The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.

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 Cardiocora...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Miguel P Marx, Octávio Mateus, Michael J Polcyn, Anne S Schulp, A Olímpio Gonçalves, Louis L Jacobs
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cc8f0fd1646a4526834d5148845f97af
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:cc8f0fd1646a4526834d5148845f97af
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cc8f0fd1646a4526834d5148845f97af2021-12-02T20:19:36ZThe cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0255773https://doaj.org/article/cc8f0fd1646a4526834d5148845f97af2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255773https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203We 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.Miguel P MarxOctávio MateusMichael J PolcynAnne S SchulpA Olímpio GonçalvesLouis L JacobsPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 8, p e0255773 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Miguel P Marx Octávio Mateus Michael J Polcyn Anne S Schulp A Olímpio Gonçalves Louis L Jacobs The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.
description	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.
format	article
author	Miguel P Marx Octávio Mateus Michael J Polcyn Anne S Schulp A Olímpio Gonçalves Louis L Jacobs
author_facet	Miguel P Marx Octávio Mateus Michael J Polcyn Anne S Schulp A Olímpio Gonçalves Louis L Jacobs
author_sort	Miguel P Marx
title	The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.
title_short	The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.
title_full	The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.
title_fullStr	The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.
title_full_unstemmed	The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.
title_sort	cranial anatomy and relationships of cardiocorax mukulu (plesiosauria: elasmosauridae) from bentiaba, angola.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cc8f0fd1646a4526834d5148845f97af
work_keys_str_mv	AT miguelpmarx thecranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT octaviomateus thecranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT michaeljpolcyn thecranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT annesschulp thecranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT aolimpiogoncalves thecranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT louisljacobs thecranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT miguelpmarx cranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT octaviomateus cranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT michaeljpolcyn cranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT annesschulp cranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT aolimpiogoncalves cranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola AT louisljacobs cranialanatomyandrelationshipsofcardiocoraxmukuluplesiosauriaelasmosauridaefrombentiabaangola
_version_	1718374192494149632

The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola.

Ejemplares similares