A reappraisal of Polyptychodon (Plesiosauria) from the Cretaceous of England

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2016 papers

Abstract

Pliosauridae is a globally distributed clade of aquatic predatory amniotes whose fossil record spans from the Lower Jurassic to the Upper Cretaceous. However, the knowledge of pliosaurid interrelationships remains limited. In part, this is a consequence of a few key taxa awaiting detailed reassessment. Among them, the taxon Polyptychodon is of special importance. It was established on isolated teeth from the mid-Cretaceous strata of East and South East England and subsequently associated with numerous finds of near-cosmopolitan distribution. Here the taxon is reassessed based on the original dental material from England, with special focus on a large collection of late Albian material from the Cambridge Greensand near Cambridge. The dental material is reviewed here from historical and stratigraphic perspective, described in detail, and discussed in terms of its diagnostic nature. The considerable morphological variability observed in the teeth attributed to Polyptychodon, together with a wide stratigraphic range of the ascribed material, possibly exceeding 35 Ma (early Aptian to ?middle Santonian), suggests that the taxon is based on a multispecies assemblage, possibly incorporating members of different plesiosaur clades. Due to the absence of any autapomorphic characters or unique character combinations in the original material, Polyptychodon interruptus, the type species of Polyptychodon, is considered nomen dubium. From a global perspective, Polyptychodon is viewed as a wastebasket taxon whose material originating from different localities should be reconsidered separately.

Related Papers

• → Examination of the Scythrididae in the Bruand d’Uzelle collection: faunistic and taxonomic implications for the genus Scythris (Lepidoptera, Scythrididae)(2016)3 cited
• → Redescription of the Miocene penguinPseudaptenodytes macraeiSimpson (Aves: Sphenisciformes) and redefinition of the taxonomic status of ?Pseudaptenodytes minorSimpson(2014)4 cited
• → Nomenclatural and faunistic notes on some Italian Dytiscidae (Insecta: Coleoptera)(2022)1 cited
• → Designation of Synalpheus pectiniger Coutiere, 1907 as a nomen protectum and its senior synonym Alpheus praecox Herrick, 1888 as a nomen oblitum (Crustacea, Decapoda, Alpheidae)(2010)
• → The publication date, onomatophore and onymotope of Emoia cyanura (Squamata: Scincidae)(2021)