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New in _Palaeontology_ (including a European ceratopsian)
Johan Lindgren, Philip J. Currie, Mikael Siverson, Jan Rees, Peter
Cederström, and Filip Lindgren (2007). The first neoceratopsian dinosaur
remains from Europe. Palaeontology 50: 929?937.
Abstract: "Shallow marine, nearshore strata of earliest Campanian
(_Gonioteuthis granulataquadrata_ belemnite Zone) and latest Early Campanian
(informal _Belemnellocamax mammillatus_ belemnite zone) age in the
Kristianstad Basin, southern Sweden, have yielded isolated leptoceratopsid
teeth and vertebrae, representing the first record of horned dinosaurs from
Europe. The new leptoceratopsid occurrence may support a European dispersal
route for the Leptoceratopsidae, or may represent an entirely endemic
population. The presence of leptoceratopsid teeth in shallow marine
deposits contradicts previous hypotheses suggesting that basal
neoceratopsians mainly preferred arid and/or semi-arid habitats far from
The material comprises three maxillary teeth, one dentary tooth and two
caudal vertebrae from one locality (Asen), and one maxillary tooth and one
dentary tooth from another locality (Ullstorp). The Swedish neoceratopsian
is classified as "Leptoceratopsidae gen. et sp. indet." due to the
fragmentary nature of the material. However, the authors make it clear that
the dental characters are unique and would justify the erection of a new
taxon, but they held off "pending the discovery of more complete material".
So stay tuned, I suppose. AFAIK, only one non-avian dinosaur (="Real
Dinosaur" sensu M. Taylor) has ever been named from Scandinavia
There's also a few non-dinosaurian papers...
Christopher A. Brochu (2007). Systematics and taxonomy of Eocene
tomistomine crocodylians from Britain and Northern Europe. Palaeontology 50
Abstract: "The holotype of _Dollosuchus dixoni_ (Owen) from the Early?Middle
Eocene Bracklesham Beds of England is a set of mandibular fragments that
cannot be distinguished from corresponding parts of other longirostrine
crocodylians. An isolated humerus from the Bracklesham Beds is consistent
with a gavialoid, but it cannot be referred to the holotype of _D. dixoni_.
The name _Dollosuchoides densmorei_ is established for the well-preserved
skull and skeleton of a tomistomine from the Middle Eocene of Belgium that
had been referred to _D. dixoni_. It can be clearly distinguished from the
basal tomistomine _?Crocodilus? spenceri_ Buckland from the Lower Eocene of
England, which cannot be referred to _Dollosuchoides_ and is provisionally
referred to _Kentisuchus_ Mook. Although basal within Tomistominae,
_Dollosuchoides_ is more closely related to _Tomistoma_ than to
Mikael Siverson, Johan Lindgren, and L. Scott Kelley (2007). Anacoracid
sharks from the Albian (Lower Cretaceous) Pawpaw Shale of Texas.
Palaeontology 50: 939?950.
Abstract: "Recent collecting from the Pawpaw Shale in north-east Texas has
yielded several hundred teeth of anacoracid sharks. The material allows for
a much-needed revision of the Late Albian anacoracids from North America.
The previously recognized _Squalicorax_ sp., also referred to as _S.
volgensis_ in more recent publications, is a mix of two different species:
_S. priscoserratus_ sp. nov. and _S. pawpawensis_ sp. nov. In addition to
these two new species, a single tooth is assigned to _S. aff. S.
baharijensis_. Our data indicate that anacoracids were a considerably more
diverse group in the North American Cretaceous than previously thought. We
attribute much of the underestimation of diversity to vague species
concepts, poor preparation techniques and the associated lack of attention
to certain dental features, in particular neck morphology, root surface
porosity and the root's vascularization."
The new anacoracid material comes from the same formation that yielded a
nodosaur (_Pawpawsaurus campbelli_) and pterosaur (_Coloborhynchus
wadleighi_), among other vertebrate remains.
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