Titanocarcinus mamillatus Secrétan, 1964

Charbonnier, Sylvain, Garassino, Alessandro & Pasini, Giovanni, 2012, Revision of Mesozoic decapod crustaceans from Madagascar, Geodiversitas 34 (2), pp. 313-357 : 313-357

Titanocarcinus mamillatus Secrétan, 1964 ( Fig. 18H, I)

Titanocarcinus mamillatus Secrétan, 1964: 187-193 , pl. 20, figs 1-3. — Schweitzer et al. 2007: 284.

HOLOTYPE. — MNHN.F. R 03871.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Soatana, northern Mikoboka Creek (gisement 501), Manera, Sikily region, southern Morondava Basin, Tulear Province.

TYPE AGE. — Early Maastrichtian ( Pachydiscus gollevillensis and P. neubergicus zone).

DISCUSSION

Secrétan (1964: 187-191, text-figs 112, 114) described and illustrated a single incomplete specimen of this species.Judging from the original description and the line drawing (reconstruction), in comparison with the specimen itself, we noted inconsistencies such as the orbital area and the interpretation of the outline of the dorsal bosses. Recently Schweitzer et al. (2007) have discussed and reviewed Titanocarcinus , listing all species referred to this genus and their current status. Those authors pointed out that T. mamillatus showed a development of carapace regions which was similar not only to that of Titanocarcinus , but also to members of other Cretaceous xanthoid families, such as the Palaeoxanthopsidae . Concomitantly, they noted that the anterolateral margin in the Malagasy species was incomplete and that the fronto-orbital width was considerably less than the maximum width in other species of Titanocarcinus , which led those authors to refer to T. mamillatus as incertae sedis within the Xanthoidea (see also Schweitzer et al. 2010).