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A new early Late Triassic saurischian dinosaur from Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

Authors:
  • Museu de Ciências Naturais - SEMA/RS
  • Museu de Ciências Naturais SEMA/RS
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... The supraacetabular crest is conspicuous, but transversely narrow, contrasting with the better laterally projected crest of herrerasaurids [6,56,64] and several eusaurischians (e.g. Guaibasaurus candelariensis: [65]; Saturnalia tupiniquim: MCP 3845-PV; Eoraptor lunensis: PVSJ 512; Liliensternus liliensterni: MB R. 2175). On the other hand, the lateral development of the supraacetabular crest of Maleriraptor kuttyi closely resembles that of Caseosaurus crosbyensis (UMMP 8870). ...
... There is an incipient posterior projection at the posteroventral corner of the ischiadic peduncle. Although the acetabular wall is not fully open, it is more perforated than in Saturnalia tupiniquim [60], Guaibasaurus candelariensis [65,66] and Chromogisaurus novasi [61], resembling the degree of perforation of Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis ( [56]; PVL 2566) and Gnathovorax cabreirai (CAPPA/UFSM 0009). ...
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Some of the oldest known dinosaurs and the first faunas numerically dominated by them are documented in the Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic-aged Gondwana formations exposed in the Pranhita-Godavari Valley of south-central and east-central India. The Upper Maleri Formation of the Pranhita-Godavari Basin preserves an early-middle Norian dinosaur assemblage numerically dominated by sauropodomorph dinosaurs, including at least two nominal species. However, the preliminary report of a herrerasaurian dinosaur specimen indicates that this assemblage of south-central Gondwana was more taxonomically diverse. Here, we describe and compare in detail the anatomy and assess the taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of the Upper Maleri herrerasaurian specimen. A unique combination of character states present in this specimen allows the erection of the new genus and species Maleriraptor kuttyi. Updated quantitative phylogenetic analyses focused on early dinosauriforms recovered Maleriraptor kuttyi as a member of Herrerasauria outside of the South American clade Herrerasauridae. Maleriraptor kuttyi fills a temporal gap between the Carnian South American herrerasaurids and the younger middle Norian–Rhaetian herrerasaurs of North America. Maleriraptor kuttyi shows the first evidence that herrerasaurs survived also in Gondwana the early Norian tetrapod turnover that resulted in the global extinction of the rhynchosaurs.
... In its original description, the taxon was recovered as the earliest-diverging member of Pterosauromorpha, but this positioning was defied recently by Müller et al. (2023), who recovered the taxon as a gracilisuchid. GUAIBASAURIDAE Bonaparte, Ferigolo & Ribeiro, 1999Guaibasaurus Bonaparte, Ferigolo & Ribeiro, 1999 Guaibasaurus candelariensis Bonaparte, Ferigolo & Ribeiro, 1999 The type locality of Guaibasaurus candelariensis is an outcrop ca. 100 km far from the Linha São Luiz Geosite, in the municipality of Candelária. The species was originally known from a few vertebrae and some incomplete bones of the girdles and hindlimbs described by Bonaparte et al. (1999) as a saurischian of uncertain affinities. ...
... GUAIBASAURIDAE Bonaparte, Ferigolo & Ribeiro, 1999Guaibasaurus Bonaparte, Ferigolo & Ribeiro, 1999 Guaibasaurus candelariensis Bonaparte, Ferigolo & Ribeiro, 1999 The type locality of Guaibasaurus candelariensis is an outcrop ca. 100 km far from the Linha São Luiz Geosite, in the municipality of Candelária. The species was originally known from a few vertebrae and some incomplete bones of the girdles and hindlimbs described by Bonaparte et al. (1999) as a saurischian of uncertain affinities. Even though no skull or dental remains of this dinosaur were ever found, the authors were inclined to postulate it was a carnivorous saurischian. ...
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The Linha São Luiz Geosite is one of the most remarkable outcrops from the central region of Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil. With more than 20 meters of vertical exposure, the locality preserves records of distinct sedimentary episodes, and one of the richest fossil assemblages known in southern Brazil. After a quarter of a century from the first expeditions to the site, the Linha São Luiz still yields new discoveries, registering exquisitely preserved fossils from micro and macrovertebrates, invertebrates, and plants, as well as trace fossils generated by these groups. In this contribution, we assembled representatives from distinct fields of paleontological study to provide a summary of the fossil assemblage from this site. We also briefly discuss the history of research and report geoconservation strategies, which are being implemented at the locality, in order to preserve this important window to the Brazilian Mesozoic.
