First occurrence of a mawsoniid (Sarcopterygii: Actinistia), Mawsonia soba sp. nov., in pre-Aptian Cretaceous deposits from Cameroon

International audienceCoelacanth remains from the Lower Cretaceous (pre-Aptian) freshwater deposits of the Babouri Figuil Basin, Northern Cameroon are described as a new taxon Mawsonia soba sp. nov. based on two characters: four openings in the dentary for the branch of the trigeminal nerves and an extremely rugose and disorganized ornamentation of the bones. M. soba sp. nov. known by some three-dimensionally partially preserved specimens represents the first actinistian described from Cameroon. This discovery attests the presence of Mawsonia in the African counterpart of the continental pre-rift and rift environments where only Brazilian members were known so far. The fact that the Cameroonian coelacanth belongs to a new species suggest a certain endemism at least in this African basin