Fig 1 - uploaded by Sven Sachs
Content may be subject to copyright.
Map of Germany showing the territory of 1871–1918 (white) and since 1945 (grey). Major cities and important places referred to in the text are indicated. The mining symbol refers to fossil localities.
Source publication
In Germany, mosasaur remains are very rare and only incompletely known. However, the earliest records date back to the 1830s, when tooth crowns were found in the chalk of the Isle of Rügen. A number of prominent figures in German palaeontology and geosciences of the 19th and 20th centuries focused on these remains, including, among others, Friedric...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... reassigned, most notably the specimens of the von der Marck Collection, which are now housed in the Geomuseum of the University of Münster ( Sachs, 2000;Caldwell & Diedrich, 2005). In the present publica- tion we provide a chronological overview of published mosasaur specimens found in Germany prior to 1945 (the localities are shown in Fig. 1). For the sake of completeness, we also include a specimen that was described from former East Prussia, today part of the Russian Federation (Kaliningrad Oblast), but part of the German Empire at the time when the specimen was found and described. However, we only include records for which at least basic information on specimen, age ...
Context 2
... 8, 9). However, the general morphology differs from that of mosasaur teeth (i.e. labiolingually compressed shape and lack of enamel ornamentation) and they may proba- bly be attributed to enchodontid actinopterygians ( Kear et al., 2013). Another fragmentary specimen from Dresden-Plauen was described and figured by Geinitz (1871-1875: pl. 66, fig. 1, modern collection number SaK 1748) as the proximal end of a reptilian humerus. It bears a convex articular surface and might be a very fragmentary procoelous vertebral centrum (Figs 4C and D), typical of a squamate ( Kear et al., ...
Context 3
... as a caudal, he erroneously interpreted the preserved ventral (haemapophyseal) and lateral (caudal rib) bases of pro- cesses as parapophyses and diapophyses, respectively. Judging from Schroeder's (1885a, pl. 17, fig. 1) illustration, the vertebra apparently suffered crushing, which resulted in the asymmetric right lateral exposure of the opposite left base of the neurapophysis and a ventral displacement of the right bases of the neurapophysis and caudal rib. It lacks diagnostic characters and cannot be further identified at the generic ...
Similar publications
Metriorhynchids are an extinct group of Jurassic–Cretaceous crocodylomorphs secondarily adapted to a marine lifestyle. A new metriorhynchid crocodylomorph from the Oxford Clay Formation (Callovian, Middle Jurassic) of England is described. The specimen is a large, fragmentary skull and associated single ramus of a lower jaw uniquely preserved in a...
A diverse vertebrate fauna, dominated by sharkteeth, is recorded from conglomerates within the limestonesof the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) BurgsteinfurtFormation of northwestern Germany. The conglomeratebeds comprise carbonatic, glauconitic and phosphatenodules, as well as Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous extraclasts.The Burgsteinfurt Formation...
Citations
... Coniacian-Santonian (Owocki and Madzia, 2020) are known. From Germany, the genera Platecarpus (Krüger, 2005), Tylosaurus Sachs et al., 2015) and an indeterminate mosasaurid (originally described as Clidastes) (Karl and Nyhuis, 2012;Hornung et al., 2018) were described. From the Santonian-Campanian of England, Clidastes, ? ...
