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Two rare mosasaurs from the Maastrichtian of Angola and the Netherlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2014

A.S. Schulp*
Affiliation:
Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht, De Bosquetplein 6-7, 6211 KJ Maastricht, the Netherlands Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
M.J. Polcyn
Affiliation:
Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX75275, USA
O. Mateus
Affiliation:
CICEGe, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Monte de Caparica, Portugal Museu da Lourinhã, Rua João Luis de Moura 95, 2530-158 Lourinhã, Portugal
L.L. Jacobs
Affiliation:
Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX75275, USA

Abstract

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We report here the addition of two rare mosasaur taxa to the Maastrichtian marine amniote fauna of Angola, both of which are also found in northern Europe. The new specimens include a dentary fragment referable to the large carnivore Prognathodon cf. saturator and an isolated tooth of the small durophage Carinodens belgicus. Both were recovered from Maastrichtian outcrops in southern Angola in 2011. Additionally, a complete posterior mandibular unit of a large mosasaur from the type Maastrichtian of the Netherlands, collected some time prior to 1879 and previously identified as ‘Mosasaurus giganteus’, is described and reassigned here to Prognathodon saturator; historical issues surrounding the taxonomic attribution of this specimen are clarified. The new material extends the known geographic distribution of Prognathodon saturator and Carinodens belgicus.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2013

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