[dinosaur] Stenorhynchosaurus (Plesiosauria), new skull from Cretaceous of Colombia

Ben Creisler
[email protected]


A new paper:


María E. Páramo-Fonseca, Cristian D. Benavides-Cabra & Ingry E. Gutiérrez
(2019)
A new specimen of Stenorhynchosaurus munozi Páramo-Fonseca et al., 2016
(Plesiosauria, Pliosauridae), from the Barremian of Colombia: new
morphological features and ontogenetic implications.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Article: e1663426 (advance online
publication)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1080_02724634.2019.1663426&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=MtbBp3xyCA6Fh1UCpOPW2BcKBEKxGqrmmmkFX50mEs4&s=rIePe2xOG17uSAIxNtRSW6Wp4PnG3NW3iq-inXCVpSo&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.tandfonline.com_doi_full_10.1080_02724634.2019.1663426&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=MtbBp3xyCA6Fh1UCpOPW2BcKBEKxGqrmmmkFX50mEs4&s=DP6OeXU2FQ27SyKe8RxHUzqU0_hMc-omeVV0MhlAWjI&e= 


A new specimen of Stenorhynchosaurus munozi Páramo-Fonseca et al., 2016
(Plesiosauria, Pliosauridae), found at Sáchica (Boyacá, Colombia) in upper
Barremian beds of the Arcillolitas Abigarradas Member of the Paja
Formation, is described herein. It consists of a complete skull and 10
cervical vertebrae of an adult individual and provides valuable new
morphological information on the species: the presence of nasals covering a
subsurface circular cavity where salt glands were probably lodged (new
autapomorphy), the presence of a high sagittal crest on the parietal, a
very elongated pineal foramen enclosed entirely within the parietals, and
unfused neural arches in the cervical vertebrae. A phylogenetic analysis
supports the inclusion of Stenorhynchosaurus munozi within the pliosaurid
clade Brachaucheninae. A morphological comparison between the juvenile and
adult stages of S. munozi shows that in the adult stage, the margins of the
internal nares and the anterior part of the anterior interpterygoid vacuity
are well ossified, the medial joints of the pterygoids and the mandibular
symphysis are closed, and the atlas and the axis are fused, but the
cervical neural arches remain unfused to the centra. The growth pattern of
the skull dorsal bones differs from that of the palatal elements, but the
relative distance between the external and internal nares remains the same.
A greater longitudinal growth in the skull and a negative allometric
orbital growth pattern results in a proportionally longer skull and
relatively smaller orbits in the adult.

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