New mosasaurid remains (Squamata) were collected from various Santonian localities in the Sougraignearea (Aude Department, southern France). Cranial bones, some vertebrae, two scapulae and a phalanx areassigned to the plioplatecarpine Platecarpus cf. tympaniticus, while pelvic bones, two vertebrae and afemur (?) are referred to Tylosaurus sp. Tooth marks made by sharks, teleosts or mosasaurids areobserved on the mosasaurid vertebrae. These Santonian (86.3e83.6 Ma) Platecarpus occurrences, knownsince almost one century, are the oldest from Europe. This deposit also yielded some elasmobranch teeth,belonging to taxa such as Squalicorax kaupi, Cretoxyrhina mantelli, Cretolamna sp. and Polyacrodus bra-banticus. A review of plioplatecarpine palaeobiogeographical distribution through Late Cretaceous sug-gests that it follows that of other mosasaurid clades, reaching a worldwide distribution by Maastrichtiantime, probably favored by marine routes largely opened at this time
... Several Campanian-Maastrichtian localities in central Europe have yielded well-preserved and abundant material, including foremost the wider Maastricht area (The Netherlands and Belgium, e.g., Kuypers et al. 1998, Jagt 2005, northeastern France (Gaudry 1892, Thevenin 1896, Bardet 1990, Lingham-Soliar 1992, Poland (Machalski et al. 2003 and southern Sweden (Persson 1959, 1963, Lindgren & Siverson 2002, Lindgren 2005a, 2005b. In contrast, the published fossil record of mosasaurs from Germany is rather scarce and limited to isolated teeth and skeletal elements (e.g., Pompeckj 1910, Sachs 2000, Reich & Frenzel 2002, Diedrich & Mulder 2004, Caldwell & Diedrich 2005, Krüger 2005, Frerichs 2005, 2006, Hornung & Reich 2006, 2015, Sachs et al. 2015, 2017, although Upper Cretaceous deposits are fairly widely distributed across the northern part of the country. ...
... Additionally, a tooth crown of Halisaurus sp. was recently reported from the uppermost Campanian (Nostoceras polyplocum Biozone) of the chalk facies Dägeling Formation at Lägerdorf (Germann 2017). This observation is congruent to the rareness of mosasaurs in the early Maastrichtian chalk of Rügen (northeastern Germany, Reich & Frenzel 2002, Reich et al. 2005, Sachs et al. 2015 when compared with the rich contemporaneous faunas from the more marginal, shallow-water environments of Belgium and the Netherlands (e.g., Jagt 2005). Therefore it seems reasonable that most species of mosasaurs in the Campanian-Maastrichtian of Europe were shelf dwellers that rarely entered the pelagic realm. ...
Isolated teeth and a humerus from the Campanian of Hannover indicate a considerable local diversity of mosasaur taxa. The lower Misburg Formation (lower Campanian of the Lehrte West Syncline) yields Clidastes sp. (Mosasaurinae), Prognathodon sp. (Mosasaurinae), ?Hainosaurus sp. (Tylosaurinae) and an unidentified mosasaurid. It further confirms the presence of the genus Clidastes in northern central Europe and also proves the early Transatlantic distribution of a basal member of Prognathodon during the lower Campanian. ?Hainosaurus sp. is similar to roughly contemporaneous material of Hainosaurus sp. from southern Sweden. The upper Misburg Formation (upper upper Campanian) shows a different taxonomic composition with Tylosaurus sp. (Tylosaurinae), a second indeterminate species of Prognathodon and ?Platecarpus sp. The limited material of Prognathodon sp. shows closest affinities to P. lutugini (Yakovlev) from eastern Europe. The records of Tylosaurus and ?Platecarpus are among the stratigraphically youngest of these taxa. Facies and lithology of the Misburg Formation indicate that the mosasaurs lived in an open marine, mid-sublittoral environment with a water-depth around 70–100 m. In the contemporaneous chalk facies, deposited in somewhat deeper waters, as well as in shallow littoral deposits, mosasaurs are very rare and of lower diversity.
... Frerichs, 2006;Hornung et al., 2009;U. Frerichs and Hornung, 2013;Hornung and Reich, 2015;Sachs et al., 2015). ...
Isolated remains of mosasaurids and plesiosaurians are recorded from the lower Campanian Bottrop
and Vaals formations of North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. A tooth crown from Bottrop-
Fuhlenbrock, referred to an elasmosaurid plesiosaurian, represents the first record of this group from
late-Upper Cretaceous strata of the area. Another presumed plesiosaurian remain is a fragmentary
gastralium from Duisburg-Walsum. Some of the mosasaurid material from the Bottrop Formation (a
tooth crown and vertebrae from Bottrop-Fuhlenbrock and Duisburg-Walsum) is assigned to the
subfamily Plioplatecarpinae. The Vaals Formation, which is a lateral equivalent of the Bottrop
Formation, yielded a single tooth crown, found at Aachen-Bildchen, that is here referred to the genus
Hainosaurus. These finds from the Bottrop and Vaals formations constitute evidence of the presence
of these taxa in proximal shelf to nearshore settings during the Campanian. The mosasaurid
occurrences in particular may be an indicator that diversity and abundance increased in more
basinward facies and greater palaeowaterdepth.
... In modern seas, vertebrate predators such as the Atlantic wolffish (Anarhichas lupus) depend on sea urchins as a food source when their preferred prey is scarce or absent; even though the energy content of sea urchins is relatively low (Liao and Lucas, 2000). In the Late Cretaceous of NW Europe, mosasaur remains are more common in neritic sediments (Machalski et al., 2003;Lindgren and Jagt, 2005;Hornung and Reich, 2015;Sachs et al., 2015) than in the pelagic chalk, suggesting a preference for nearshore habitats. Although the European pelagic chalk-sea was probably not the optimal habitat for mosasaurs, their capability for opportunistic feeding allowed them to exploit available nutrient resources in this harsh environment, which otherwise might have represented a barrier for mosasaur migration and dispersal. ...
Fossil biting traces (praedichnia) represent indirect evidence of predation and shed light on fossil predator–prey interactions and fossil food webs. Especially from echinoderm skeletons, biting traces are well known. Here, we describe the oral surface of a large Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) holasteroid echinoid Echinocorys ovata Leske, 1778 from Hemmoor (northern Germany) which exhibits four circular punctures arranged in a semi-circular arc. Whereas three of the punctures penetrated the skeleton, one puncture only just hit the margin of the echinoid test at the ambitus, leaving a long incision furrow in the skeleton. The punctures were not lethal to the sea urchin as is indicated by progressed skeletal regeneration and closure of the fractures. The overall appearance of the punctures suggests that they were produced during a single mechanical event, most likely by the biting action of the teeth of a large vertebrate animal. We analysed the shape and arrangement of the biting trace and conclude that it was probably produced by a marine reptile possessing a prognath tooth position, most likely by a globidensine mosasauroid. Our finding not only sheds light on mosasaur feeding behaviour and prey selection but also increases the knowledge of the food webs in the chalk sea ecosystem during the uppermost Cretaceous.
... Zahnkronen von Mosasauriern aus dem Untermaastrichtium der Insel Rügen (Lips & Ladwig 2014, Sachs et al. 2015, zwei fragmentarische Mosasaurierknochen aus dem Untercampanium von Blankenburg in Sachsen-Anhalt (Sachs 2006) sowie das Material aus dem Obercenomanium und Oberturonium der Elbtalkreide. Diese Funde wurden erstmals von Geinitz (1847,1849) vorgestellt. ...
Reptilien gehören in der sächsischen Kreide (Elbtal-Gruppe) zu den Seltenheiten. Die wenigen bekannten Reste sind historische Funde, die erstmals im 19. Jahrhundert von Hanns Bruno Geinitz bearbeitet wurden. Sie stammen aus zwei stratigraphischen Einheiten, der Dölzschen-Formation (oberes Obercenomanium) sowie dem Strehlener und Weinböhlaer Kalk der unteren Strehlen-Formation (mittleres Oberturonium) und wurden fast ausschließlich im heutigen Stadtgebiet von Dresden gesammelt. Die Exemplare aus der Dölzschen-Formation
sind sehr fragmentarisch erhalten und konnten keiner Gruppe mit Sicherheit zugeordnet werden. Das Material aus dem Strehlener Kalk hingegen zeigt, dass zwei Plesiosaurier-Familien (Elasmosauridae und ?Polycotylidae) sowie verschiedene marine Schildkröten der Familie Protostegidae im sächsischen Kreidebecken vorkamen. Hinweise auf Squamaten (Mosasauridae und Dolichosauridae), wie von Geinitz (1875a) postuliert, fehlen hingegen.
