Lakumasaurus antarcticus, n.gen. et sp. , a new mosasaur (Reptilia, Squamata) from the Upper Cretaceous of Antarctica

NOVAS,F; FERNÁNDEZ,M.; GASPARINI,Z.; LIRIO, J.; NUÑEZ, H; PUERTA, P.

AMEGHINIANA

Año: 2002 vol. 39 p. 245 - 249

0002-7014

Mosasaurs were large predatory lizards that typically inhabited warm, epicontinental seas during the last 20 million years of the Mesozoci Era. Evidence of their taxonomic diversity derives mainly from significant finds from Late Cretaceous rocks of North America, Europe and northern Africa. In contrast, the mosasaur record from the Southern Hemisphere is partial and much less informative. Mosasaurs remains from Antarctica are mostly limited to isolated teeth and fragmentary bones. Here we report on a new tylosaurine mosasaur, Lakumasausru antarcticus gen. et sp. nov discovered in the Late Cretaceous of James Ross Island, northeast Antarctic Peninsula. Lakumasaurus is the most complete mosasaurs yet recorded in Antractica, thus providing insights on mosasaur diversification in the southern seas.