Exceptional In Situ Preservation of Chondrocranial Elements in a Coniacian Mosasaurid from Colombia

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper by Páramo-Fonseca et al. describes an exciting find of intracranial structures, representing the first reasonably complete chondrocranium in a mosasaurid. Overall, the paper is both well written and structured, and my only major concern pertains to the illustrations, which should be more comprehensive to facilitate understanding, identification and comparisons. More specifically, I would like to see, e.g., an interpretative line drawing of IGMp879524, a generalized mosasaur/lizard skull showing the various parts of the chondrocranium, and, if possible, an image depicting the fine structure of the chondrocranial elements (not only the silica crust covering them).

Best wishes, and good luck with the revised version,

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

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Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

To the authors and editors,

   Congratulations to the authors on their spectacular and very important discovery. The contribution is generally very well-written and I offered only a few comments and suggestions in the uploaded marked-up pdf, that may make things clearer for the reader. The description and interpretations are generally good, but I also left a few comments and suggestions in the marked-up pdf. The main concern I have is the question of “reduction or non-preservation”, which I believe needs to be addressed in more detail, especially given the novel taphonomy which is nicely detailed in the paper. If the authors truly think the chondrocranium is “reduced”, that needs to be demonstrated through more explicit comparisons or quantitative analysis. Though I agree that this specimen exhibits a relatively narrow spacing between the dorsal parts of the planum supraseptale, the placement of the conjugate bony structures (the solia supraseptale) are variable in mosasaurians, and some are quite laterally displaced.  I recommend publication with these minor changes. I am fine with my name being shared with the authors and they should feel free to contact me with any questions.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf