Lilian Paglarelli Bergqvist

• PhD of Vertebrate Paleontology
• Professor (Associate) at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

The Açu Formation (Albian-Cenomanian), Potiguar Basin, Northeastern Brazil, has yielded a great variety of fossil terrestrial vertebrates, with theropod dinosaurs standing out as one of the most diverse among them, and a large part of this diversity being known only by isolated teeth. In this study we assess 43 new isolated theropod teeth from this...

The fossil mammalian assemblage of the Itaboraí Basin, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was recovered from fissure fill deposits that vertically cut its limestone beds. Previous studies have considered the abundant and diversified fossil mammals excavated from such deposits of this small basin to have been deposited synchronously. An...

Protolipterna ellipsodontoides is a small bunodont South American native ungulate, generally considered an early litoptern, exclusively found in the Palaeogene Itaboraí Basin. Its dentition is well known; however, its mandibular morphology was only known by fragmentary materials. Here, we describe the first complete mandible of this species. A micr...

Biomechanical studies in sauropod dinosaurs are mainly focused on neck posture and feeding strategy. Few works investigate other aspects such as tail movement and function, especially in the clade Titanosauria, the most diverse within Neosauropoda. This study applied biomechanical concepts of neutral pose (cartilaginous neutral pose) and range of m...

The Itaboraí Basin is considered one of the smallest sedimentary basins in Brazil. However, it reveals a great diversity of early Eocene metatherians. However, despite this great diversity, no studies are related to bite or gnawing marks. Therefore, we present preliminary data on possible bite marks on the dentaries of metatherians from the Itabora...

The traditional taxonomy of notoungulates divides this order in two main groups, Typotheria and Toxodontia. Within the latter, isotemnids encompass some of the earliest and more generalized species, radiating mostly during the Eocene and reaching also the Oligocene. Although somewhat conservative, the history of this group is marked by some morphol...

Trigonosaurus pricei is a small to medium-sized sauropod dinosaur (Sauropoda: Titanosauria) from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Group of Brazil that is known from a significant amount of recovered axial elements [four cervical vertebrae, 10 dorsal vertebrae, sacrum (MCT 1488-R), and 10 caudal vertebrae (MCT 1719-R)]. In this biomechanical work, we appro...

Although extinct sloths exhibited a wide range of dietary habits, modes of locomotion, and occupied various niches across the Americas, modern sloths are considered quite similar in their habits. The dietary habits of living sloths can be directly observed in the wild, and understanding the mechanical behavior of their jaws during chewing through f...

Titanosaurs were the most diverse sauropod group during the Cretaceous period, with most of its diversity being found during the Late Cretaceous. In this work, Tiamat valdecii, gen. et sp. nov. is described, a new species of basal titanosaur prospected from the Açu Formation (Albian–Cenomanian), Potiguar Basin, Ceará state, north-east Brazil. Te ne...

Carolocoutoia ferigoloi is one of the largest metatherians of the Itaboraí fauna (Early Eocene, Southeastern Brazil). It was originally identified from a single upper molar with a markedly bunodont crown, wrinkled enamel, and a robust protocone. Here, we describe a nearly complete right dentary of C. ferigoloi with the alveoli of the premolars and...

Nemolestes and Procladosictis are Eocene sparassodonts of controversial affinities. Nevertheless, despite the poor preservation of their holotypes, several other specimens have been tentatively assigned to these genera, as exemplified by some isolated teeth from the Itaboraí and Laguna Fría faunas. Here, we revise specimens referred to Nemolestes a...

Carolocoutoia ferigoloi Goin et al., 1998, is one of the largest metatherians of the Itaboraí fauna (Early Eocene, Southeastern Brazil). It was originally identified from a single upper molar with a markedly bunodont crown, wrinkled enamel, and a robust protocone. Here, we describe a nearly complete right dentary of C. ferigoloi with the alveoli of...

Paleoecological studies have been largely explored in the last decades, providing important data regarding, among other features, the feeding behavior and living environments of extinct taxa. The fish assemblage of the Açu Formation (?Aptian–Cenomanian), Potiguar Basin, has been recently discovered and described, but ecological inferences have not...

We applied finite element analysis (FEA) in mandibles of nine sloths, including the two extant genera (Bradypus and Choloepus) and seven extinct genera (Eremotherium, Hapalops, Megatherium, Neocnus, Nothrotheriops, Nothrotherium, and Paramylodon). These groups do not present a clear association with feeding habits, but they do seem to indicate an a...

