rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs, which were dominant in the Early Jurassic but declined during the mid-Jurassic, possibly facilitating the radiation and subsequent ecomorph acme of pliosaurids. Finally, we posit that while the emergence of macropredatory pliosaurids was apparently coordinated with regional faunal turnover in the epeiric basins of Europe, it paralleled a globally protracted extinction of other higher trophic-level marine reptiles that was not completed until after the earliest-Late Jurassic, ~ 161.5 Ma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sven Sachs
- Abteilung Geowissenschaften, Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld, Adenauerplatz 2, 33602, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Daniel Madzia
- Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00818, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Ben Thuy
- Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum Luxembourg, 25, rue Münster, 2160, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
| | - Benjamin P Kear
- The Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 16, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
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3
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Wilson LE. Rapid growth in Late Cretaceous sea turtles reveals life history strategies similar to extant leatherbacks. PeerJ 2023; 11:e14864. [PMID: 36793890 PMCID: PMC9924133 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Modern sea turtle long bone osteohistology has been surprisingly well-studied, as it is used to understand sea turtle growth and the timing of life history events, thus informing conservation decisions. Previous histologic studies reveal two distinct bone growth patterns in extant sea turtle taxa, with Dermochelys (leatherbacks) growing faster than the cheloniids (all other living sea turtles). Dermochelys also has a unique life history compared to other sea turtles (large size, elevated metabolism, broad biogeographic distribution, etc.) that is likely linked to bone growth strategies. Despite the abundance of data on modern sea turtle bone growth, extinct sea turtle osteohistology is virtually unstudied. Here, long bone microstructure of the large, Cretaceous sea turtle Protostega gigas is examined to better understand its life history. Humeral and femoral analysis reveals bone microstructure patterns similar to Dermochelys with variable but sustained rapid growth through early ontogeny. Similarities between Progostegea and Dermochelys osteohistology suggest similar life history strategies like elevated metabolic rates with rapid growth to large body size and sexual maturity. Comparison to the more basal protostegid Desmatochelys indicates elevated growth rates are not present throughout the entire Protostegidae, but evolved in larger and more derived taxa, possibly in response to Late Cretaceous ecological changes. Given the uncertainties in the phylogenetic placement of the Protostegidae, these results either support convergent evolution towards rapid growth and elevated metabolism in both derived protostegids and dermochelyids, or a close evolutionary relationship between the two taxa. Better understanding the evolution and diversity of sea turtle life history strategies during the Late Cretaceous greenhouse climate can also impact current sea turtle conservation decisions.
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MacLaren JA, Bennion RF, Bardet N, Fischer V. Global ecomorphological restructuring of dominant marine reptiles prior to the Cretaceous-Palaeogene mass extinction. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220585. [PMID: 35611532 PMCID: PMC9130788 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Mosasaurid squamates were the dominant amniote predators in marine ecosystems during most of the Late Cretaceous. Here, we use a suite of biomechanically rooted, functionally descriptive ratios in a framework adapted from population ecology to investigate how the morphofunctional disparity of mosasaurids evolved prior to the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K/Pg) mass extinction. Our results suggest that taxonomic turnover in mosasaurid community composition from Campanian to Maastrichtian is reflected by a notable global increase in morphofunctional disparity, especially driving the North American record. Ecomorphospace occupation becomes polarized during the Late Maastrichtian, with morphofunctional disparity plateauing in the Southern Hemisphere and decreasing in the Northern Hemisphere. We show that these changes are not strongly associated with mosasaurid size, but rather with the functional capacities of their skulls. Our novel approach indicates that mosasaurid morphofunctional disparity was in decline in multiple provincial communities before the K/Pg mass extinction, highlighting region-specific patterns of disparity evolution and the importance of assessing vertebrate extinctions both globally and locally. Ecomorphological differentiation in mosasaurid communities, coupled with declines in other formerly abundant marine reptile groups, indicates widespread restructuring of higher trophic levels in marine food webs was well underway when the K/Pg mass extinction took place.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie A. MacLaren
- Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, UR Geology, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium,Functional Morphology Lab, Department of Biology, Universiteit Antwerpen, Gebouw D, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein 1, Wilrijk, Antwerpen 2610, Belgium
| | - Rebecca F. Bennion
- Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, UR Geology, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium,O.D Terre et Histoire de la Vie, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Rue Vautier 29, Brussels 1000, Belgium
| | - Nathalie Bardet
- CR2P – Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie de Paris, UMR 7207 CNRS-MNHN-SU, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 Rue Cuvier, CP38, Paris 75005, France
| | - Valentin Fischer
- Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, UR Geology, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium
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Chiarenza AA, Fabbri M, Consorti L, Muscioni M, Evans DC, Cantalapiedra JL, Fanti F. An Italian dinosaur Lagerstätte reveals the tempo and mode of hadrosauriform body size evolution. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23295. [PMID: 34857789 PMCID: PMC8640049 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02490-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
During the latest Cretaceous, the European Archipelago was characterized by highly fragmented landmasses hosting putative dwarfed, insular dinosaurs, claimed as fossil evidence of the “island rule”. The Villaggio del Pescatore quarry (north-eastern Italy) stands as the most informative locality within the palaeo-Mediterranean region and represents the first, multi-individual Konservat-Lagerstätte type dinosaur-bearing locality in Italy. The site is here critically re-evaluated as early Campanian in age, thus preceding the final fragmentation stages of the European Archipelago, including all other European localities preserving hypothesized dwarfed taxa. New skeletal remains allowed osteohistological analyses on the hadrosauroid Tethyshadros insularis indicating subadult features in the type specimen whereas a second, herein newly described, larger individual is likely somatically mature. A phylogenetic comparative framework places the body-size of T. insularis in range with other non-hadrosaurid Eurasian hadrosauroids, rejecting any significant evolutionary trend towards miniaturisation in this clade, confuting its ‘pygmy’ status, and providing unmatched data to infer environmentally-driven body-size trends in Mesozoic dinosaurs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Matteo Fabbri
- Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA
| | - Lorenzo Consorti
- Department of Mathematics and Geosciences, University of Trieste, 34128, Trieste, Italy.,Geological Survey of Italy (ISPRA), 00144, Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Muscioni
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Alma Mater Studiorum, Università Di Bologna, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - David C Evans
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3B2, Canada.,Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, M5S 2C6, Canada
| | - Juan L Cantalapiedra
- GloCEE-Global Change Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, 28801, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Federico Fanti
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Alma Mater Studiorum, Università Di Bologna, 40126, Bologna, Italy
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Marx MP, Mateus O, Polcyn MJ, Schulp AS, Gonçalves AO, Jacobs LL. The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0255773. [PMID: 34403433 PMCID: PMC8370651 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
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 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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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel P. Marx
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, ISEM at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States of America
- GeoBioTec + Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
- Museu da Lourinhã, Lourinhã, Portugal
| | - Octávio Mateus
- GeoBioTec + Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
- Museu da Lourinhã, Lourinhã, Portugal
| | - Michael J. Polcyn
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, ISEM at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States of America
| | - Anne S. Schulp
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - A. Olímpio Gonçalves
- Departamento de Geologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade Agostinho Neto, Luanda, Angola
| | - Louis L. Jacobs
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, ISEM at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States of America
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7
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Bastiaans D, Madzia D, Carrillo-Briceño JD, Sachs S. Equatorial pliosaurid from Venezuela marks the youngest South American occurrence of the clade. Sci Rep 2021; 11:15501. [PMID: 34326353 PMCID: PMC8322105 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94515-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Pliosaurids were the dominant macropredators in aquatic environments at least since the Middle Jurassic until their extinction in the early Late Cretaceous. Until very recently, the Cretaceous record of Pliosauridae has been poor and difficult to interpret from the taxonomic and phylogenetic perspective. Despite that the knowledge of Cretaceous pliosaurids improved in recent years, numerous aspects of their evolutionary history still remain only poorly known. Here, we report the first pliosaurid material from Venezuela. The taxon is most likely earliest Cenomanian in age, thus representing the youngest occurrence of Pliosauridae from South America. The Venezuelan taxon is based on a well-preserved tooth crown whose morphology and outer enamel structural elements appear to resemble especially those observable in the giant pliosaurid Sachicasaurus vitae from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia. The new discovery extends the pliosaurid record on the continent by more than 10 million years and likely marks the southernmost Upper Cretaceous occurrence of Pliosauridae, worldwide. We also briefly discuss the affinities of the enigmatic Venezuelan elasmosaurid Alzadasaurus tropicus and highlight similarities to elasmosaurids from the Western Interior Seaway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dylan Bastiaans
- grid.7400.30000 0004 1937 0650Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Zürich, Karl-Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Madzia
- grid.413454.30000 0001 1958 0162Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland
| | - Jorge D. Carrillo-Briceño
