Rodrigo Santucci

University of Brasília | UnB · Faculty UnB Planaltina

After the extinction of rebbachisaurids during the Cenomanian–Turonian interval, titanosaurs were the only group of sauropods to face the K–Pg event. This same global pattern also holds for the end-Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) titanosaur record in South America, where their remains can be found from southern Argentina to Ecuador, with more...

Occurrences of young and immature individuals, relatively rare in the fossil record, are important due to the great amount of morphological and evolutionary information they reveal about a lineage’s development. Although crocodylomorphs are the most abundant terrestrial vertebrates found in the Bauru Basin, southeastern Brazil, even outnumbering di...

Notosuchia is a highly diverse group of crocodyliforms that peaked during the Cretaceous period. Their taxonomic abundance and morphological disparity in the Upper Cretaceous Bauru Group (Bauru Basin, Brazil) is remarkable, with over 20 species reported. The stable carbon and oxygen isotope composition of notosuchian bioapatite from two sites (i.e....

The fluvial deposits of the Adamantina Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Bauru Group) have produced a rich fossil vertebrate record of fishes, amphibians, lizards, snakes, turtles, dinosaurs and mammals. However, the record of notosuchians (Crocodylomorpha) is remarkable in terms of both diversity and number of findings. Here, we report a large number o...

The ichthyofauna of the Lower Cretaceous Quiricó Formation (Sanfranciscana Basin), Minas Gerais, Brazil, comprises so far taxa like Hybodontiformes (Chondrichthyes), Dastilbe, Laeliichthys, Mawsonia, and isolated Amiidae teeth and Semionotiformes scales. Here we report new remains of a dipnoan tooth plate and its associated pterygopalatine and Lepi...

Brief osteological description on a new juvenile baurusuchid specimen from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil

Knowledge on crocodyliform paleoneurology has significantly improved with development of computed tomography. However, studies so far have been able to reconstruct brain endocasts based only on single specimens for each taxon. Here for the first time, we reconstructed brain endocasts for multiple fossil specimens of the same crocodyliform taxon (Ba...

– The deposits of the Serra da Galga Member, Marília Formation (Bauru Group), in Uberaba, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, provided a rich fauna of vertebrates of Maastrichtian age. Despite the great faunistic diversity, the plant material recorded so far in these deposits is scarce. Together with the vertebrate remains, a relatively large number of...

Here, we provide a brief osteological description of a new specimen of a baurusuchid yearling. The material includes cranial fragments, a complete cervical vertebrae series, dorsal vertebrae with semi-articulated ribs and an osteoderm.

This abstract provides an overview of the different stromatolitic occurrences described by Santos et al., 2018. New information regarding putative calcisphere-like microfossils has been included.

The Upper Cretaceous Bauru Group deposits furnished several species of Crocodylomorpha, especially notosuchians. However, little is known about the feeding habits of this diverse group of crocodylomorphs. The dental histology is a destructive approach that can provide important information on tooth growth and feeding habits of fossil vertebrates. S...

Here we catalog, for the first time, the known stromatolite-containing localities and morphologies found in outcrops previously attributed, by past mapping efforts, to the Lagoa do Jacaré Formation, Bambuí Group. Unlike the Sete Lagoas Formation, which has already provided several crucial samples containing a substantial variety of microbialitic fo...

In this study we determined total mercury concentrations (THg) in a set of fossils from the Upper Cretaceous Bauru Group, Brazil, and investigated how the incorporation of this element occurs in fossil organisms and in their paleoenvironment. The analyzed fossil specimens were collected from two different locations (Jales and Fernandópolis) of the...

The ichnofabrics and ichnofossils from two outcrops of the Serra da Galga Member (Marília Formation, Upper Cretaceous), in the Municipality of Uberaba, Minas Gerais of Southeastern Brazil, are analyzed: the first is characterized by fluvial deposits (braided rivers) and paleosols with a set of ichnofabrics comprising rhizobioturbation, rhizohalo-Sk...

The vertebrate fossil record from the Quiricó Formation, Sanfranciscana Basin (Lower Cretaceous), is scarce, but the remains yet found are of great importance for the understanding of the paleobiogeographic and biogeographic processes that took place during the initial stages that led to the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. In this work, new occurren...

