When platecarpus lived

[Patrik.S.Olsson]

Hi!

Ive just noticed that many people says different things when it comes to the time when platecarpus Lived. Many would say "84-81" million years ago, but some said it even lived till 73 million years ago.

What would you consider is the correct answer?

 

[talon22]

I have also heard different time periods for when that mosasaur lived, but from what i can find, it lived from the late Santonian to the early Campanian of the Cretaceous, so my believe is that it existed around 84 - 80 million years ago. Though it is hard to have a definitive answer.

 

 

[Patrik.S.Olsson]

2 minutes ago, talon22 said:

I have also heard different time periods for when that mosasaur lived, but from what i can find, it lived from the late Santonian to the early Campanian of the Cretaceous, so my believe is that it existed around 84 - 80 million years ago. Though it is hard to have a definitive answer.

 

 

Yes indeed hard to know for sure, but thanks for your time

[talon22]

Just wanted to mention, that you could try getting in contact with an expert of Mosasaurs like Professor Louis Jacobs, he might answer your question with confidence (he specialises in dinosaurs and mosasaurs). 

 

You can contact his institure where he works here if you want......https://www.smu.edu/Negews/Experts/Louis-Jacobs

 

Mike Everhart also knows a lot of Kansas mosasaurs including Platecarpus, though i am not sure how to get in contact with him.

 

 

 

 

[Patrik.S.Olsson]

1 hour ago, talon22 said:

Just wanted to mention, that you could try getting in contact with an expert of Mosasaurs like Professor Louis Jacobs, he might answer your question with confidence (he specialises in dinosaurs and mosasaurs). 

 

You can contact his institure where he works here if you want......https://www.smu.edu/Negews/Experts/Louis-Jacobs

 

Mike Everhart also knows a lot of Kansas mosasaurs including Platecarpus, though i am not sure how to get in contact with him.

 

 

 

 

Thanks alot!

[Macrophyseter]

@Patrik.S.Olsson An exact number is hard to pin down as most scientists simply use age name.

 

There is a mosasaur specimen dated in the Late Turonian from Angola that some scientists debate over it's generic classification. It's either a primitive mosasaur Angolasaurus bocagei or Platecarpus planifrons. Bengston and Lindgren (2005) reported mosasaur teeth from Brazil dated in the Late Turonian identified as Platecarpus sp.. So if these studies indeed point to Platecarpus, then that would make the earliest occurrence and beginning of its temporal range in the Late Turonian.

 

Konshi (2008) examined all of the Smoky-Hill Chalk Platecarpus skeletons in possession of the Sternberg Museum (specimens in its possession are scientifically labeled using the name Fort Hays State Museum or FHSM for short) and drew up a revised biostratigraphy of it in Smoky-Hill:

 

According to his data sensu stricto, the species of Platecarpus would progress in this order: P. planifrons > P.ictericus/P. tympaniticus. The clarify, the species P. planiforns appears first, going extinct around the time P. ictericus and P. tympaniticus appears, with the latter two coexisting (I've heard some people calling patterns similar to this as chronospecies such as the progression of Cretoxyrhina from C. vraconensis > C. mantelli. Is it right to call them and this a chronospecies?).

 

When using other sensu stricto Platecarpus specimens, the study laid out the temporal range for Platecarpus in the Western Interior Seaway as Upper Conacian-Middle Santonian for P. planifrons and Middle Santonian-Lower Campanian for P. ictericus/P. tympaniticus. This could explain the common 84-80 million years ago claim.

 

Just to prevent possible confusion, I'll state again that this range only applies for Platecarpus that lived in the Western Interior Seaway. As stated before, Turonian material have been found in the Southern Atlantic areas. Also, Bardet et al. (1999) and Bardet et al. (2013) reported teeth of Platecarpus cf. ictericus from the Lano Quarry in Albaina, Spain (not to be confused with Albania), dated in the Late Maastrichtian. According to the papers, this is the latest Platecarpus fossils known so far.

 

Also, Platecarpus ptychodon teeth are commonly found in Khouribga, Morocco which has the latest Maastrichtian rock. 