... Nevertheless, smaller individuals of Asilisaurus kongwe lack a scar on the homologous surface of the dorsolateral trochanter (Griffin & Nesbitt,2016a). The presence of a dorsolateral trochanter is common in early saurischians, including herrerasaurids (Novas 1994;Pacheco et al., 2019), sauropodomorphs (Bonaparte et al., 1999;Langer, 2003;Sereno et al., 2013;Cabreira et al., 2016), and theropods (Griffin & Nesbitt 2016b). An exception is the putative theropod Erythrovenator jaccuiensis (Müller, 2021), which lacks any evidence of a dorsolateral trochanter. ...
... Biogeography is one of the many facets of dinosaur research that has gained prominence recently (Pitman et al. 1993;Storey et al. 1995;Loyal et al. 1996;Sereno 1997Sereno , 1999Bonaparte et al. 1999;Forster 1999;Chatterjee and Scotese 1999;Upchurch et al. 2002;Briggs 2003;Holtz et al. 2004;Isabel and Ronquist 2004;Butler et al. 2006;Ali and Aitchison 2008;Smith et al. 2008;Nesbitt et al. 2009;Bittencourt and Langer 2011;Chatterjee et al. 2013;Dunhill et al. 2016;Krause et al. 2019;Khosla 2021;Khosla and Bajpai 2021). As a field, biogeography is expanding, and a large portion of its conceptual framework is well established (e.g. ...
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We review the record of Late Triassic and Jurassic dinosaurs from India to determine their geological ages and palaeobiogeographic significance. The oldest Indian dinosaur, the basal saurischian Alwalkeria maleriensis, is from the early Late Triassic (Otischalkian/Carnian) lower Maleri Formation. The archosaur-dominated Upper Maleri Formation (Adamanian/late Carnian?) contains two sauropodomorph clades. The Indian Jurassic record of dinosaurs from the Pranhita-Godavari Valley is more extensive but has poor age constraints, whereas fragmentary, and better dated dinosaur remains are known from the Early Middle Jurassic of Kachchh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Indian Late Triassic dinosaurs fit into a picture of some degree of dinosaur cosmopolitanism across Late Triassic Pangaea, with primitive saurischians and/or theropods and primitive sauropodomorphs found in eastern Gondwana (India), western Gondwana (South America) and Euramerica. The well-known non-neosauropods Kotasaurus and Barapasaurus from the Middle Jurassic Kota Formation provide substantial evidence that India was a major centre of the early evolution of neosauropods. Tharosaurus indicus, from the Middle Jurassic strata of the Jaisalmer Basin, is a relic of a lineage that likely originated in India and swiftly expanded throughout the rest of Pangaea. This lineage further stresses the significance of Gondwanan India in elucidating the origin and early evolutionary history of neosauropod dinosaurs.
... 225 Mya) of the upper portion of the Santa Maria Supersequence of Brazil . The dinosaur assemblage of these beds is composed of two sauropodomorphs (Unaysaurus tolentinoi and Macrocollum itaquii; Leal et al., 2004;McPhee et al., 2020;Müller et al., 2018), a theropod (Müller, 2021), and a species that has been alternatively interpreted as a theropod or a sauropodomorph (Guaibasaurus candelariensis; Bonaparte et al., 1999;Langer et al., 2011). The other geological unit worldwide that has yielded several early Norian (i.e., shortly after the end of the rhynchosaurian dominance) dinosaur skeletons is the F I G U R E 1 Geographic and geological occurrence of Jaklapallisaurus asymmetricus and Unaysauridae. ...
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The Gondwana formations exposed in the Pranhita‐Godavari Valley of central India include Middle Triassic to Lower Jurassic continental deposits that provide essential information about the tetrapod assemblages of that time, documenting some of the oldest known dinosaurs and the first faunas numerically dominated by this group. The Upper Maleri Formation of the Pranhita‐Godavari Basin preserves an early‐middle Norian dinosaur assemblage that provides information about the early evolutionary history of this group in central‐south Gondwana. This assemblage comprises sauropodomorph dinosaurs and an herrerasaurian, including two nominal species. Here, we describe in detail the anatomy of one of those early dinosaurs, the bagualosaurian sauropodomorph Jaklapallisaurus asymmetricus . The new anatomical information is used to investigate the position of the species in an updated quantitative phylogenetic analysis focused on early sauropodomorphs. The analysis recovered Jaklapallisaurus asymmetricus as a member of Unaysauridae, at the base of Plateosauria, together with Macrocollum itaquii and Unaysaurus tolentinoi from the early Norian of southern Brazil. This phylogenetic result indicates that the dispersal of early plateosaurian sauropodomorphs between the Southern Hemisphere and what nowadays is Europe would have occurred shortly after Ischigualastian times because of the extension of their ghost lineage. Thus, the presence of early plateosaurians in the early Norian of South America and India reduces a previously inferred diachrony between the biogeographic dispersals of theropods and sauropodomorphs during post‐Ischigualastian times.