The Cretaceous sedimentary rocks from Uberaba, Minas Gerais, have provided a rich vertebrate fauna unearthed from rocks of the Serra da Galga Member, Marília Formation, Bauru Group, of Maastrichtian age. Together with these fossils, a large number of coprolites have also been found from two main localities, here called the Peirópolis and Serra da G...

Identification of isolated Theropod teeth based on morphometric analyses and morphological traits

Titanosauriformes is a conspicuous and diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs that inhabited almost all land masses during Cretaceous times. Besides the diversity of forms, the clade comprises one of the largest land animals found so far, Argentinosaurus, as well as some of the smallest sauropods known to date, Europasaurus and Magyarosaurus. They are...

Theropod bone remains from the Bauru Group, Upper Cretaceous, Southeastern Brazil, are scarce and poorly preserved. Because of that much of the information about these dinosaurs mainly relies on isolated teeth. Here we report a set of theropod teeth found in association with several crocodylomorph teeth and a well-preserved and semi-articulated sau...

Among titanosaurs, osteoderms are morphologically diverse and have been reported from deposits in South America, Africa, Madagascar, Eurasia and Oceania. In Brazil, titanosaur osteoderms are rare and have only been recorded from Bauru Basin sedimentary rocks. Here, we describe a keeled titanosaur osteoderm, which is the first occurrence of an osteo...

Remains of a new titanosaur, Aeolosaurus maximus sp. nov., from the Adamantina Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Bauru Group, São Paulo State of Brazil are described. The new species is represented by a single partially articulated skeleton and is characterized by having a well-developed posterior protuberance below the articular area on the anterior a...

Compared with crocodylomorph body fossils, the record of fossil crocodiloid eggs is scarce and poorly understood, a gap partially attributed to their typically thin eggshell, which is not conducive to preservation. A remarkable new association of well-preserved eggs and eggshells from the Adamantina Formation (Bauru Group, Upper Cretaceous) is desc...

Fossiliferous deposits are assets of the Union, and the DNPM (National Department of Mineral Production) is responsible for controlling their extraction in the country, for providing means to ensure that the paleontological heritage is protected, and for preventing illegal collection of fossils. The DNPM also resolves conflicts between the legal ex...

O estado de abandono e depredação dos sítios paleontológicos das bacias do Rio do Peixe é motivo de preocupação para as autoridades e para a sociedade há algum tempo. Denúncias foram feitas e constatadas, tanto de extração de areia no Parque Monumento Natural Vale dos Dinossauros quanto de retiradas de fósseis de sítios cadastrados pela SIGEP (Comi...

The Adamantina and Marília formations are considered to be the richest vertebrate-bearing units in the Bauru Group, Upper Cretaceous, Brazil. In contrast, the fossil content from the Uberaba Formation, which only outcrops in Minas Gerais State, is scarce and poorly understood. In this essay the first taxonomically informative titanosaur remains une...

In this paper, new sauropod remains from the lower/middle Albian of the Itapecuru Group, São Luís-Grajaú Basin, Maranhão State (Brazil) are described. The material comprises vertebral centra, fragments of neural arches and a fragment of the proximal end of a humerus of limited diagnostic value. Morphological analyses of these elements indicate the...

The Adamantina Formation deposits (Upper Cretaceous) from the Bauru Basin, in southwestern São Paulo State, have revealed an extraordinary and well preserved assemblage of fossil turtles. In this contribution some new unique findings from these deposits and the Bauru Basin, are reported and discussed. Additionally, some peculiar sedimentary structu...

Titanosaurs are the most common vertebrates found in the Bauru Group deposits. However, their record is rather fragmentary generally not allowing a detailed comparative study. In this contribution new titanosaur remains from Peirópolis (Serra da Galga Member, Marília Formation) are described. An isolated but complete large dorsal vertebra with an i...

  Material from a new titanosaur from the Bauru Basin (Bauru Group), Brazil is described and compared with well-known titanosaurs. Adamantisaurus mezzalirai gen. et sp. nov. is based on six articulated anterior caudal vertebrae and two haemapophyses collected from the Adamantina Formation, which is considered to be Campanian–Maastrichtian? in age....

A new titanosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous continental deposits of the Bauru Group is described. Trigonosaurus pricei n.gen., n.sp., is based on two specimens, both collected at the Caieira Quarry near Peirópolis, Minas Gerais. The holotype consists of the five most posterior cervical vertebrae, 10 dorsals, six sacrals and the left ilium...