A new cryptoclidid Plesiosaur from the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) of Cuba

Cryptocleidus ? cuervoi caroliDE LA TORRE & ROJAS, 1949, a partial skull with associated mandible and atlas-axis from the Oxfordian of Cuba, has been completely prepared for the first time. It is here redescribed and assigned to a new cryptoclidid genus, Vinialesaurus, for which the species caroli is retained. Vinialesaurus is mainly diagnosed by palatal characters such as double internal nares, an anteriorly rounded vomer and a lack of anterior interpterygoid vacuities. It shares with other cryptoclidids large orbits and external nares, a small vertical jugal and a reduced tooth ornamentation. The occurrence of Vinialesaurus caroli in association with pliosauroids, ophthalmosaurian ichthyosaurs, metriorhynchid crocodilians and pleurodiran marine turtles, strongly suggests that a marine seaway was present in the Caribbean during the Oxfordian, connecting the western Tethys with the Oriental Pacific.