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Pterosaurs, remarkable for their extensive evolutionary history and role as the first vertebrates to achieve active flight, have long intrigued paleontologists and the public alike. Spanning over 150 million years and vanishing at the end of the Mesozoic Era, pterosaurs represent a major evolutionary radiation within terrestrial ecosystems. Despite their prominence, the origins of pterosaurs have remained a complex puzzle in paleontology for over 200 years. We present a comprehensive catalog of pterosaur precursors specimens from the Upper Triassic of the Candelária Sequence within the Santa Maria Supersequence in southern Brazil and discuss their significance for understanding pterosauromorph radiation and the origins of Pterosauria. Additionally, we carried out a phylogenetic analysis to investigate the hypothesis that lagerpetids are closely related to pterosaurs, incorporating new data into the most comprehensive dataset of Triassic dinosauromorphs. Our results support the hypothesis that lagerpetids are pterosauromorphs, offering new insights into the evolutionary relationships between non-pterosaur pterosauromorphs and their better known volant relatives. This study highlights the importance of detailed anatomical and phylogenetic analyses in resolving the complex origins of pterosaurs and underscores the value of the Triassic fossil record in understanding the early evolution of pterosauromorphs.
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The central region of Rio Grande do Sul State, in southern Brazil, has increasing importance due the discoveries of Triassic fossils, including some of the world’s oldest dinosaurs and their tracks. Tridactyl footprints of Carnian age, from the Santa Maria Formation, have been identified as ?Grallator isp., in addition to indeterminate tracks of dinosaurs. These footprints are attributed to basal dinosauriforms and they are considered the earliest examples of dinosaur tracks in Brazil. These discoveries hold significant implications, as they are associated with a diverse fauna whose dating aligns with the Carnian Pluvial Episode. This is a pivotal period marked by substantial environmental changes linked to global warming, leading to significant extinctions and transitions in both flora and fauna. Other tracks, dating back to the Norian or possibly Rhaetian age, were reinterpreted as “Theropod tracks indet.”, and were produced by large theropod dinosaurs. These particular occurrences are connected to the Caturrita Formation and provide valuable insights into a later episode following the climate changes and their resulting effects on faunal and floral composition. Previously registered tracks within the Caturrita Formation at the Novo Treviso site, attributed to prosauropod dinosaurs, have been reinterpreted as belonging to the Guará Formation, ranging from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. Thus, the Santa Maria-Caturrita sequence, a sedimentary record shaped by diverse processes in ancient fluvial systems, offers an almost continuous timeline of the transition between the emergence of dinosaurs and their eventual establishment as ecologically dominant elements in continental faunas. These Brazilian Triassic dinosaur tracks, albeit limited to two strata at present, provide valuable supplementary data to the osteological record, further reinforcing these significant events in paleontological history.
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Today’s Campos Sulinos have witnessed important paleogeographic, paleoclimatic, and paleoenvironmental shifts in the last 300 million years. When this history is evaluated through the perspective of fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks, it can be divided into four major events: Permian deglaciation and evolution to an alluvial plain in Pangean condition; Triassic recovery of a massive extinction and development in alluvial plains in Pangean circumstances; establishment of an aeolian system under desertic conditions during the Jurassic-Cretaceous; and the Pleistocene onset of megafauna and dominance of grassland vegetation responding to glacial and interglacial cycles. Permian biotas range from marine parareptiles, such as mesosaurs, to fully terrestrial fauna, including large herbivores such as provelosaurids, a saber-toothed herbivore, and large carnivores. Terrestrial environments were dominated by a Glossopteris Flora, with large pteridophytes and primitive gymnosperms. Triassic biota vary from near-the-water parareptiles, temnospondyls, and archosauromorphs, right after the most impressive mass extinction on our planet, to the onset of dinosaurs and the evolution of cynodonts. The Triassic also witnessed one of the main vegetation transitions in Earth’s history: environments once dominated by a Glossopteris Flora gradually became occupied by Dicroidium and Coniferous Floras. The Jurassic faunas are mostly represented by dinosaur footprints from a desert-dominated environment prior to the South America/Africa breakup. Late Pleistocene biota includes large-bodied mammals and reptiles, representatives of the so-called Pleistocene Megafauna. In addition, extant taxa are also present in the fossil record. The Late Pleistocene paleobotanic fossil record demonstrates widespread grasslands that were only slowly subject to the expansion of forests.
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