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A Mosasaur from the Lewis Shale

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A Mosasaur from the Lewis Shale (1974)recently reported a number of ammo- nites and other invertebratesfrom the Lewis A mosasaurfrom the Lewis Shale Shale along the easternedge of the San Juan Basin. UNM-V-070 is southeastof their lo- (UpperGretaceous), northwestern cality D4l5l and northeastof their locality D5067. Both D4l5l and D5087 are strati- graphically higher in the Lewis Shale than NewMexico Uf.ftU-V-OZOand are placed by Cobban and History,Yale University' others (1974) in the Late Campanian Didy- by'NewHaven,CT,andPeterK.Reser,OiiartmentotAnthropology,University0fNewMexico,Albuquerque,NMSpencer G Lucas,Department of Geology and Geophysics and Peabody Museum of Natural mocerascheyennense ammonite zone. Prob- ably UNM-V-070 is Late Campanianin age (no older strata are known in the Lewis Shale) Mosasaursare an extinct group of giant The following abbreviationsare usedin the (Cobban and others, 1974)and older than the a marinelizards that flourishedduring the Late text: AMNH-Department of VertebratePa- D. cheyennense zone. Unfortunately, out- Cretaceous. Their fossilized remains are leontology, American Museum of Natural diligent searchof the limited Lewis Shale yielded un- known from all the continentsexcept Antarc- History, New York; UNM-Department of crops around UNM-V-070 only tica; the largestand best known collections Geology,University of New Mexico, Albu- diagnostic fragments of inoceramid shells; precisely come from the Niobrara Formation in Kan- querque;YPM-Peabody Museumof Natural hence,its age cannot be more deter- sas. Although marine sediments of Late History,Yale University, New Haven. mined. cretaceousage are exposedthroughout large areas of New Mexico, only three mosasaur LewisShale and its fauna specimenshave previously been reported from The Lewis Shale was named by Cross and the state. These specimenswere found in others (1899) for exposuresaround Fort south-centralNew Mexico in the Jornadadel Lewis,an old army post in the La Plata River Muerto region (Cope, l87la) and in north- valleyin southwestColorado. Primarily com- easternNew Mexico in the RatonMesa region posedof dark-grayto greenish-grayshale with (Lee, l9l7'). Late Cretaceousmarine deposits somesandy layers, limestone, and calcareous in otherparts of New Mexico,including exten- nodules,the Lewis Shale has been mapped sive exposuresof the Lewis Shale in and throughouta largearea in northwesternNew aroundthe SanJuan Basin, until recentlyhave Mexico and southwesternColorado (Reeside' failed to produce mosasaur remains. The 1924; Dane, 1936; O'Sullivan and others, discoveryof a mosasaurin the LewisShale as 1972).The Lewis Shale was deposited offshore reported herein is the fourth report of a in the regressingseaway that covered this mosasaurfrom New Mexico (fig. l) and the regionduring the Late Cretaceous(Fassett and FIGURE2-VIEw oFExcAvATEDMoSASAURREMAINS pointing poste- first report of a mosasaurfrom the Lewis Hinds,l97l; Mannhard,1976). m UNM-V-070;the man is at the portionof thevertebral Shale.This discoveryextends the geographic The faunaof the LewisShale is mainly a di- riorend of thearticulated rangeof the mosasaursinto that part of the verseassemblage of marine bivalves,gastro- column. sea that coverednorthwestern New Mexico pods,and cephalopods(Reeside, 1924; Dane, duringthe LateCretaceous. 1936:Cobban and others, 1974;Mannhard' DlscusstoN-The taxonomyof mosasaurs, 1976).Worm burrows and other trace fossils like many groupsof reptiles,is basedheavily t07'oo' (for example,Ophiomorpha) also arepresent. on cranial characters(Russell, 1967). The The only vertebratespreviously reported from absenceof any cranialremains of UNM-LK-l ArriboCounty the LewisShale are shark's teeth (for example, Rio than jaw and tooth fragmentsthus ren- Lamna sp.) and bony fish scales(Mannhard, other I ders difficult a preciseidentification of the i t976). I specimen.Fortunately, subfamilies and tribes can be diagnosedlargely on the i SystematicpaleontologY o] mosasaurs basisof vertebralcharacters (Russell, 1967). ClassREPTILIA In addition, the tooth and jaw fragmentsof OrderSAURIA UNM-LK-l aid in a tentativeassessment of FamilyMOSASAURIDAE Gervais, 1853 (Dollo,I 884) its genericidentitY. SubfamilyPLIOPLATECARPINAE justify assign- Williston.1897 The followingconsiderations TribePLIOPLATECARPINI (Dollo' 1884) ment of UNM-LK-l to the Plioplatecarpinae Russell,1967 as definedby Russell(1967): l) UNM-LK-I GenusPLATECARPUS CoPe, 1869 was a mosasaurof moderatesize, probably cf.PlatecarPus sP. about 6 m in overall length, basedon com- dorsal RBpeR.R.EnspnclneN-UNM-LK-l; a par- parisonof the lengthof its incomplete lengths of tial skeletonconsisting of 46 vertebrae(14 series with vertebral and body various mosasaursgiven by Russell (1967' lVososour dorsals, (?)5 pygals, and 21 caudals) of quorry+o variable preservation,two nearly complete tables 2-3). All plioplatecarpines are (Russell, 1967); thoracic ribs and fragmentsof others, and moderate-sizedmosasaurs all assortedlower(?) jaw andtooth fragments. UNM-LK-l is well within the sizerange of Loc^c.l-trv-UNM-V-070; in the NE'/+ plioplatecarpinespecimens in the YPM collec- SW% sec.9, T. 30N., R. I E. on theJicarilla iions. Althoughundue emphasis should not be Apache Indian Reservation southeast of placedon sizeas a diagnosticcharacter in rep- growth), Dulce,New Mexico(figs. l-2). tiles (animalswith indeterminate no Cot-t-scrons-Originally discovered by evidenceexists to suggestthat UNM-LK-I Adolph Julian and Darrell Paiz, membersof was a particularlyyoung individual;that it is giant the JicarillaApache Indian Tribe; collectedby just a small representativeof one of the like Mosasaurus or Tylosaurus l-Mlp oF pART oF NoR.THwEsrEnNNrw theauthors. mosasaurs FICURE All caudal vertebraeof Mrxtco sHowINc rHE LocATIoNor UNM-V-070' HoRIZoN nNo ece-In dark-gray fissile seemsunlikely. 2) THEMOSASAUR QUARRY. shaleof the Lewis Shale.Cobban and others ]:F New Mexico GeologY August l98l 31 UNM-LK-l haveunfused haemal arches (fig. which are small and locatedon the posterior aspectbears numerous thin verticalstriations. 3, C-E). The haemalpeduncles are subcircu- edgeof the baseof the neural arch. The ver- This typeof tooth is typicalof all plioplatecar- lar, centrally pitted, posteroventrallydirected, tebra of this specimenalso closelyresembles pines(Russell,1967). and located near the posterior end of the cen- anterior dorsal vertebrae of Platecarpus AssigningUNM-LK-l asa plioplatecarpine trum lateralto theventral midline. This condi- (Cope,1875, pl. 20, figs. 5M-N). Most of the to Ectenosaurus,Pl ioplatecarpus, or Platecar- tion is seenin the plioplatecarpinesbut not in dorsal vertebraeof UNM-LK-I are not as pas is difficult without good cranial material the mosasaurinesin which the haemal pedun- well preservedas this one;typically, the neural preservingthe charactersupon which these cles typically are fused to the caudal centra arch and spineis no longer present.No evi- genera largely are differentiated. Never- (Russell, 1967).3) Other vertebraeof UNM- denceof a zygosphene-zygantrumcan be dis- theless,some slight evidencefrom the post- LK-l correspondwell to thoseof plioplatecar- cernedon any of the vertebrae,but almostall crania argues against assignmentto either pines,although by themselvesthey are not suf- of the vertebraeare so badly damagedthat Ectenosaurus or Plioplatecarpus. Thus, ficient to diagnosethe group. A typical me- ascertainingwhether or not at least a small Russell(1967, p. 158),in his diagnosisof dian dorsal vertebra (fig. 3, J-L) has the zygosphene-zygantrumarticulation was pres- Ectenosaurus,noted that its pygal vertebrae synapophysislocated on the anterodorsal ent at somepoint on the dorsalvertebral col- have relativelylong transverseprocesses. In aspectof the centrum, an anterior articular umn is impossible.4) As Russell(1967 , p. 54) contrast,the pygal vertebraeof UNM-LK-I cup that is wider than tall, and a posterior ar- has pointedout, the marginalteeth of mosa- have relatively short transverseprocesses; ticular ball that likewiseis transverselyoval. saurs are "often generically diagnostic." comparisonof two pygalvertebrae with nearly This vertebraclosely resembles median dorsal Among thetooth andjaw fragmentsof UNM- equal-sizedcentra of UNM-LK-I and YPM vertebraof Platecarpus(Cope, 1875,pl. 20, LK-l is a nearlycomplete tooth (fig. 3, A-B) 4672, a specimenreferred to Ectenosaurusby figs. lA-C, pl. 21, figs. lA-B, 2; Williston, that is long, slender,and hasa pointedtip that Russell(1967), reveals that the UNM speci- 1898,pl. 42, figs.3-4). An anteriordorsal is posteromediallyrecurved. This tooth has a men'stransverse processes are approximately vertebraof UNM-LK-l (fig. 3, G-I) is simi- subcircularcross section near the baseof the 30 percentshorter than thoseof YPM 4672. lar, although the centrum is slightly longer crown and bears distinct anterior and pos- Assignmentof UNM-LK-l to Plioplatecarpus and the articular surfacesa little more cir- terior carinaethat run the vertical length of seemsto be precludedby two features: l) cular, being less flattenedtransversely. This the crown. The buccal aspectof this tooth Dollo (1893) stated that Plioplatecarpus has vertebrapreserves the posterior zygopophyses bears six vertical facetswhereas the lingual only l3 dorsal vertebrae,a claim reluctantly acceptedby Russell(1967); UNM-LK-I has l4 dorsalsin its incompletevertebral column,; and 2) accordingto Russell(1967, p. 159)the synapophysesof the anteriordorsal vertebrae of Plioplatecarpusate locatedin the centerof the lateral aspectsof the centra. The
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