2005/06/27 by Michael W. Caldwell, Robert B. Holmes, Gorden L. Bell +1 · 5 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Ichthyology and Marine Biology
paper · doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0393:autmfn]2.0.co;2
openalex publication_date 2005/06/27 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Recently collected materials of a tylosaurine mosasaur from Haumuri Bluff, New Zealand, are assigned to Taniwhasaurus oweni Hector, 1874. Previously described tylosaurine mosasaur specimens from Haumuri Bluff that were assigned to other taxa are re-evaluated here and assigned to T. oweni. Taniwhasaurus is diagnosed as a tylosaurine based on the possession of a premaxillary rostrum and anterior edentulous process of the dentary. However, Taniwhasaurus also exhibits a prefrontal-maxillary contact in which the prefrontal forms a portion of the naris, thus precluding the frontal-maxillary contact characteristic of all other tylosaurines with the possible exception of Hainosaurus bernardi. The distribution of the frontal-maxillary contact in mosasaurs suggests that it may be correlated with snout elongation.