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Halisaurus
Taxonomy
Halisaurus was named by Marsh (1869) [Sepkoski's age data: K Camp-l K Maes-l Sepkoski's reference number: 1069;
YPM 444 including two vertebrae and two cranial bones]. Its type is Halisaurus platyspondylus.
It was replaced with Baptosaurus by Marsh (1870), Zittel (1890) and Hay (1902).
It was assigned to Mosasaurinae by Baird and Case (1966), Russell (1970) and Thurmond and Jones (1981); to Plioplatecarpinae by Russell (1967) and Lingham-Soliar (1996); to Squamata by Sepkoski (2002); to Mosasauridae by Carroll (1988), Caldwell and Bell (1995), Holmes and Sues (2000), Lindgren and Siverson (2005) and Polcyn et al. (2012); to Halisaurinae by Bardet et al. (2005), Mateus et al. (2012), Fernández and Talevi (2015), Konishi et al. (2016) and Driscoll et al. (2019); and to Halisaurini by Longrich et al. (2021) and Shaker et al. (2023).
It was replaced with Baptosaurus by Marsh (1870), Zittel (1890) and Hay (1902).
It was assigned to Mosasaurinae by Baird and Case (1966), Russell (1970) and Thurmond and Jones (1981); to Plioplatecarpinae by Russell (1967) and Lingham-Soliar (1996); to Squamata by Sepkoski (2002); to Mosasauridae by Carroll (1988), Caldwell and Bell (1995), Holmes and Sues (2000), Lindgren and Siverson (2005) and Polcyn et al. (2012); to Halisaurinae by Bardet et al. (2005), Mateus et al. (2012), Fernández and Talevi (2015), Konishi et al. (2016) and Driscoll et al. (2019); and to Halisaurini by Longrich et al. (2021) and Shaker et al. (2023).
Species
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1869 | Halisaurus Marsh p. 395 |
| 1870 | Baptosaurus Marsh p. 3 |
| 1902 | Baptosaurus Hay p. 468 |
| 1930 | Baptosaurus Hay p. 264 |
| 1954 | Baptosaurus McDowell and Bogert p. 132 |
| 1966 | Halisaurus Baird and Case p. 1211 |
| 1967 | Halisaurus Russell p. 168 |
| 1970 | Halisaurus Russell p. 369 |
| 1981 | Halisaurus Thurmond and Jones p. 155 |
| 1988 | Halisaurus Carroll |
| 1995 | Halisaurus Caldwell and Bell, Jr. p. 536 |
| 1996 | Halisaurus Lingham-Soliar |
| 2000 | Halisaurus Holmes and Sues p. 309 |
| 2002 | Halisaurus Sepkoski |
| 2005 | Halisaurus Bardet et al. p. 464 |
| 2005 | Halisaurus Lindgren and Siverson |
| 2012 | Halisaurus Mateus et al. |
| 2012 | Halisaurus Polcyn et al. |
| 2015 | Halisaurus Fernández and Talevi p. 486 |
| 2016 | Halisaurus Konishi et al. p. 811 |
| 2019 | Halisaurus Driscoll et al. |
| 2021 | Halisaurus Longrich et al. |
| 2023 | Halisaurus Shaker et al. p. 4 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
G. †Halisaurus Marsh 1869
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†Halisaurus arambourgi Bardet et al. 2005
†Halisaurus hebae Shaker et al. 2023
†Halisaurus onchognathus Merriam 1894
†Halisaurus platyspondylus Marsh 1869
Invalid names: Baptosaurus Marsh 1870 [nomen dubium]
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| J. Lindgren and M. Siverson 2005 | A strong longitudinal ridge is present on each pedicel of the neural arch on cervical and at least also on anteriorly situated dorsal vertebrae. These ridges give the neural canal a distinct eight-shaped cross section in its central part. Teeth small, abruptly distally curved, densely spaced, and numerous. Very fine anastomosing ridges are often present on mainly the lingual face of the tooth-crown. Tooth resorption pits are located medially on the tooth bases. | |
| N. Bardet et al. 2005 | Unambiguous characters: frontal with posteromedial dorsal triangular area; articular with large conical buttress just posterior to glenoid; cervical vertebral articulations subrectangular (height : width = 1 : 2). Ambiguous characters: premaxilla–maxilla suture located between the 4th and 9th maxillary teeth (convergent in Tylosaurus and Mosasaurinae); prefrontal with small supraorbital ridge (convergent in Platecarpus and Plioplatecarpus); frontal with sinusoidal lateral margins (convergent in Plioplatecarpus, Platecarpus, Clidastes); large parietal foramen (convergent in Platecarpus) located close to the frontal–parietal suture (convergent in Platecarpus, Prognathodon and Mosasaurinae); supraoccipital fused to the parietal; prootic with small otosphenoidal crest (convergent in Platecarpus, Prognathodon, Clidastes); posteriorly convex surangular–articular lateral suture (convergent in Aigialosaurus); teeth delicate, abruptly posteriorly recurved and finely striated (convergent with Plioplatecarpus, Platecarpus, Clidastes). | |
