Halisaurus platyspondylus, MARSH, 1869

Bardet, Nathalie, Suberbiola, Xabier Pereda, Iarochene, Mohamed, Bouya, Baadi & Amaghzaz, Mbarek, 2005, A new species of Halisaurus from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco, and the phylogenetical relationships of the Halisaurinae (Squamata: Mosasauridae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 143 (3), pp. 447-472 : 465

HALISAURUS PLATYSPONDYLUS MARSH, 1869

Holotype: YPM 444, two vertebrae, an angular bone (originally described as a splenial) and a basicranium fragment described by Marsh (1869: 395) and figured by Baird (1986).

Type locality and horizon. New Egypt Formation, Late Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous), near Hornestown, Monmouth County, New Jersey ( USA).

Main referred specimens: NJSM 12146 , incomplete cranium, Navesink Formation , Late Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous), New Jersey ( USA) ( Wright, 1988) ; USNM 442450 , incomplete skeleton, Severn Formation , middle Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous), Maryland ( USA) ( Holmes & Sues, 2000) .

Emended diagnosis: Autapomorphies: external naris strongly posteriorly inflated; prefrontal with large narial participation and posteriorly located supraorbital ridge; frontal with no anterior ridges; parietal with a smooth triangular table bearing circular foramen located at a distance its length from the suture; quadrate with a narrow and oblique stapedial notch; pterygoid with nine teeth and long palatine process at about 65∞ relative to the ectopterygoid process.