EDIT: Turns out 'P'. ptychodon is more likely to be an entirely different genus.

 

So putting it all together, the temporal range for Platecarpus as a whole would be Late Turonian- Late Maastrichtian. 

 

 

[Patrik.S.Olsson]

3 hours ago, Macrophyseter said:

@Patrik.S.Olsson An exact number is hard to pin down as most scientists simply use age name.

 

There is a mosasaur specimen dated in the Late Turonian from Angola that some scientists debate over it's generic classification. It's either a primitive mosasaur Angolasaurus bocagei or Platecarpus planifrons. Bengston and Lindgren (2005) reported mosasaur teeth from Brazil dated in the Late Turonian identified as Platecarpus sp.. So if these studies indeed point to Platecarpus, then that would make the earliest occurrence and beginning of its temporal range in the Late Turonian.

 

Konshi (2008) examined all of the Smoky-Hill Chalk Platecarpus skeletons in possession of the Sternberg Museum (specimens in its possession are scientifically labeled using the name Fort Hays State Museum or FHSM for short) and drew up a revised biostratigraphy of it in Smoky-Hill:

 

According to his data sensu stricto, the species of Platecarpus would progress in this order: P. planifrons > P.ictericus/P. tympaniticus. The clarify, the species P. planiforns appears first, going extinct around the time P. ictericus and P. tympaniticus appears, with the latter two coexisting (I've heard some people calling patterns similar to this as chronospecies such as the progression of Cretoxyrhina from C. vraconensis > C. mantelli. Is it right to call them and this a chronospecies?).

 

When using other sensu stricto Platecarpus specimens, the study laid out the temporal range for Platecarpus in the Western Interior Seaway as Upper Conacian-Middle Santonian for P. planifrons and Middle Santonian-Lower Campanian for P. ictericus/P. tympaniticus. This could explain the common 84-80 million years ago claim.

 

Just to prevent possible confusion, I'll state again that this range only applies for Platecarpus that lived in the Western Interior Seaway. As stated before, Turonian material have been found in the Southern Atlantic areas. Also, Platecarpus ptychodon teeth are commonly found in Khouribga, Morocco which has the latest Maastrichtian rock.

 

So putting it all together, the temporal range for Platecarpus as a whole would be Late Turonian- Late Maastrichtian. 

 

 

Thanks! Very informative that may explain why ptychodon teeth often are labeled as (approx 70 million years old). 

[Anomotodon]

'P.' ptychodon is more likely not Platecarpus but a separate genus

 

From Bardet et al., 2015: The unique and astonishing morphology of P. (?) ptychodon is actually very different from that of Platecarpus, and the species might belong to a new genus (Polcyn et al., work in progress) (Fig. 2B). Its highly diagnostic teeth have been reported from the Maastrichtian Southern Tethys margin of Syria, Jordan, Israel and Angola (see details in Bardet, 2012; Mateus et al., 2012).

[Macrophyseter]

41 minutes ago, Anomotodon said:

'P.' ptychodon is more likely not Platecarpus but a separate genus

 

From Bardet et al., 2015: The unique and astonishing morphology of P. (?) ptychodon is actually very different from that of Platecarpus, and the species might belong to a new genus (Polcyn et al., work in progress) (Fig. 2B). Its highly diagnostic teeth have been reported from the Maastrichtian Southern Tethys margin of Syria, Jordan, Israel and Angola (see details in Bardet, 2012; Mateus et al., 2012).

If 'Platecarpus' ptychodon is indeed it's own thing, the latest occurrence of Platecarpus would still be in the Late Maastrichtian

 

Bardet et al. (1999) and Bardet et al. (2013) reported teeth of Platecarpus cf. ictericus from the Lano Quarry in Albaina, Spain (not to be confused with Albania), dated in the Late Maastrichtian. According to the papers, this is the latest Platecarpus fossils known so far at least in Europe.

 

Thanks for the catch! 

[Patrik.S.Olsson]

Another thing I was wondering about when it comes to platecarpus ptychodon. Why are there no real facts to be found about this species? Havent they found anything more than teeth/jaws ? 

While facts about the  tympanicus can easily be found.