First occurrence of a mawsoniid (Sarcopterygii: Actinistia), Mawsonia soba sp. nov., in pre-Aptian Cretaceous deposits from Cameroon

Paulo Brito (1) , Camila Cupello (1) , Yoshitaka Yabumoto (2) , Joseph Hell (3) , Michel Brunet (4, 5) , Olga Otero (4)

1 UERJ - Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro [Brasil] = Rio de Janeiro State University [Brazil] = Université d'État de Rio de Janeiro [Brésil]
2 UEOH - University of Occupational and Environmental Health [Kitakyushu]
3 IRGM - Institut de Recherches Géologiques et Minières
4 Palevoprim [Poitiers] - Laboratoire de paléontologie, évolution, paléoécosystèmes, paléoprimatologie [UMR 7262]
5 Collège de France - Chaire Paléontologie Humaine

Coelacanth remains from the Lower Cretaceous (pre-Aptian) freshwater deposits of the Babouri Figuil Basin, Northern Cameroon are described as a new taxon Mawsonia soba sp. nov. based on two characters: four openings in the dentary for the branch of the trigeminal nerves and an extremely rugose and disorganized ornamentation of the bones. M. soba sp. nov. known by some three-dimensionally partially preserved specimens represents the first actinistian described from Cameroon. This discovery attests the presence of Mawsonia in the African counterpart of the continental pre-rift and rift environments where only Brazilian members were known so far. The fact that the Cameroonian coelacanth belongs to a new species suggest a certain endemism at least in this African basin.

Mots clés: Western Gondwana; Lower Cretaceous; Coelacanth; Mawsonia; Babouri Figuil Basin

Domaines: Paléontologie; Archéologie et Préhistoire

Paulo Brito, Camila Cupello, Yoshitaka Yabumoto, Joseph Hell, Michel Brunet, et al.. First occurrence of a mawsoniid (Sarcopterygii: Actinistia), Mawsonia soba sp. nov., in pre-Aptian Cretaceous deposits from Cameroon. Cretaceous Research, 2018, 86, pp.91-96. ⟨10.1016/j.cretres.2017.12.014⟩. ⟨hal-02098210⟩