Reptilian fossils are rare in the Saxonian Cretaceous (Elbtal Group). The few known specimens are historical finds, first described by Hanns Bruno Geinitz in the 19th century. They derive from two stratigraphical units, the Dölzschen Formation (upper Upper Cenomanium) and the Stehlen and Weinböhla Limestone of the lower Strehlen Formation (mid-Upper Turonian) and were collected almost exclusively within the current city limits of Dresden. Remains from the Dölzschen Formation are very fragmentary and cannot be referred to any taxonomic
group with certainty. On the other hand, better preserved material from the Strehlen and Weinböhla Limestone reveals the presence of at least two different plesiosaurian families (Elasmosauridae and ?Polycotylidae) as well as different marine turtles of the family Protostegidae. However, evidence of mosasaurid and dolichosaurid marine squamates, as suggested by Geinitz (1875a), is missing.
... Late Cretaceous marine amniote fossils are generally scarce in Germany. The majority of finds derive from Campanian strata, including those in the Münsterland (Caldwell & Diedrich, 2005;Sachs, Hornung & Reich, 2015) and near Hannover (Sachs, 2011;Frerichs & Hornung, 2013), as well as from Lägerdorf Sachs, Hornung & Reich, 2015) in NW and northern Germany, respectively. In contrast, comparable remains are virtually unknown in eastern Germany, with only a few mosasaurid specimens from the Maastrichtian deposits of the Isle of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Lips & Ladwig, 2014;Sachs, Hornung & Reich, 2015) and the Campanian strata of Blankenburg in Saxony-Anhalt (Sachs, 2006). ...
... Late Cretaceous marine amniote fossils are generally scarce in Germany. The majority of finds derive from Campanian strata, including those in the Münsterland (Caldwell & Diedrich, 2005;Sachs, Hornung & Reich, 2015) and near Hannover (Sachs, 2011;Frerichs & Hornung, 2013), as well as from Lägerdorf Sachs, Hornung & Reich, 2015) in NW and northern Germany, respectively. In contrast, comparable remains are virtually unknown in eastern Germany, with only a few mosasaurid specimens from the Maastrichtian deposits of the Isle of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Lips & Ladwig, 2014;Sachs, Hornung & Reich, 2015) and the Campanian strata of Blankenburg in Saxony-Anhalt (Sachs, 2006). ...
... The majority of finds derive from Campanian strata, including those in the Münsterland (Caldwell & Diedrich, 2005;Sachs, Hornung & Reich, 2015) and near Hannover (Sachs, 2011;Frerichs & Hornung, 2013), as well as from Lägerdorf Sachs, Hornung & Reich, 2015) in NW and northern Germany, respectively. In contrast, comparable remains are virtually unknown in eastern Germany, with only a few mosasaurid specimens from the Maastrichtian deposits of the Isle of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Lips & Ladwig, 2014;Sachs, Hornung & Reich, 2015) and the Campanian strata of Blankenburg in Saxony-Anhalt (Sachs, 2006). Substantially older earliest Late Cretaceous marine amniote material has otherwise been recorded from Cenomanian-Turonian sequences in the Saxonian Cretaceous Basin (SCB) of SE Germany. ...
