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The Use of Zygapophyseal Skeletochronology in Individual Age Determination of a Basal Mosasauroid (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the Campanian of Saratov Region

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Abstract

Here we determine the individual age of a basal mosasaur (subfamily Halisaurinae) using zygapophyseal skeletochronology. This study is based on the cervical vertebra from the Late Cretaceous Beloe Ozero locality (Saratov Region). By of counting the zygapophyseal growth rings on the right prezygapophysis, it has been revealed that the age of the animal to which this vertebra belonged was at least 11 years. The absence of drastic reduction in the distance between the zygapophyseal growth rings is indicative of the fact that in the first 11 years of life, until the moment of death, the animal grew rapidly and evenly and reached a length of about 6 meters.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank A.A. Shchetinkin (Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov, Saratov, Russia) for help in fieldwork, M. Polcyn (Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, the USA) for valuable comments on the taxonomic attribution of ZIN, PH no. 29/90, J. Jagt (Natuurhistorisch Museum,Maastricht, The Netherlands) for providing the access to the NHMM collection, as well as reviewers A.O. Averianov (Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia) and N.G. Zverkov (Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia) for constructive comments on the paper.

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 20-04-00545a).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Petersburg State University, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    D. V. Grigoriev, V. V. Kolchanov & P. P. Skutschas

  2. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    D. V. Grigoriev, V. V. Kolchanov & P. P. Skutschas

  3. Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov, 410054, Saratov, Russia

    M. S. Arkhangelsky

  4. Saratov State University, 410012, Saratov, Russia

    M. S. Arkhangelsky

  5. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117647, Moscow, Russia

    V. V. Bulanov, A. G. Sennikov & V. K. Golubev

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  1. D. V. Grigoriev
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  2. M. S. Arkhangelsky
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  3. V. V. Kolchanov
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  4. V. V. Bulanov
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Correspondence to D. V. Grigoriev.

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Translated by E. Maslennikova

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Grigoriev, D.V., Arkhangelsky, M.S., Kolchanov, V.V. et al. The Use of Zygapophyseal Skeletochronology in Individual Age Determination of a Basal Mosasauroid (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the Campanian of Saratov Region. Paleontol. J. 56, 441–447 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030122040025

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