Sparassodonts were South American mammalian predators that lived during Cenozoic. Amongst their Paleogene occurrences, the Itaboraí Basin (lower Eocene) includes two of the oldest records assigned to this group: Patene simpsoni and cf. Nemolestes, which is based on a single specimen (MN 1344-V). Nemolestes is also known for Sarmiento Formation, Arg...

Several studies have used isolated crocodyliform and theropod teeth as an important tool for taxonomic identification, as they can often be the only record of some taxa. The objective of this paper is the description and identification of the isolated crocodyliform and theropod teeth in order to clarify which taxa inhabited the western portion of t...

A new basal notoungulate, Nanolophodon tutuca gen. et sp. nov., is described. This is represented by maxillary and dental fragments and by isolated teeth. The holotype and referred material were found at the “1968 Fissure” of the Itaboraí Basin, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. This basin has been regarded as early Eocene in recent contributions. The...

Although metatherians are known since Early Cretaceous, there is little evidence of bone lesions in this extremely diverse mammalian clade. Here, we report an asymptomatic and benign condition named torus mandibularis in an incomplete right dentary assigned to Patene simpsoni, a basal sparassodont from the early Eocene of São José de Itaboraí Basin...

The theropod record from the Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil are rare and consist mostly of isolated and incomplete remains, with only four species described. Here we describe, identify and evaluate the diversity of theropod materials from the Albian-Cenomanian Açu Formation, Potiguar Basin. The material consists of seven isolated theropod verteb...

The neck posture and function in sauropods have been widely studied during the last decades. The cartilaginous neutral pose (CNP) method is commonly used in biomechanical reconstructions by positioning the vertebrae with the joint surfaces aligned to obtain the ‘neutral pose’. However, few studies have analysed the posture and function of the tail...

Xenungulates are a peculiar group of bilophodont ungulates, widespread over South America during the Paleocene and early Eocene. Here we describe, illustrate and analyse a new Xenungulata, Rodcania kakan gen. et sp. nov., the first from the lower latitudes of Argentina. It was recovered from the Río Loro Formation (Tucumán Province), for which a Pa...

Sparassodonts were the main mammalian predators during most of Cenozoic in South America. The lower Eocene Itaboraí Basin/Formation includes the second oldest fossil records of this group in South America: Patene and cf. Nemolestes. Patene is by far the most abundant sparassodont from this formation, with more than 30 specimens referable to a singl...

The sparassodonts were the main mammalian predators during most of Cenozoic in South America. The Itaboraí Basin/Formation (lower Eocene) includes two of the oldest fossil records assigned to this group: Patene Simpson, 1935 and cf. Nemolestes Ameghino, 1902. Patene is by far the most abundant sparassodont from this formation, with more than 30 spe...

Riostegotherium yanei from the Itaboraí Basin, Brazil, is the oldest known Xenarthra. This paper aims to describe the internal morphology of the osteoderms of Riostegotherium yanei from the perspective of histology and micro-CT approaches, expanding the available data on cingulate osteoderm microstructure. Seven osteoderms of R. yanei were used for...

Acknowledgment of intraspecific variation is an important part of a reliable species diagnosis. For mammalian taxonomy, tooth morphology is an especially important trait and, therefore, the morphological variability of these structures is also greatly significant. Here we describe major dental variation present for Protolipterna ellipsodontoides Ci...

Freshwater localities dating from the break-up of western Gondwana are important for a better understanding of the faunal composition and biogeographic patterns of taxa that would become established in both South America and Africa. In the Potiguar Basin, the single locality that represents the Albian-Cenomanian span is the Açu Formation. The paleo...

Sparassodonts were the main mammalian predators during most of Cenozoic in South America. The lower Eocene Itaboraí Basin/Formation includes the second oldest fossil records of this group in South America: Patene and cf. Nemolestes. Patene is by far the most abundant sparassodont from this formation, with more than 30 specimens referable to a singl...

The sparassodonts were the main mammalian predators during the Cenozoic of South America. Among them, _Nemolestes_ is known for the Itaboraí, Casamayor and Guabirotuba formations, ranging from the early to late Eocene. Its scarce remains results on its poorly informative phylogenetic affinities. Herein, the specimen DGM 657-M from Itaborai Basin is...

Os Sparassodonta representaram o principal grupo de mamíferos predadores no Cenozoico sul americano. Na trajetória de evolução das faunas sul-americanas durante o Paleogeno e o Neogeno, diferentes eventos climáticos e geológicos culminaram em mudanças ambientais nesse subcontinente, episódios esses que influenciaram na evolução dos esparassodontes...

Titanosauria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs that includes some of the largest terrestrial animals ever recorded. An outstanding feature of some species of this group is the presence of osteoderms, which are bony deposits on the skin that form scales, plates or other structures. Only six osteoderms have been identified from Brazil. Herein, we desc...

