Platecarpus

Platecarpus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 84–81 Ma
↓
 Possible late Campanian record [1]
Cast of P. tympaniticus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Clade: †Mosasauria
Family: †Mosasauridae
Clade: †Russellosaurina
Subfamily: †Plioplatecarpinae
Genus: †Platecarpus
Cope, 1869
Species:
†P. tympaniticus
Binomial name
†Platecarpus tympaniticus
Cope, 1869
Synonyms

Platecarpus coryphaeus
Platecarpus ictericus

Platecarpus ("flat wrist") is an extinct genus of aquatic lizards belonging to the mosasaur family, living around 84–81 million years ago during the middle Santonian to early Campanian, of the Late Cretaceous period. Fossils have been found in the United States and possible specimens in Belgium and Africa.[2] A well-preserved specimen of Platecarpus shows that it fed on moderate-sized fish,[3] and it has been hypothesized to have fed on squid, and ammonites as well.[2] Like other mosasaurs, it was initially thought to have swum in an eel-like fashion, although another study suggests that it swam more like modern sharks. An exceptionally well-preserved specimen of P. tympaniticus known as LACM 128319 shows skin impressions, pigments around the nostrils, bronchial tubes, and the presence of a high-profile tail fluke, showing that it and other mosasaurs did not necessarily have an eel-like swimming method, but were more powerful, fast swimmers. It is held in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.[3] Isotopic analysis on teeth specimens has suggested that this genus and Clidastes may have entered freshwater occasionally, just like modern sea snakes.[4]

  1. ^ "Phoebus Landing (Tar Heel) (Cretaceous to of the United States)". PBDB.org.
  2. ^ a b Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.
  3. ^ a b Lindgren, J.; Caldwell, M.W.; Konishi, T.; Chiappe, L.M. (2010). Farke, Andrew Allen (ed.). "Convergent Evolution in Aquatic Tetrapods: Insights from an Exceptional Fossil Mosasaur". PLOS ONE. 5 (8): e11998. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...511998L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011998. PMC 2918493. PMID 20711249.
  4. ^ Taylor, L.T.; Minzoni, R.T.; Suarez, C.A.; Gonzalez, L.A.; Martin, L.D.; Lambert, W.J.; Ehret, D.J.; Harrell, T.L. "Oxygen isotopes from the teeth of Cretaceous marine lizards reveal their migration and consumption of freshwater in the Western Interior Seaway, North America". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 573. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110406.