| T. Konishi et al. 2016 | Premaxillamaxilla sutural contact vertical anteriorly, oblique at midpoint and hori- zontal posteriorly; maxilla shallow, its dorsal border nearly horizontal along its length; long, prong-like ante- rior process of prefrontal forming at least 50% of lateral border of external naris posteriorly; prefrontal and postor- bitofrontal separate under frontal; median dorsal ridge on frontal well developed, borne on at least anterior two- thirds of frontal; frontal bearing posterodorsal triangular eminence (also present in Eonatator spp.); parietal descending flange compressed mediolaterally, simply overlapping distolateral surface of prootic parietal pro- cess; contact plane between parietal and supratemporal oblique; supratemporal contacting parietal along distolat- eral surface of suspensorial ramus; suspensorial ramus reaching and clasping distodorsal corner of paroccipital process; quadrate supra- and infrastapedial processes fused; opisthotic descending process completely conceal- ing vagus (jugular) foramen in lateral aspect; supraoccipi- tal with paired, fan-shaped vertical lamellae containing semicircular canals and sinus utriculus; supraoccipital dorsally forming syndesmotic, interdigitating joint with parietal; basisphenoid small relative to basioccipital; coro- noid length greater than 50% that of surangular; coronoid with strongly concave dorsal border; lateral wing deeper than medial wing of coronoid; posterior wing of coronoid robust, fan-shaped and extending beyond coro- noidsurangular suture; surangular forming robust, keel- like anterior margin of glenoid fossa; vertebral centra dorsoventrally compressed; cervical vertebrae with no or vestigial zygosphenes and zygantra; distal ends of synapophyses in non-atlasaxis cervical vertebrae projecting well below base of centrum; haemal arch fused to centrum; preaxial flange well developed along distal two-thirds of length of radius; zeugopodia long and slender, their extremities slightly expanded; hyperpha- langy absent. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: f = family, c = class, subp = subphylum, uc = unranked clade | |||||
| References: Gervais 1852, Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009 | |||||
Age range: base of the Maastrichtian to the top of the Early/Lower Maastrichtian or 72.10000 to 66.00000 Ma
Collections (28 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late/Upper Santonian - Middle Campanian | USA (Georgia) | H. sp. (35289) | |
| Campanian - Maastrichtian | Peru | H. sp. (98018) | |
| Early/Lower Campanian | USA (Delaware) | H. platyspondylus (126599) | |
| Early/Lower Campanian - Middle Campanian | USA (North Carolina) | H. sp. (57918) | |
| Late/Upper Campanian | USA (New Jersey) | H. sp. (14455) | |
| Late/Upper Campanian - Early/Lower Maastrichtian | USA (Delaware) | H. platyspondylus (126598) | |
| Maastrichtian | USA (Maryland) | H. platyspondylus (27563 27564) Mosasauridae indet. (99439) | |
| Maastrichtian | Jordan | H. sp. (13366) | |
| Maastrichtian | USA (New Jersey) | H. platyspondylus (26818 57915 99138) | |
| Maastrichtian | Congo-Kinshasa | H. sp. (142144) | |
| Maastrichtian | Niger (Tahoua) | H. sp. (104945) | |
| Early/Lower Maastrichtian | Angola (Namibe) | H. sp. (106705) | |
| Early/Lower Maastrichtian | Egypt | H. hebae (231937) | |
| Early/Lower Maastrichtian | Morocco | H. arambourgi (116902 116903) | |
| Late/Upper Maastrichtian | Chile (Biobio) | H. sp. (150921) | |
| Late/Upper Maastrichtian | USA (California) | H. sp. (192042) | |
| Late/Upper Maastrichtian | Argentina (Río Negro) | H. sp. (208355) | |
| Late/Upper Maastrichtian | Morocco | H. arambourgi (99627 118067 123268 213665 213666) | |
| Late/Upper Maastrichtian - Early/Lower Paleocene | USA (New Jersey) | H. platyspondylus (26819) |