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Earliest North American occurrence of Polycotylidae (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Patrick S. Druckenmiller  and
Anthony P. Russell
Patrick S. Druckenmiller
Affiliation:
University of Alaska Museum and University of Alaska Fairbanks Department of Geology and Geophysics, 907 Yukon Dr., Fairbanks 99775,
Anthony P. Russell
Affiliation:
Vertebrate Morphology and Palaeontology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4,
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Extract

The polycotylidae is a family of short-necked (pliosauromorph) plesiosaurs, with examples known from epicontinental marine deposits of every major landmass except Antarctica. Our knowledge of its diversity and distribution has increased tremendously in the last decade, with new material described from North America (Sato, 2005; Albright et al., 2007; Schumacher, 2007; Schmeisser, 2008), South America (Gasparini and de la Fuente, 2000; Salgado et al., 2007), Africa (Bardet et al., 2003; Buchy et al., 2005), and Asia (Sato and Storrs, 2000; Arkhangel'skii et al., 2007). Polycotylid diversity is greatest in the Late Cretaceous, and particularly so in the Turonian; however, knowledge of the group's initial history in the Early Cretaceous is limited to a handful of specimens from North America (Storrs, 1981; Druckenmiller, 2002) and Australia (Kear 2003, 2005).

Type
Paleontological Notes
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 83 , Issue 6 , November 2009 , pp. 981 - 989
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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