The genus was named by
Arthur Smith Woodward in 1907, from specimens found in the Early Cretaceous (
Hauterivian) aged
Ilhas Group of
Bahia, Brazil. Fossils have been found on three continents; in South America they have been found in the
Bahia Group,
Romualdo,
Alcântara,
Brejo Santo and
Missão Velha Formations of
Brazil, and the
Tacuarembó Formation of
Uruguay. In
Africa, they are known from the
Continental Intercalaire of
Algeria and Tunisia, the
Ain el Guettar Formation of
Tunisia, the
Kem Kem Group of Morocco, and the
Babouri Figuil Basin of
Cameroon, spanning from the Late Jurassic, to early Late Cretaceous. Fossils assigned to
Mawsonia have also been found in
Woodbine Formation of
Texas,
USA, then part of the island continent
Appalachia. The type species is
Mawsonia gigas, named and described in 1907. Numerous distinct species have been described since then.
M.
brasiliensis,
M.
libyca,
M.
minor, and
M.
ubangiensis have all been proposed to be synonyms of
M.
gigas, although Léo Fragoso's 2014 thesis on mawsoniids finds
M.
brasiliensis valid and cautions against synonymizing
M.
minor without further examination. Several recent publications consider
M.
brasiliensis to be valid as well. Although initially considered to belong to this genus, "
Mawsonia"
lavocati is most likely referable to
Axelrodichthys instead. == Ecology ==