MAASTRICHTIAN MARINE REPTILES, NEW VOLUME

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

Have done a quick search of the DML archives and the 
following does not seem to have been mentioned, so here 
we go. The following new volume arrived this week...

Mulder, E. W. A. 2003. _On Latest Cretaceous Tetrapods 
from the Maastrichtian Type Area_. Publicaties van het 
Natuurhistorisch Genootschap in Limburg, Reeks XLIV, 
aflevering 1. Stichting Natuurpublicaties Limburg, 
Maastricht, pp. 188.

Basically this volume is a collection of ten papers on the 
Maastrichtian fossil tetrapods. If you have been collecting 
all of Mulder's papers then none of this will be new (though 
there are some updates and new information in some 
sections), but given that most workers won't have access to 
all of them, publishing all of them together is a good idea. It 
also means that these papers are now easily accessible for 
lay researchers and amateurs, many of whom may have 
difficulties in getting hold of the technical literature. The 
contents are...

-- Prologue: Maastricht Cretaceous finds and Dutch 
pioneers in vertebrate palaeontology. Mulder, E. W. A.

A historical review covering early interpretations of the first 
mosasaur and Winkler's pioneering work on _Allopleuron_.

-- Pre-Maastrichtian tetrapods from the Maastricht area: the 
oldest tylosaurine mosasaur (Reptilia: Squamata) from the 
Late Cretaceous of Belgium; Hermann von Meyer (1860) 
revisited. Mulder, E. W. A. & Mai, H.

First published in 1999, this revised version of that work is 
a reanalysis of the Belgian mosasaur parietal described by 
von Meyer in 1860. It is referable to _Hainosaurus_ and is 
termed _Hainosaurus cf. bernardi_.

-- Comparative osteology, palaeocology and systematics of 
the Late Cretaceous turtle _Allopleuron hofmanni_ (Gray 
1831) from the Maastrichtian type area. Mulder, E. W. A.

This is the definitive work on _Allopleuron_, a chelonioid 
probably close to the clade that includes _Syllomus_ and 
extant cheloniines. With a rather flat carapace (recalling that 
of extant _Natator_) and a surprisingly long tail, I think 
_Allopleuron_ looks odd. It appears to have been restricted 
to areas where sea grasses grew and conceivably co-evolved 
with these plants.

-- Elasmosaur remains from the Maastrichtian type area, and 
a review of the latest Cretaceous elasmosaurs (Reptilia, 
Plesiosauria). Mulder, E. W. A., Bardet, N., Godefriot, P. & 
Jagt, J. W. M.

This paper reviews global Maastrichtian elasmosaurid 
occurrences. It is significant in showing that elasmosaurids 
were 'still widespread and diversified during the late(st) 
Maastrichtian' (p. 99).

-- Thoracosaurine vertebrae (Crocodylia: Crocodylidae) 
from the Maastrichtian type area. Mulder, E. W. A.

Vertebrae referred to _Thoracosaurus_ are known from 
Maastrichtian Belgium and suggest that thoracosaurines 
could migrate between the coastal waters of NW Europe 
and N. America by swimming across the narrow North 
Atlantic.

-- Dinosaur remains from the type Maastrichtian. Mulder, E. 
W. A., Dortangs, R. W., Jagt, J. W. M., Jianu, J. W. M., 
Kuypers, M. M. M., Peeters, H. H. G., Schulp, A. S. & 
Weishampel, D. B.

Assorted vertebrae, teeth, femora and other materials from 
the Maastrichtian type area belong to indeterminate 
hadrosaurids with the exception of _Megalosaurus bredai_. 
What this is remains uncertain but, as noted in Chapter 10, 
suggestions include ornithomimid (Russell 1972), abelisaur 
(Le Loeuff 1992), and dryptosaur (Carpenter et al. 1997).

-- A large new mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous of The 
Netherlands. Dortangs, R. W., Schulp, A. S., Mulder, E. W. 
A., Jagt, W. M., Peeters, H. H. G. de Graaf, D. Th.

This is the description of _Prognathodon saturator_, also 
known technically as The Chunky Mother (joke). The type 
specimen was scavenged by sharks. Dan Varner did the art.

-- Transatlantic latest Cretaceous mosasaurs (Reptilia: 
Squamata) from the Maastrichtian type area and New 
Jersey. Mulder, E. W. A.

Mulder argues that American _Mosaurus maximus_ is 
conspecific with _M. hoffmanni_. This was initially 
published in 1999 (check the DML archives if you need 
more info).

-- On the alleged presence of _Halisaurus_ (Squamata, 
Mosasauridae) in the latest Cretaceous of of the 
Maastrichtian type area. Mulder, E. W. A.

Lingham-Soliar (1996) reported two _Halisaurus_ vertebrae 
from Maastricht but without justifying this referral. 
Examination shows that this referral cannot be supported 
and they probably belong to _Plioplatecarpus marshi_.

-- Co-ossified vertebrae of mosasaurs and cetaceans: 
implications for the mode of locomotion of extinct marine 
reptiles. Mulder, E. W. A.

This is a reprinting of the paper of the same name from 
_Paleobiology_ 27 (2001). Infectious spondylitis and 
ligamentous ossification both occurred in mosasaurs. The 
latter occurs also in whales and this offers strong support 
for caudal-propelled locomotion in mosasaurs analogous to 
that of cetaceans. Because _Plioplatecarpus_ exhibits these 
vertebral fusions this is another nail in the coffin of 
Lingham-Soliar's model of underwater flight for this taxon.

-- Stratigraphic distribution of Late Cretaceous marine and 
terrestrial reptiles from the Maastrichtian type area. Mulder, 
E. W. A., Jagt, W. M., Kuypers, M. M. M., Peeters, H. H. 
G. & Rompen, P.

As it says, a review of stratigraphic distribution.

-- Epilogue: the Maastricht sea as a tetrapod habitat. 
Mulder, E. W. A.

An overview of the palaeoecology and faunal diversity of 
the Maastricht sea.

If you are into marine reptiles, or the fossils of the type 
Maastrichtian, this volume is a must, even if you do already 
own all of the papers reprinted here. Queries for ordering it 
can be sent to: Publicatiebureau@nhgl.org

I don't know the price.

-- 
Darren Naish
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
University of Portsmouth UK, PO1 3QL

email: darren.naish@port.ac.uk
tel: 023 92846045