How to translate text using browser tools
22 August 2019 A New Specimen of Platypterygius sachicarum (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) from the Early Cretaceous of Colombia and Its Phylogenetic Implications
Erin E. Maxwell, Dirley Cortés, Pedro Patarroyo, Mary Luz Parra Ruge
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Platypterygius sachicarum is one of the few Lower Cretaceous ichthyosaurian species described from the Hauterivian–Aptian-aged Paja Formation, the most complete Lower Cretaceous sedimentary sequence in northern South America. To date, P. sachicarum has been described only from a single skull, limiting morphological, stratigraphic, and phylogenetic comparisons. Here, we describe a new skull and associated postcranium of upper Barremian age from Villa de Leyva, Colombia, which represent the first documented postcranial remains of this species and enable detailed comparison with other Early Cretaceous ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs. Platypterygius sachicarum shares many morphological similarities with contemporaneous taxa from Europe but differs in both skull and tooth morphology from coeval South American species from northern South America and from the eastern Pacific. The additional data provide new diagnostic characters for this species and resolve the position of P. sachicarum as part of a polytomy of other species historically referred to Platypterygius. However, as with previous analyses, all recovered clades are poorly supported. The rich vertebrate fossil record of the Paja Formation provides an unparalleled opportunity to explore paleobiogeographic and paleoecological questions pertaining to Cretaceous marine reptiles; however, in most cases, a robust stratigraphic and phylogenetic framework remains elusive.

© by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Erin E. Maxwell, Dirley Cortés, Pedro Patarroyo, and Mary Luz Parra Ruge "A New Specimen of Platypterygius sachicarum (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) from the Early Cretaceous of Colombia and Its Phylogenetic Implications," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 39(1), (22 August 2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2019.1577875
Received: 24 July 2018; Accepted: 10 November 2018; Published: 22 August 2019
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top