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V.—On the Origin of the Mosasaurs
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 May 2009
Extract
Concerning the origin of the Mosasaurs three altogether different views exist: G. Baur regarded the Mosasaurs as highly specialized aquatic Varanoids; Boulenger is inclined to trace their origin back to the Neocomian Dolichosaurs; and Osborn, in a recent paper, doubts that Varanids and Mosasaurs sprang from a common stem, and regards the latter as “a very ancient offshoot of the Lacertilia.” Some Lacertilia found in recent years in the Lower Cretaceous of Dalmatia, and not yet fully compared with the Mosasaurs, will, I believe, throw fresh light on this subject. Among the fossil Lacertilia found in Dalmatia two types can be distinguished, namely, Dolichosaurs and Aigialosaurs, the former including the genera Dolichosaurus Owen, Pontosaurus Gorjanovic-Kramberger (= Hydrosaurus lesinensis, Kornh.), Acteosaurus Meyer, and Adriosaurus Seeley; the latter, Aigialosaurus G. Kramberger, Garsosaurus Kornh., Opetiosaurus Kornh., and perhaps also Mesoleptos Cornaglia.
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page 120 note 1 This classification does not correspond with the one given by Gorjanovie-Kramberger
page 121 note 1 It cannot be certainly known whether the pterygoids of the Aigialosaurs bore teeth, but I am inclined to believe they did, since in Opetiosaurus the crown of a tooth lying near the hyoid bone (= columella of Kornhuber) seems to differ in size both from the mandibular and (presumably also) maxillary teeth of this animal.
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