The Saxonian Cretaceous Basin constitutes an important source of rare Late Cretaceous marine amniote fossils from Germany. It is also historically famous, having been documented in a series of monographic works published by the distinguished German palaeontologist Hanns Bruno Geinitz in the nineteenth century. The most productive rock units include the upper Cenomanian Dölzschen Formation and upper Turonian Strehlen and Weinböhla limestones (lower Strehlen Formation). A survey of curated specimens recovered from these deposits has now identified isolated teeth of probable polycotylid and elasmosaurid plesiosaurians, as well as several humeri that are referred to protostegid marine turtles. The Saxonian Cretaceous Basin formed a continuous epeiric seaway with the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin during late Cenomanian – Turonian time. A western connection to the North Sea Basin also existed via the North German and Münsterland Cretaceous basins. The Mesozoic marine amniote remains from these regions therefore record a coeval northern European fauna that was probably homogeneous across the northern peri-Tethyan margin during Late Cretaceous time.
... It was firstly described by Pompeckj (1910) and is housed today in the collections of the Geoscience Centre, University of Göttingen (GZG), Lower Saxony. This material constitutes the most comprehensive cranial material known from any mosasaur in Germany (see Sachs et al., 2014, for a historical review, also, for example, Sachs, 2000Sachs, , 2006Diedrich & Mulder, 2004;Caldwell & Diedrich, 2005;Hornung & Reich, 2006;Jagt et al., 2006 for more recent records). This particular specimen sparked a detailed discussion on mosasaur palaeobiology and phylogeny by Pompeckj (1910). ...
... This particular specimen sparked a detailed discussion on mosasaur palaeobiology and phylogeny by Pompeckj (1910). For a review of its historical significance reference is made to Sachs et al. (2014). Previously, this material was identified as belonging to the genus Mosasaurus Conybeare in Parkinson, 1822or to Liodon Agassiz, 1846(= Leiodon Owen, 1841in Owen 1840. ...
... Earlier, Jagt et al. (2006) indicated that a now lost tooth from the Early Maastrichtian of Blandow (Isle of Rügen, Western Pomerania, northeastern Germany, see Sachs et al. (2014) for a more detailed account) in the former Friedrich von Hagenow collection might be referred to Hainosaurus 'sp. 2' (sensu Jagt et al., 2005). ...
Two genera of tylosaurine mosasaurs, Tylosaurus and Hainosaurus, are recorded for the first time from Germany. Tylosaurus sp. is represented by two isolated tooth crowns, originally described as Mosasaurus? alseni (here considered a nomen dubium) from the latest Santonian–Early Campanian, which are very similar to T. ivoensis and T. gaudryi. The material of Hainosaurus sp. comprises a maxillary with associated postorbitofrontal, two pterygoid teeth and several indeterminate cranial fragments. The specimen from the Late Campanian is slightly less derived than H. bernardi from the Maastrichtian in retaining labiolingually less compressed anterior maxillary teeth and unserrated pterygoid teeth with only very weak carinae. Despite only minor skeletal differences, the genus Hainosaurus is considered to be distinct from Tylosaurus because of its significant modification of the dental apparatus compared to the plesiomorphic condition in the latter. This dental morphology suggests a phylogenetic trend from a generalised-piercing marginal dentition in Tylosaurus towards the increasingly labiolingually compressed, symmetrical, strongly bicarinate cutting marginal teeth in Hainosaurus spp. from the Early through Late Campanian and Maastrichtian. A similar trend is also present in pterygoid teeth with very indistinct unserrated carinae in the Campanian Hainosaurus sp. towards serrated ones in the Maastrichtian H. bernardi. A short review indicates the presence of Hainosaurus in northern, central and western Europe (Sweden to Spain) since the Early Campanian, and the occurrence of Tylosaurus spp. in the same area until the Late Campanian. Hainosaurus persisted until the end of the Maastrichtian; outside Europe it may have been present in the Late Campanian of the USA and the Maastrichtian of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Judging from a simple, uni- to bicarinate, stoutly conical tooth morphology in aigialosaurs and very basal mosasaurs as well as phylogenetic patterns, the development of blade-like cutting tooth crowns appears to have been convergent in several clades of large-bodied Campanian–Maastrichtian mosasaurids. These include both mosasaurines ('Leiodon' mosasauroides, Prognathodon? sectorius, Prognathodon? kianda, Eremiasaurus heterodontus) and tylosaurines (Hainosaurus spp.).
