Basicranium of an elasmosaurid plesiosaur from the Campanian of European Russia

Zverkov, N.G., Averianov, A.O. & Popov E.V., April 2017. Basicranium of an elasmosaurid plesiosaur from the Campanian of European Russia. Alcheringa 42, 528-542. ISSN 0311-5518 The braincase of elasmosaurid plesiosaurs is poorly known. Here, we describe the exceptionally well-preserved elasmosaurid basicranium from the Rybushka Formation (lower Campanian) of Saratov Province, Russia. The material provides new anatomical information and peculiar features: single anterior foramen for the cerebral carotid arteries, anteroposteriorly elongated sella turcica and deep canal on the basioccipital process. This allow us to reconstruct a carotid circulation in plesiosaurs and propose new basicranial features (anteroposteriorly elongated sella turcica and single anterior foramen for the cerebral carotids), which could be potentially synapomorphic for a clade within the Elasmosauridae. Nikolay G. Zverkov* [[e-mail]], Department of Palaeontology, Geological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1 Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow; Laboratory of Phanerozoic Stratigraphy, Department of Stratigraphy, Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevsky lane 7, 119017 Moscow, Russia; Alexander O. Averianov [[e-mail]], Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Emb. 1, Saint Petersburg 199034; Department of Sedimentary Geology, Geological Faculty, Saint Petersburg State University, 16 liniya VO 29, 199178 Saint Petersburg, Russia; Evgeny V. Popov [[e-mail]], Department of Historical Geology and Paleontology, Geological Faculty, Saratov State University, 83 Astrakhanskaya Str., 410012 Saratov; Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technology, Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya Str. 4/5, 420008 Kazan, Russia.