The Crocodyliformes are the most represented vertebrate clade in the Upper Cretaceous sequences of the Bauru Group, Paraná Basin. However, some of the species described have an uncertain taxonomic status and phylogenetic position. For instance, “Goniopholis” paulistanus has been assigned as a nomem dubium, due to its description being based on scar...

In this paper we describe macroscopically two types of bone lesions on a caudal vertebra of an indeterminate titanosaur recovered from the Lower-Upper Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) Açu Formation in the Potiguar Basin, Brazil. The first type of lesion corresponds to cystic lesions on cranial and caudal joint surfaces of the vertebral body, which ar...

Supporting information. This files contains: Character List, Data Matrix and Autapomorphies and Synapomorphies common to 225 MLT’s. (DOCX)

We performed a macroscopic study on six species of Pleistocene sloths from the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) including Valgipes bucklandi, Catonyx cuvieri, Mylodonopsis ibseni, Glossotherium sp., Ocnotherium giganteum and Eremotherium laurillardi and compared the results with a previous investigation of Nothrotherium maquinense and Ahytheriu...

This study reports new occurrences of the Quaternary megafauna in the paleontological sites of Campo Alegre (Taperoá municipality, Paraíba State) and Lage Grande (Alagoinha municipality, Pernambuco State), northeastern Brazil. The following taxa were identified: Hippidion principale (Perissodactyla, Equidae), Panochthus sp. (Cingulata, Glyptodontid...

Este trabalho reporta novas ocorrências de mamíferos da Megafauna do Quaternário nos sítios paleontológicos de Campo Alegre (município de Taperoá, estado da Paraíba) e Lage Grande (município de Alagoinha, estado de Pernambuco), Nordeste do Brasil. São registrados os seguintes táxons: Hippidion principale (Perissodactyla, Equidae), Panochthus sp. (C...

A set of lesions are re-described and new pathological findings in foot bones of Panochthus sp. (Xenarthra, Cingulata) are presented. The material reexamined in fact presents enthesiophytes instead of osteoartrithis, as previously interpreted. Furthermore, Calcium Pyrophosphate Deposition Disease (CPPD) was observed, a lesion absent in previous rep...

Nothrotherium maquinense, Ahytherium aureum and Australonyx aquae are ground sloths endemic of the late Pleistocene of the Brazilian Intertropical Region for which, as opposed to other xenarthrans such as megatheriid sloths and glyptodonts, no information regarding pathological conditions is available. Herein, we describe, based on an anatomopathol...

Tank deposits are an exceptional type of fossiliferous deposit and bear a remarkably fossil record of the Pleistocene megafauna of South America, particularly of Brazil. The taphonomy of vertebrate remains preserved in this type of environmental context was clearly driven by climate, similarly to most of the Quaternary continental fossil record. Th...

Little is known about the tooth wear of South American theropod dinosaurs. This paper describes wear facets in Abelisauridae, Carcharodontosauridae and some indeterminate theropods teeth, from the Marília Formation. Four types of wear facets are proposed: vertically-oriented attritional striations; perpendicular attritional surfaces; oval wear face...

The evolution of the human species is a topic of extreme importance reported in the “Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais do Ensino Médio – PCNEM” (National Curriculum Standards of Secondary Education), although it is not often taught as part of basic education. This work presents the results of an experimental work performed with 31 students of a rel...

Resumo A Bacia de São José de Itaboraí é de grande importância científica para o reconhecimento da América do Sul como berço de diversos grupos faunísticos continentais. O Parque Paleontológico de São José de Itaboraí foi criado em 1995 no intuito da preservação do sítio geológico, paleontológico e arqueológico local. A mineração contribuiu para o...

New isolated petrosals from the Itaboraí beds of Brazil (late Palaeocene or early Eocene) are here described and referred to the early diverging litoptern Miguelsoria parayirunhor, based on phylogenetic, size, and abundance arguments. Both the external and internal anatomy of these specimens were investigated, which for the first time document many...

Four species of Panochthus (P. greslebini, P. jaguaribensis, P. oliveira-roxoi, and P. rochai) have been described from the late Pleistocene of northeastern Brazil. P. oliveira-roxoi, and P. rochai have been considered loosely as synonyms of P. greslebini. This paper reevaluates the referred material, diagnostic characters, and validity of these sp...

