Plioplatecarpinae

Taxobox
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
name = Plioplatecarpines


image_width = 200px
image_caption = Forelimb of "Platecarpus tympaniticus".
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Squamata
familia = Mosasauridae
subfamilia = Plioplatecarpinae
subfamilia_authority = Dollo, 1884Dollo L. 1884. Le mosasaure. "Revue des Questions Scientifiques" XVI:648-653.] ; Williston, 1897Williston SW. 1897. Range and distribution of the mosasaurs with remarks on synonymy. "Kansas University Quarterly" 4 (4): 177-185.]
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision =
* "Platecarpus"
* "Ectenosaurus"
* "Selmasaurus"
* "Igdamanosaurus"
* "Yaguarasaurus"
* "Plioplatecarpus"

Plioplatecarpinae is a subfamily of mosasaurs, a diverse group of late Cretaceous marine squamates.

Russell (1967, pp. 148Russell DA. 1967. Systematics and morphology of American mosasaurs. "Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, Bulletin" 23.] ) defined the Plioplatecarpinae as follows: Small rostrum present or absent anterior to premaxillary teeth. Cranial nerves X, XI, XII leave lateral wall of opisthotic through single foramen. Canal or deep groove in floor of basioccipital and basispehnoid for basilar artery. Suprastapedial process of quadrate large, bluntly terminated and with parallel sides. Dorsal edge of surangular rounded and longitudinally horizontal...Twenty-nine or less presacral vertebrae present. Length of presacral series less than that of postsacral, neural spines of posterior caudal vertebrae at most only slightly elongated, do not form an appreciable fin. Haemal arches usually unfused to caudal centra. Appendicular elements lack smoothly finished articular surfaces."

Genera referrable to the Plioplatecarpinae (informally and collectively known as "plioplatecarpines") have been found on all continents, though the occurrences in Australia remain questionable. The etymology of the subfamily is derived from one of its members, "Plioplatecarpus": Greek "pleion" = "more" + Greek "plate" = "oar" + Greek "karpos" = "wrist, carpus"). In general, plioplatecarpines were short-skulled, short-bodied forms and were among the strongest swimming mosasaurs Fact|date=December 2007. Some workers have likened them to pinnipeds in their agility Fact|date=December 2007. Most forms were likely piscivores ("fish eaters"), though cephalopods (belemnites) evidently formed an important part of the plioplatecarpine diet. Larger forms may have also fed upon smaller marine reptiles. At least one genus evolved sturdy crushing teeth adapted to feeding on shellfish. The plioplatecarpines were medium-sized mosasaurs ranging from 12-25 feet in length. Russell included two tribes, the Plioplatecarpini and Prognathodontini, the latter of which has been reassigned by Bell Bell GL. Jr. 1997. A phylogenetic revision of North American and Adriatic Mosasauroidea. pp. 293-332 In: Callaway JM, Nicholls EL, (eds.), "Ancient Marine Reptiles", Academic Press, 501 pp.] to the Mosasaurinae.

Polcyn and Bell (2005, p. 322 Polcyn MJ, Bell GL. Jr. 2005. "Russellosaurus coheni" n. gen., n. sp., a 92 million-year-old mosasaur from Texas (USA), and the definition of the parafamily Russellosaurina. "Netherlands Journal of Geosciences" 84 (3): 321-333.] ) have erected a more inclusive clade, the parafamily Russellosaurina, which includes the "subfamilies Tylosaurinae and Plioplatecarpini and their sister-clade containing the genera "Tethysaurus", "Russellosaurus", and "Yaguarasaurus"."

The first plioplatecarpines appear in the Turonian and are among the oldest of mosasaurs, and the clade persists throughout the Maastrichtian, a period of approximately 24 million years.

Species and Taxonomy

*Plioplatecarpinae
**Plioplatecarpini
***"Platecarpus" (paraphyletic)
****"P. tympaniticus" (="P. coryphaeus", "P. ictericus" Kiernan CR, 2002. Stratigraphic distribution and habitat segregation of mosasaurs in the Upper Cretaceous of western and central Alabama, with an historical review of Alabama mosasaur discoveries. "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" 22 (1): 91-103.] )
****"P. planifrons"
****"P. bocagei" (="Angolasaurus" Lingham-Soliar T. 1994. The mosasaur "Angolasaurus" bocagei" (Reptilia: Mosasauridae) from the Turonian of Angola re-interpreted as the earliest member of the genus "Platecarpus". "Palaeont. Z." 68 (1/2): 267-282.] )
***"Ectenosaurus"
****"E. clidastoides"
***"Selmasaurus"
****"S. russelli"
***"Igdamanosaurus"
****"I. aegyptiacus"
***"Yaguarasaurus"
****"Y. colombianus"
***"Plioplatecarpus"
****"P. primaevus"
****"P. houzeaui"
****"P. marshii"
****"P. nichollsae"Cuthbertson, R.S., Mallon, J.C., Campione, N.E., and Holmes, R.B. (2007). "A new species of mosasaur (Squamata: Mosasauridae) from the Pierre Shale (lower Campanian) of Manitoba." "Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences", 44: 593-606.]

References