New dyrosaurid crocodylomorph and evidences for faunal turnover at the K-P transition in Brazil.
The discovery of a new dyrosaurid crocodylomorph from the well-dated Palaeocene deposits of northeastern Brazil sheds new light on the evolutionary history of this extinct group of marine crocodylomorphs that have survived the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-P) extinction crisis. Guarinisuchus munizi, the most complete member of this group collected in South America so far, is closely related to the African forms, and this fact suggests that dyrosaurids had crossed the Atlantic Ocean before the K-P boundary and dispersed from there to North America and other parts of South America. This discovery also suggests that on the coast of northeastern Brazil, dyrosaurids replaced the pre-existing Late Cretaceous fauna of diversified mosasaurs, a group of marine lizards, after the K-P extinction event, becoming the main predators, together with sharks, in shallow marine Palaeocene environments. More detailed stratigraphic records and detailed dating of the deposits with dyrosaurids are necessary to correlate this particular pattern found in the ancient northeastern Brazilian coast within the evolution of the group, especially in Africa.
Barbosa
José Antonio
JA
Department of Geology/LAGESE, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Rua Acadêmico Hélio Ramos, s/n, Recife, PE 50740-530, Brazil. barboant@hotmail.com
Kellner
Alexander Wilhelm Armin
AW
Viana
Maria Somália Sales
MS
D000489:Alligators and Crocodiles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D005580:Fossils; D010802:Phylogeny