Neste trabalho apresentamos um kit para aulas práticas que possibilitará, aos estudantes do Ensino Fundamental, conhecer mais sobre a Paleontologia e compreender a utilidade dos fósseis para a interpretação dos ambientes pretéritos e para a datação das camadas sedimentares. A quase totalidade das escolas do Ensino Fundamental II não dispõe de mater...

During the Late Pleistocene, several possibly endemic cingulate species, known mostly from isolated osteoderms, carapace fragments, and caudal tubes, coexisted in the Brazilian Intertropical Region. Here, we describe the osteoderm microstructure of Pachyarmatherium brasiliense, as well as the glyptodonts Panochthus greslebini, Panochthus jaguariben...

Biological, stratigraphic, and temporal processes act on the origin of fossil concentrations. The influence of these phenomena on fossil vertebrate accumulations from tank deposits recently began to be analyzed in detail. This paper documents taphonomic patterns recognized in the late Pleistocene fossil vertebrate accumulation from a tank deposit o...

Isolated theropod teeth referable to Abelisauridae indet., and Carcharodontosauridae cf., from the Campanian-Maastrichtian Presidente Prudente Formation of the western São Paulo State, Brazil, are described. They are compared to the Late Cretaceous Gondwanan theropod dinosaur teeth and their affinities are discussed. These teeth are significant bec...

A new small species of Eocaiman is described on the basis of three anterior left mandibular rami and one isolated tooth. The specimens came from the middle-upper Paleocene Itaboraí Basin (Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil; Itaboraian South American Land Mammal Age). The new taxon differs from the other two Eocaiman species, such as its small size, likel...

Theropod teeth can be separated at the family level using the basal cross-section, and by the presence or absence of wrinkles in the enamel of the tooth crowns. Theropods comprise the most common vertebrate remains in the fossil assemblage from the Serra da Galga Member, Marília Formation (late Maastrichtian) in the Bauru Basin Peirópolis paleontol...

CARNIVORE/SCAVENGER TEETH MARKS ON PLEISTOCENE MAMMALS FROM THE NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL. In this work, the first occurrence of carnivore/scavenger teeth marks on Pleistocene fossil mammals collected in the Northeastern Brazil is reported. The fossils are from the "Tank of the Jirau", Itapipoca municipality, Ceara State, and are housed in the Museu de P...

Vaginal delivery, as known today, is a still unfinished product that originated hundreds of million years ago, much before mammals evolved on land. In this article, we will discuss the way in which our direct ancestors were born over the eons until the present day, focusing on the factors that presented substantial changes in how birth occurred, in...

Established within the Itaborai basin in 1995, Sao Jose's Paleontological Park was created aiming the preservation of local history, outcroppings, and fossils uncovered during the prospecting for limestone. To further the local community's understanding of the Park's significance, a number of activities were developed and implemented utilizing well...

Established within the Itaborai basin in 1995, Sao Jose’s Paleontological Park was created aiming the preservation of local history, outcroppings, and fossils uncovered during the prospecting for limestone. To further the local community’s understanding of the Park’s significance, a number of activities were developed and implemented utilizing well...

INTRODUÇÃO A Paleontologia se ocupa de todos os aspectos, estruturas e particularidades dos fósseis, buscando sua interpretação através de parâmetros homólogos en-contrados em organismos modernos. Deste modo, extrapola a simples descri-ção, ocupando-se também dos aspectos paleobiológicos relacionados aos orga-nismos pretéritos (Cassab, 2004). A téc...

The order Litopterna is represented in the São José de Itaboraí basin by four species belonging to the families Protolipternidae (Protolipterna ellipsodontoides, Miguelsoria parayirunhor and Asmithwoodwardia scotti) and Proterotheriidae (Paranisolambda prodromus). Only the deciduous teeth of P. prodromus are known so far. Isolated milk premolars ar...

The genus Hoplophorus is one of the most distinctive glyptodonts from the Quaternary deposits of the intertropical area of Brazil. In this paper, we redescribe cranial and postcranial elements and describe some new tarsal elements belonging to the species Hoplophorus euphractus from caves from Minas Gerais state, southern Brazil, in order to provid...

Pachyarmatherium is an enigmatic cingulate genus formerly recognized as Dasypodoidea, but tentatively assigned to the poorly known subfamily Glyptatelinae (Glyptodontidae) by later authors. A new species is described from the late Pleistocene of northeastern Brazil. The material comprises several isolated osteoderms, carapace fragments, and miscell...

The Uberaba area, in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, yields a rich continental fauna and flora from the Late Cretaceous Uberaba and Marília formations. This paper reviews the diversity of the biota recorded from these formations. The most significant taxa from Peirópolis are the frog Baurubatrachus pricei, the turtle Cambaremys langertoni, the lizard P...