- grid.7400.30000 0004 1937 0650Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Zürich, Karl-Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Sven Sachs
- Abteilung Geowissenschaften, Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld, Adenauerplatz 2, 33602 Bielefeld, Germany
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8
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Motani R, Vermeij GJ. Ecophysiological steps of marine adaptation in extant and extinct non-avian tetrapods. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:1769-1798. [PMID: 33904243 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 04/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Marine reptiles and mammals are phylogenetically so distant from each other that their marine adaptations are rarely compared directly. We reviewed ecophysiological features in extant non-avian marine tetrapods representing 31 marine colonizations to test whether there is a common pattern across higher taxonomic groups, such as mammals and reptiles. Marine adaptations in tetrapods can be roughly divided into aquatic and haline adaptations, each of which seems to follow a sequence of three steps. In combination, these six categories exhibit five steps of marine adaptation that apply across all clades except snakes: Step M1, incipient use of marine resources; Step M2, direct feeding in the saline sea; Step M3, water balance maintenance without terrestrial fresh water; Step M4, minimized terrestrial travel and loss of terrestrial feeding; and Step M5, loss of terrestrial thermoregulation and fur/plumage. Acquisition of viviparity is not included because there is no known case where viviparity evolved after a tetrapod lineage colonized the sea. A similar sequence is found in snakes but with the haline adaptation step (Step M3) lagging behind aquatic adaptation (haline adaptation is Step S5 in snakes), most likely because their unique method of water balance maintenance requires a supply of fresh water. The same constraint may limit the maximum body size of fully marine snakes. Steps M4 and M5 in all taxa except snakes are associated with skeletal adaptations that are mechanistically linked to relevant ecophysiological features, allowing assessment of marine adaptation steps in some fossil marine tetrapods. We identified four fossil clades containing members that reached Step M5 outside of stem whales, pinnipeds, sea cows and sea turtles, namely Eosauropterygia, Ichthyosauromorpha, Mosasauroidea, and Thalattosuchia, while five other clades reached Step M4: Saurosphargidae, Placodontia, Dinocephalosaurus, Desmostylia, and Odontochelys. Clades reaching Steps M4 and M5, both extant and extinct, appear to have higher species diversity than those only reaching Steps M1 to M3, while the total number of clades is higher for the earlier steps. This suggests that marine colonizers only diversified greatly after they minimized their use of terrestrial resources, with many lineages not reaching these advanced steps. Historical patterns suggest that a clade does not advance to Steps M4 and M5 unless these steps are reached early in the evolution of the clade. Intermediate forms before a clade reached Steps M4 and M5 tend to become extinct without leaving extant descendants or fossil evidence. This makes it difficult to reconstruct the evolutionary history of marine adaptation in many clades. Clades that reached Steps M4 and M5 tend to last longer than other marine tetrapod clades, sometimes for more than 100 million years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryosuke Motani
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, U.S.A
| | - Geerat J Vermeij
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, U.S.A
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Fischer V, Zverkov NG, Arkhangelsky MS, Stenshin IM, Blagovetshensky IV, Uspensky GN. A new elasmosaurid plesiosaurian from the Early Cretaceous of Russia marks an early attempt at neck elongation. Zool J Linn Soc 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Plesiosaurian marine reptiles evolved a wide range of body shapes during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, including long-necked forms. Many Late Cretaceous members of the clade Elasmosauridae epitomized this part of the plesiosaurian morphological spectrum by evolving extremely long necks through somitogenesis (resulting in an increase in the number of cervical centra) and differential growth (resulting in the elongation of cervical centra). However, the early evolution of elasmosaurids remains poorly understood because of a generally poor Lower Cretaceous fossil record. We describe a new elasmosaurid, Jucha squalea gen. et sp. nov., from the upper Hauterivian (Lower Cretaceous) of Ulyanovsk (European Russia), in addition to other elasmosaurid remains from the same area. Jucha squalea is one of the oldest and basalmost elasmosaurids known and lacks a series of features that otherwise characterize the group, such as the heart-shaped intercoracoid fenestra and the median pectoral bar. However, Jucha squalea marks an early attempt at cervical elongation through differential growth. The data we gathered on the shape of cervical centra among elasmosaurids suggest multiple episodes of elongation and shortening. However, the precise patterns are obscured by an unstable phylogenetic signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin Fischer
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, Allée du 6 Août, Liège, Belgium
| | - Nikolay G Zverkov
- Borissiak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Maxim S Arkhangelsky
- Department of General Geology and Minerals, Saratov State University, Saratov, Russia
- Department of Geoecology and Engineering Geology, Saratov State Technical University, Saratov, Russia
| | - Ilya M Stenshin
- Undory Paleontological Museum, Undory, Ulyanovsk Region, Russia
| | - Ivan V Blagovetshensky
- Department of Biology, Ecology and Nature Management, Ulyanovsk State University, Ulyanovsk, Russia
| | - Gleb N Uspensky
- Natural Science Museum, Ulyanovsk State University, Ulyanovsk, Russia
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