First record of a mosasaurine mosasaur from the upper Maastrichtian of central Chile

This research presents an isolated terminal caudal centrum of a mosasaur recovered from upper Maastrichtian levels of the Quiriquina Formation in central Chile. The vertebra shows distinctive traits that allow its referral to the Mosasaurinae, a clade previously unreported in the Upper Cretaceous of the southeastern Pacific. The new find, although fragmentary, extends the local mosasaur diversity previ-ously comprised by tylosaurines and halisaurines. It also reconfirms the widespread Weddellian distri-bution of mosasaurines prior to the K/Pg event. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.