Geological and Palaeontological context of three new Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) vertebrate sites in the Iberian Peninsula (Cuenca Province,Central Spain)

Three new Lower Cretaceous vertebrate sites (Vadillos-1, Vadillos-2, El Tobar) have been recently discovered and studied in the Cuenca Province (Central Spain). They are located in deposits of “Wealden” facies belonging to the El Collado Sandstone and Clay Formation. In these outcrops, micro and macroremains corresponding to plants, invertebrates and vertebrates have been collected and subsequently assigned to macrophytes, charophytes (e.g., Atopochara trivolvis triquetra, Globator maillardii trochiliscoides, Clavator harrisii harrisii), ostracods (e.g., Cypridea gr. modesta, Cypridea cf. C. isasae, Cypridea sp. aff. C. moneta, Cypridea sp. 1, Cypridea sp. 2), molluscs (Unionoida, Viviparus sp.), fishes, amphibians, turtles (cf. Eucryptodira), crocodyliforms (Neosuchia) and dinosaurs (ankylosaurs, ornithopods, theropods). Among the vertebrate remains, scales, teeth, plates, osteoderms, phalanges, ribs, vertebrae and other incomplete bones, as well as eggshell fragments have been identified. This rich and diverse assemblage was deposited in an upper Barremian alluvial-palustrine muddy floodplain crossed by braided sandy channels.     

A review of the upper Campanian vertebrate site of Armuña (Segovia Province,Spain)

The Upper Cretaceous outcrops of Armuña (Segovia Province, Spain) yielded relatively abundant material of vertebrates during prospection and excavation in the second half of the 1980s. However, little has been published on these remains. A new analysis of the specimens from this upper Campanian site reveals the presence of some clades in the site for the first time (e.g., Dortokidae, Anguimorpha, Mosasauroidea). Furthermore, the material of the clades previously recognized there has been reviewed and described in more detail, with some previous systematic attributions confirmed and others refuted. Consequently, a relatively high local diversity has been identified. New taxa (i.e., a member of Anguimorpha and a eusuchian crocodyliform) are identified in Armuña, coexisting with other taxa previously described in other sites from the Iberoarmorican Realm. The vertebrates from Armuña confirm that the fauna from the Upper Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula is composed of a mixture of European endemic clades and lineages shared with other continents such as North America (e.g., anguimorphs) and Africa (e.g., bothremydids).     

Middle Eocene vertebrates from the sabkha of Gueran,Atlantic coastal basin,Saharan Morocco,and their peri-African correlations

The sabkha of Gueran in the Southwest Moroccan Sahara has yielded a rich and diverse fauna of late middle Eocene vertebrates that include the world's richest Bartonian age archaeocete assemblage. Archeocete remains were described previously and here we report on the rest of the vertebrate fauna. The Gueran fauna includes abundant chondrichthyan species belonging to Lamniformes, Carcharhiniformes and Rhinopristiformes, and actinopterygian assemblage consisting of Cylindracanthus, of a siluriform, and of Perciformes. Turtles are represented by at least two marine taxa referred to as Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae. Crocodylian remains belong to at least two longirostrine species, including gavialoid remains. Snakes are represented by Pterosphenus cf. schweinfurthi (Palaeophiidae). Seabirds are represented by a pseudo-toothed bird (Pelagornithidae). The avian fossil belonged to a gigantic soaring bird and constitutes the earliest occurrence of the genus Pelagornis. The presence of proboscideans is attested by dental fragments. This fossil assemblage from Gueran shows affinities with those of the Eocene beds of Egypt and Libya. The numerous shared taxa support a close biogeographical connection between faunas from southeastern and southwestern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.     

