Albertonectes vanderveldei, a new elasmosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta

Osteology and relationships ofColymbosaurusSeeley, 1874, based on new material ofC. svalbardensisfrom the Slottsmøya Member, Agardhfjellet Formation of central Spitsbergen

“…A neural arch is not present, as is often the case in posterior vertebrae (Wilhelm, 2010). This structure may represent a pygostyle-like structure similar to that seen in the posterior caudal series of various plesiosaurians outside Cryptoclididae, such as Albertonectes and Rhomaleosaurus zetlandicus (Kubo et al, 2012;Smith, 2013). The presence of a fused pygostyle structure in adults has also been suggested to be a synapomorphy of Cryptoclididae (Benson and Druckenmiller, 2014).…”

New plesiosaur records from the Lower Cretaceous of the Neuquén Basin, west-central Argentina, with an updated picture of occurrences and facies relationships

“…Overall, the features present in the study material (such as single cervical ribs, fused prezygapophyses, transversely flat ventral surface of cervical vertebrae and stocky propodials element) indicate elasmosaurid affinities. Considering the results of recent phylogenetical analysis the composition of Elasmosauridae is an issue under discussion (Sato, 2002;Gasparini et al, 2003;Ketchum and Benson, 2010;Kubo et al, 2012;Druckenmiller and Knutsen, 2012). Ketchum and Benson (2010) recovered Elasmosauridae supported by six unambiguous sinapomorphyes including nearly flat articular face of the cervical centra (Ketchum and Benson, 2010:ch.…”

Introduction to the Special Issue commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, with a summary of the museum’s early history and its research contributions

“…Although not part of their official job responsibilities, several of the museum's palaeontological technicians have undertaken solo or collaborative research projects (e.g., Aulenback and Braman 1991;Coy 1995;Aulenback and LePage 1998;Tanke and Carpenter 2001;Currie et al 2008aCurrie et al , 2008bHenderson and Tanke 2010;Kubo et al 2012;. Darren Tanke, currently the longest serving RTMP technician, possesses a detailed knowledge about the history of palaeontological fieldwork and discoveries in Alberta (e.g., Tanke 2005Tanke , 2006Tanke , 2008Tanke , 2010aTanke , 2010b) that many researchers have tapped into while doing background work for projects.…”

“…Besides the dedicated research group, the RTMP's research program has been augmented by an on-site, rotating roster of postdoctoral fellows (Caleb Brown, Jisuo Jin, Tai Kubo, Takuya Konishi, Mike Newbrey, Cory Redman, Julia Sankey, Tamaki Sato, and Xiao-Chun Wu) and graduate students (e.g., Sven Baszio, Brooks Britt, Federico Fanti, and Michael Ryan), all of whom did research projects while at the museum (e.g., Jin and Norford 1992;Britt and Naylor 1994;Baszio 1997aBaszio , 1997bSankey et al 2002;Sato et al 2005;Fanti and Therrien 2007;Newbrey et al 2009;Konishi et al 2011;Kubo et al 2012;Redman et al, In press). Even after departing, many of those individuals have continued collaborating with their former RTMP hosts (e.g., Wu et al 2007;Britt et al 2009;Ryan et al 2010b;Wu and Brinkman 2015).…”

“…Except for specimens from the Arctic and British Columbia, most fossils collected by museum staff while doing fieldwork outside of Alberta have remained in institutional collections in their home jurisdictions. Specimens not collected by RTMP crews as part of planned field operations have come into the collections from various routes, including the following: (i) purchases (mostly in the early 1980s when the museum had a large acquisitions budget, when fossils could legitimately be purchased and exported from their countries of origin, and when specimens were needed for creating exhibits), exchanges (e.g., opalized Lower Cretaceous fossils from Lightening Ridge, Australia), and donations (e.g., some Devonian fish from Miguasha, Québec; some Triassic fish from Wapiti Lake, British Columbia); (ii) salvage operations necessitated by serendipitous discoveries of fossils during industrial excavations, such as marine reptile skeletons recovered both from the Syncrude oil sands mines near Fort McMurray (Druckenmiller and Russell 2006Druckenmiller and Maxwell 2010;Maxwell and Druckenmiller 2011) and from the Korite ammonite mine near Lethbridge (Konishi et al 2011(Konishi et al , 2014Kubo et al 2012 ; Fig. 4D); (iii) from palaeontological consultants discovering and collecting fossil localities ahead of commercial or industrial developments (e.g., Bohach and Frampton 2015); (iv) from palaeontologists archiving published specimens or portions of their field collections with the RTMP (e.g., Jurassic and Cretaceous invertebrates from the Rocky Mountains: Hall 1985Hall , 1989Hall , 1991Hall , 2006Hall and Moore 1990;Hall 2001a, 2001b); and (v) as a result of RTMP crews following up on reports of fossil discoveries by the public and by colleagues (e.g., a sandstone concretion containing multiple fish skeletons found alongside a road near Okotoks and Palaeocene mammal localities near the Bearspaw Dam west of Calgary: Figs.…”