Research paper

New mosasaurid teeth (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Maastrichtian of Albaina (Laño quarry, Condado de Treviño)


NATHALIE BARDET
CR2P, UMR 7207 CNRS-MNHN-UPMC, Département Histoire de la Terre, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CP 38, 8 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France. bardet@mnhn.fr
Corresponding author

GORKA MARTIN
Luberri, Oiartzungo Ikasgune Geologikoa Museoa, Pagoaldea pol. 41-42, 20180 Oiartzun, Pais Vasco, Spain.geoluberri@euskalnet.net

J. CARMELO CORRAL
Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Alava/Arabako Natur Zientzien Museoa, Siervas de Jesús 24, 01001 Vitoria-Gasteiz, corral.arroyo@gmail.com

XABIER PEREDA SUBERBIOLA
Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Dpto. Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Apdo. 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain. xabier.pereda@ehu.es

HUMBERTO ASTIBIA
Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Dpto. Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Apdo. 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain. humberto.astibia@ehu.es


ABSTRACT

We report on new mosasaurid remains, namely isolated teeth, from the Upper Maastrichtian shallow marine environment of Albaina in the Laño quarry (Condado de Treviño). The new specimens belong mostly to mosasaurines, i.e., Mosasaurus hoffmanni, Prognathodon solvayi, Prognathodon sectorius, and to the russellosaurine plioplatecarpine Platecarpus cf. ictericus. Prognathodon solvayi and Platecarpus cf. ictericus were previously known from Albaina. This is the first mention in the site of Mosasaurus hoffmanni, widespread in Maastrichtian outcrops located around palaeolatidude 30- 40ºN, from New Jersey (USA) to Turkey passing through Europe where it is commonly found. Prognathodon sectorius has a comparable palaeobiogeographical distribution, though not so expanded, that M. hoffmanni, being known in the Maastrichtian of New Jersey (USA) and Europe and, sincerecently, in the Campanian of Navarre. With six different taxa reported here, Albaina is the richest outcrop in specific mosasaurid diversity from the Maastrichtian of southern Europe


Keywords: Mosasauridae, Iberian Peninsula, latest Cretaceous, palaeobiogeography.

How to cite:  Bardet, N., Martin, G., Corral, J.C., Pereda Suberbiola, X. & Astibia, H. 2013. New mosasaurid teeth (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Maastrichtian of Albaina (Laño quarry, Condado de Treviño). Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 28 (1), 69-78.

Received 02 October 2012, Accepted 08 March 2013, Published 30 June 2013

https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.28.1.17832