The latest Cretaceous Phosphates of Morocco preserve the highest biodiversity of mosasaurid squamates anywhere in the world. Intensive sampling over the past century has uncovered at least ten genera and thirteen species from the mosasaur subgroups Halisauromorpha, Plioplatecarpinae, and Mosasaurinae. Notably missing from the assemblage are members of the macropredatory Tylosaurinae. The Tylosaurinae were globally rare in the Maastrichtian and their apparent absence has been previously explained by either collecting bias, ecological preference for deeper waters, or habitat restriction to higher paleolatitudes. Here, we describe a new tylosaurine mosasaurid, Hainosaurus boubker sp. nov., based on several partial skulls and isolated teeth originating from the Couche III layer of the Sidi Chennane Phosphate quarry near Oued Zem, Morocco. It is unique amongst tylosaurine mosasaurids in possessing blade-like teeth that are laterally compressed, encircled by enamel facets, and differentiated along the dental margin. The discovery of this new taxon in the Maastrichtian of Morocco is remarkable as it represents both the youngest species of Tylosaurinae and the first occurrence in North Africa.
Mosasaur remains from Poland are very rare and are restricted mostly to the Campanian and Maastrichtian. The only currently known pre-Campanian records come from the Turonian strata in the Opole area, southwestern Poland. One of them is a single tooth which probably belongs to a yaguarasaurine while the other is an incomplete vertebra, for many years considered lost. The latter specimen has recently been found and is redescribed in this article. Its most characteristic feature is a strong dorsoventral compression of the articular surfaces. This is similar to the condition observed in basal mosasauroids such as halisaurines and tethysaurines. Unfortunately, due to its incompleteness, the rediscovered specimen cannot be confidently referred to any of these clades and can only be described as a probable non-mosasaurine, non-plioplatecarpine, non-tylosaurine mosasauroid. Despite its uncertain phylogenetic position, it is important from a historical point of view and as only the second record (and the only bone record) of mosasauroids from the Turonian of Poland.
Briefly mentioned in 1915 by the palaeontologist Répelin, the mosasaurid Liodon asiaticum Répelin, 1915 was found by a missionary to Africa, Father Ruffier, in Late Cretaceous strata near Jerusalem (without further details on the exact provenance). This material was never described in detail, figured, or revised and was recently rediscovered in the collections of the Muséum d’histoire naturelle of Marseille (Provence, southern France). Here we describe and figure for the first time this material, which now includes more specimens than the original lot mentioned by Répelin, and we propose new systematic assignments for the identified specimens. First of all we demonstrate that the five original vertebrae briefly described by Répelin represent a composite assemblage and are not diagnostic at the specific level. Thus Liodon asiaticum should be considered a nomem dubium. The most complete and diagnostic specimen belongs to a Mosasaurini (Mosasaurinae) incertae sedis, close to Mosasaurus Conybeare, 1822 and Plotosaurus Camp, 1951, as shown by the unique configuration of its frontal-parietal-postorbitofrontal complex. The two other specimens are identified as indeterminate Mosasaurinae. The study of several groups of microfossils (calcareous nannofossils, planktonic foraminifera and palynomorphs) found in the white chalk preserved with most of the bones constrains the age of these mosasaurid remains to the lower part of the middle Campanian (C. plummerae (Gandolfi, 1955) / G. rosetta (Carsey, 1926) and CC18 / UC14-15a Zones). This corresponds to the local Mishash Formation that crops out extensively East of Jerusalem (Mount of Olives and surroundings). Father Ruffier probably collected these bones in one of the outcrops of this formation, possibly not very far from where he worked and lived (Saint-Anne Community in Jerusalem). These chalky levels, common in the Middle East, represent a shallow and rather open marine environment, possibly near-shore.
