Youngest occurrences of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs indicate survival of an archaic marine reptile clade at high palaeolatitudes
Rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurians were a common and ecologically significant component of Early Jurassic marine faunas, primarily as large-bodied predators. They declined in abundance and made their last fossil appearance in the Middle Jurassic. However, the geographic pattern of rhomaleosaurid extincti...
Published in: | Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Institute of Paleobiology PAS
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00167.2015 https://doaj.org/article/f2dc39b6f5424894b261f6595f7c158a |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f2dc39b6f5424894b261f6595f7c158a |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f2dc39b6f5424894b261f6595f7c158a 2023-05-15T15:13:05+02:00 Youngest occurrences of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs indicate survival of an archaic marine reptile clade at high palaeolatitudes Roger B.J. Benson Nikolay G. Zverkov Maxim S. Arkhangelsky 2015-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00167.2015 https://doaj.org/article/f2dc39b6f5424894b261f6595f7c158a EN eng Institute of Paleobiology PAS http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app60/app001672015.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/0567-7920 https://doaj.org/toc/1732-2421 doi:10.4202/app.00167.2015 0567-7920 1732-2421 https://doaj.org/article/f2dc39b6f5424894b261f6595f7c158a Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, Vol 60, Iss 4, Pp 769-780 (2015) Plesiosauria Rhomaleosauridae biogeography Jurassic Callovian UK Russia Fossil man. Human paleontology GN282-286.7 Paleontology QE701-760 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00167.2015 2022-12-31T08:53:09Z Rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurians were a common and ecologically significant component of Early Jurassic marine faunas, primarily as large-bodied predators. They declined in abundance and made their last fossil appearance in the Middle Jurassic. However, the geographic pattern of rhomaleosaurid extinction has thus far been obscured by spatial bias in the Middle Jurassic marine reptile fossil record, which is strongly focussed on low-latitude European assemblages. We report two rhomaleosaurid specimens from the Callovian (late Middle Jurassic) of the UK and Russia. Along with Borealonectes from Arctic Canada, these are the youngest-known occurrences of rhomaleosaurids. The UK specimen is the first identified from the Callovian of Europe, despite intensive fossil sampling over almost 200 years and the recovery of hundreds of other plesiosaurian specimens. Its discovery indicates that rhomaleosaurids were present, but extremely rare, at low palaeolatitudes of the Callovian. The Russian specimen is one of relatively few marine reptile specimens from its mid-palaeolatitude assemblage, as is also true of Borealonectes, which occurs in a high-palaeolatitude marine assemblage. Furthermore, we suggest that a mid latitude southern hemisphere occurrence from the Callovian of Argentina, previously referred to Pliosauridae, in fact represents a rhomaleosaurid. These findings suggest that rhomaleosaurids were actually common elements of mid-high palaeolatitude marine faunas, indicating a geographically staggered pattern of declining rhomaleosaurid abundance, and demonstrating the apparent persistence of an archaic marine reptile group in cool, mid–high latitude environments of the Middle Jurassic. It is therefore possible that sustained Middle–Late Jurassic global warming accelerated the ultimate extinction of rhomaleosaurids. Our findings suggest that widening the geographical breadth of fossil exploration could considerably enhance current knowledge of Jurassic marine reptile evolution. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Global warming Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Argentina Canada Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Plesiosauria Rhomaleosauridae biogeography Jurassic Callovian UK Russia Fossil man. Human paleontology GN282-286.7 Paleontology QE701-760 |
spellingShingle |
Plesiosauria Rhomaleosauridae biogeography Jurassic Callovian UK Russia Fossil man. Human paleontology GN282-286.7 Paleontology QE701-760 Roger B.J. Benson Nikolay G. Zverkov Maxim S. Arkhangelsky Youngest occurrences of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs indicate survival of an archaic marine reptile clade at high palaeolatitudes |
topic_facet |
Plesiosauria Rhomaleosauridae biogeography Jurassic Callovian UK Russia Fossil man. Human paleontology GN282-286.7 Paleontology QE701-760 |
description |
Rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurians were a common and ecologically significant component of Early Jurassic marine faunas, primarily as large-bodied predators. They declined in abundance and made their last fossil appearance in the Middle Jurassic. However, the geographic pattern of rhomaleosaurid extinction has thus far been obscured by spatial bias in the Middle Jurassic marine reptile fossil record, which is strongly focussed on low-latitude European assemblages. We report two rhomaleosaurid specimens from the Callovian (late Middle Jurassic) of the UK and Russia. Along with Borealonectes from Arctic Canada, these are the youngest-known occurrences of rhomaleosaurids. The UK specimen is the first identified from the Callovian of Europe, despite intensive fossil sampling over almost 200 years and the recovery of hundreds of other plesiosaurian specimens. Its discovery indicates that rhomaleosaurids were present, but extremely rare, at low palaeolatitudes of the Callovian. The Russian specimen is one of relatively few marine reptile specimens from its mid-palaeolatitude assemblage, as is also true of Borealonectes, which occurs in a high-palaeolatitude marine assemblage. Furthermore, we suggest that a mid latitude southern hemisphere occurrence from the Callovian of Argentina, previously referred to Pliosauridae, in fact represents a rhomaleosaurid. These findings suggest that rhomaleosaurids were actually common elements of mid-high palaeolatitude marine faunas, indicating a geographically staggered pattern of declining rhomaleosaurid abundance, and demonstrating the apparent persistence of an archaic marine reptile group in cool, mid–high latitude environments of the Middle Jurassic. It is therefore possible that sustained Middle–Late Jurassic global warming accelerated the ultimate extinction of rhomaleosaurids. Our findings suggest that widening the geographical breadth of fossil exploration could considerably enhance current knowledge of Jurassic marine reptile evolution. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Roger B.J. Benson Nikolay G. Zverkov Maxim S. Arkhangelsky |
author_facet |
Roger B.J. Benson Nikolay G. Zverkov Maxim S. Arkhangelsky |
author_sort |
Roger B.J. Benson |
title |
Youngest occurrences of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs indicate survival of an archaic marine reptile clade at high palaeolatitudes |
title_short |
Youngest occurrences of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs indicate survival of an archaic marine reptile clade at high palaeolatitudes |
title_full |
Youngest occurrences of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs indicate survival of an archaic marine reptile clade at high palaeolatitudes |
title_fullStr |
Youngest occurrences of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs indicate survival of an archaic marine reptile clade at high palaeolatitudes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Youngest occurrences of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs indicate survival of an archaic marine reptile clade at high palaeolatitudes |
title_sort |
youngest occurrences of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs indicate survival of an archaic marine reptile clade at high palaeolatitudes |
publisher |
Institute of Paleobiology PAS |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00167.2015 https://doaj.org/article/f2dc39b6f5424894b261f6595f7c158a |
geographic |
Arctic Argentina Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Argentina Canada |
genre |
Arctic Global warming |
genre_facet |
Arctic Global warming |
op_source |
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, Vol 60, Iss 4, Pp 769-780 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app60/app001672015.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/0567-7920 https://doaj.org/toc/1732-2421 doi:10.4202/app.00167.2015 0567-7920 1732-2421 https://doaj.org/article/f2dc39b6f5424894b261f6595f7c158a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00167.2015 |
container_title |
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |
_version_ |
1766343686561464320 |