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A new elasmosaurid from the early Maastrichtian of Angola and the implications of girdle morphology on swimming style in plesiosaurs

2015; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 94; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/njg.2014.44

1573-9708

Ricardo Araújo, Michael J. Polcyn, Anne S. Schulp, Octávio Mateus, Louis L. Jacobs, António Olímpio Gonçalves, M.-L. Morais,

Amphibian and Reptile Biology

Abstract We report here a new elasmosaurid from the early Maastrichtian at Bentiaba, southern Angola. Phylogenetic analysis places the new taxon as the sister taxon to Styxosaurus snowii , and that clade as the sister of a clade composed of ( Hydrotherosaurus alexandrae ( Libonectes morgani + Elasmosaurus platyurus )). The new taxon has a reduced dorsal blade of the scapula, a feature unique amongst elasmosaurids, but convergent with cryptoclidid plesiosaurs, and indicates a longitudinal protraction-retraction limb cycle rowing style with simple pitch rotation at the glenohumeral articulation. Morphometric phylogenetic analysis of the coracoids of 40 eosauropterygian taxa suggests that there was a broad range of swimming styles within the clade.