The Itaborai Basin, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, is one of the smallest depositional basins in Brazil and is the only one to have yielded a terrestrial fauna of late Paleocene age. For 50 years its limestone was commercially exploited, allowing the recovery of a great amount of fossil vertebrates, predominantly from fissure fill deposits (Sequen...

The Litopterna is a group of endemic South America ungulates that lived from Late Paleocene (Itaboraiense)to Late Pleistocene (Lujanense). The order is divided in two large groups based on dental features: the Bunolipterna,in which the Protolipternidae is placed, is composed by taxa with primitive bunodont teeth; and the Lopholipterna,grouping taxa...

Notoungulates were recovered from bentonitic clays of the Tremembé Formation (Taubaté Basin).Two families, three genres and two species are known so far: Leontinidae (Taubatherium paulacoutoi and ?Ancylocoelus) and Notohippidae (Rhychippus brasiliensis). Analyzing the paleobiology data of this group and the geological context of the basin together,...

Sauropod dinosaurs (Titanosauria) remains were collected in Upper Cretaceous sandstones, at Alfredo Marcondes site, Adamantina Formation, São Paulo state. These fossils comprise a fragmentary right femur and a proximal portion of a right tibia. The femur was assigned to the family Titanosauridae on the basis of the following features: straight shap...

A Formação Tremembé da Bacia de Taubatélocaliza-se no estado de São Paulo sendo ela aunidade litoestratigráfica mais fossilífera da bacia,que se divide em duas litologias principais; asargilas bentoníticas (verdes maciças) e os folhelhospapiráceos e betuminosos, além de arenitos, siltitos,dolomitos e caliche. Com relação a ocorrência degastrópodes...

A utilização de luz ultravioleta (“luz negra”) ouUV, na paleontologia, tem ampla aplicação. Seu êxitoestá nos fósseis calcários, cuja presença de fosfatode cálcio provoca fluorescência do fóssil, o quepermite delimitar, com maior precisão, a presença deestruturas completamente invisíveis ou pouco visíveisà luz natural. Através da fluorescência, em...

The Litopterna is a group of endemic South America ungulates that lived from Late Paleocene (Itaboraiense) to Late Pleistocene (Lujanense). The order is divided in two large groups based on dental features: the Bunolipterna, in which the Protolipternidae is placed, is composed by taxa with primitive bunodont teeth; and the Lopholiptema, grouping ta...

Notoungulates were recovered from bentonitic clays of the Tremembé Formation (Taubaté Basin). Two families, three genres and two species are known so far: Leontinidae (Taubatherium paulacoutoi and ?Ancylocoelus) and Notohippidae (Rhychippus brasiliensis). Analyzing the paleobiology data of this group and die geological context of the basin together...

Sauropod dinosaurs (Titanosauria) remains were collected in Upper Cretaceous sandstones, at Alfredo Marcondes site, Adamantina Formation, São Paulo state. These fossils comprise a fragmentary right femur and a proximal portion of a right tibia. The femur was assigned to the family Titanosauridae on the basis of the following features: straight shap...

Carodnia vieirai Paula-Couto, 1952 é a espécie melhor conhecida da ordem Xenungulata, um grupo bastante peculiar de ungulados do Cenozóico sul-americano. Esse grupo foi proposto com base em um esqueleto quase completo descoberto na Bacia de São José de Itaboraí (Iataboraiense, Paleoceno Superior), Rio de Janeiro. Os xenungulados compreendem dois gê...

In this contribution is presented the preliminary results of a paleontological expedition to five Upper Cretaceous fossil sites in the western part of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Although the material is fragmented, the recovered fossils constitute an important record of the theropod dinosaur; some isolated teeth are the first record of Carchar...

The Paleontological Site of Peirópolis, in the Bauru Group, Bauru Basin, is one of the best fossiliferous site of continental Upper Cretaceous in Brazil. It is located at the Triângulo Mineiro regin, 20Km east of the headquarters of the municipality of Uberaba, Minas Gerais state. In Peirópolis neighborhoods there are expositions of sedimentary roc...

Here we present new information on the oldest Xenarthra remains. We conducted a comparative morphological analysis of the osteoderms and postcranial bones from the Itaboraian (upper Paleocene) of Brazil. Several osteoderms and isolated humeri, astragali, and an ulna, belonging to at least two species, compose the assemblage. The bone osteoderms wer...

Studies of the gross morphology and microstructure of teeth have provided a great deal of information about the function and evolution of mammals. Among the structural features studied, the dentinoenamel junction has received relatively little attention. In the present work, we used ground sections to perform a comparative analysis of the structure...