Abstract
A new coelacanth fish of the genus Mawsonia, M. brasiliensis sp. nov. is described on the basis of a specimen from the Early Cretaceous Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation in the Araripe Plateau, Brazil. This is the third species of coelacanth from the Cretaceous of Brazil and the holotype is the first complete, articulated specimen of the genus. This new species differs from its congeners in the proportion of the cranium, gular plates and angular, and the position of the otic canal fossa. M. brasiliensis has thin cycloid scales without ornament (no tubercles or ridges). This new addition to the genus Mawsonia is significant in increasing understanding of the diversity of the suborder Latimeroidei in the early Cretaceous, which lineage continues to the Recent coelacanths of the genus Latimeria.
