Halisaurus platyspondylus Marsh 1869
- Dataset
- A new species of Halisaurus from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco, and the phylogenetical relationships of the Halisaurinae (Squamata: Mosasauridae)
- Rank
- SPECIES
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Chordata
- class
- Reptilia
- order
- Squamata
- family
- Mosasauridae
- genus
- Halisaurus
- species
- Halisaurus platyspondylus
materials_examined
Holotype: YPM 444, two vertebrae, an angular bone (originally described as a splenial) and a basicranium fragment described by Marsh (1869: 395) and figured by Baird (1986). Type locality and horizon. New Egypt Formation, Late Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous), near Hornestown, Monmouth County, New Jersey (USA). Main referred specimens: NJSM 12146, incomplete cranium, Navesink Formation, Late Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous), New Jersey (USA) (Wright, 1988); USNM 442450, incomplete skeleton, Severn Formation, middle Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous), Maryland (USA) (Holmes & Sues, 2000). Emended diagnosis: Autapomorphies: external naris strongly posteriorly inflated; prefrontal with large narial participation and posteriorly located supraorbital ridge; frontal with no anterior ridges; parietal with a smooth triangular table bearing circular foramen located at a distance its length from the suture; quadrate with a narrow and oblique stapedial notch; pterygoid with nine teeth and long palatine process at about 65 ∞ relative to the ectopterygoid process.
Name
- Homonyms
- Halisaurus platyspondylus Marsh 1869