Overabundance of piscivorous dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae) in the mid-Cretaceous of North Africa: The Algerian dilemma

The informally called ‘Continental intercalaire’ is a series of continental and brackish deposits that outcrops in several regions of North Africa. The age of the series is not well-constrained, but its upper part, visible in the ‘Kem Kem beds’ in Morocco and in Bahariya in Egypt, is regarded as early Cenomanian in age. Spinosaurid remains are an important component of this series, but records of this dinosaur are surprisingly rare in Algerian localities of the ‘Continental intercalaire’. Here, we describe a vertebrate assemblage from two localities, Kénadsa and Menaguir, situated in the Guir basin, Western Algeria. The assemblage comprises hybodont sharks, sarcopterygian fishes, ray-finned fishes, turtles, crocodiles and dinosaurs. Among the latter, only teeth of theropods have been recovered and 94% belong to Spinosaurus. The assemblage is taxonomically very similar to the Moroccan and Egyptian assemblages mentioned above. This study: 1) suggests a likely early Cenomanian age for the Guir basin deposits containing the assemblage; 2) provides a new evidence of the homogeneity of the early Cenomanian vertebrate fauna throughout North Africa; and 3) confirms the overabundance of theropod dinosaurs, especially spinosaurs, in the assemblage showing a possible shortcut in the vertebrate food chain. The northern most locality, Menaguir, shows sedimentological and ichnological evidence of marine influences indicating that the palaeoenvironment shows spatial heterogeneities.     

A new,richly fossiliferous member comprised of tidal deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Maevarano Formation,northwestern Madagascar

A new member of the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Maevarano Formation is proposed to accommodate a distinctive succession of strata exposed along the shores of Lac Kinkony in northwestern Madagascar. The new Lac Kinkony Member overlies fully terrestrial sandstones of the Anembalemba Member of the Maevarano Formation, and is capped by marine dolostones of the Berivotra Formation. In the stratotype section, the base of the Lac Kinkony Member consists of siltstone interbeds that host networks of Ophiomorpha. Siltstone facies pass up-section to distinctive white sandstones packed with dolomitic mud matrix that exhibit rhythmic clay drapes, flaser and wavy bedding, and oppositely-oriented ripples developed on the toes of larger foresets. Thin flat interbeds of microgranular dolostone and claystone comprise the uppermost facies of the Lac Kinkony Member, and a laterally traceable ravinement bed mantled by cobbles of rounded dolostone marks the contact with the superjacent Berivotra Formation. Deposits of the Lac Kinkony Member are interpreted to represent siliciclastic and carbonate tidal flats dissected by tidally-influenced rivers. Vertebrate fossils are abundantly preserved in these coastal deposits, and are locally concentrated in microfossil bonebeds that have the potential to yield thousands of small identifiable specimens. In addition to many taxa already known from the Maevarano Formation, the Lac Kinkony Member has yielded a wealth of phyllodontid albuloid fish skull elements, the distal humerus of a new frog taxon, five vertebrae representing two new snakes, a tooth of a possible dromaeosaurid, and a complete skull of a new mammal. The discovery of several new vertebrate taxa from this new member reflects the fact that it samples a previously unsampled nearshore, peritidal paleoenvironment in the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar.     

Taphonomic aspects of the Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage of Itaboraí, state of Rio de Janeiro,southeastern Brazil

Pleistocene vertebrates from Itaboraí Basin have not been taphonomically studied prior to this work, limiting the understanding of the deposition and preservation of the only Pleistocene vertebrate accumulation known for the state of Rio de Janeiro. In this work, the taphonomic signatures of the Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage of Itaboraí are identified and interpreted in order to increase the knowledge about the formation of this fossil association and the paleoecology of the region of Rio de Janeiro during the late Pleistocene. Our analysis shows that the thanatocoenosis was exposed to the biostratinomic processes during a small time span; that it is parautochthonous; and experienced short transport distances by normal fluvial streams and floods. Subsequently, the fossiliferous horizon was quickly covered by the superjacent soil. Yet, the skeletal elements were fractured and deformed during the sedimentary compaction. The differential preservation of megamammal bones is associated to the bone resistance against those destructive processes and to the specific anatomical features. Comparison between Itaboraí and other Brazilian Pleistocene vertebrate accumulations shows that the Itaboraí fossil accumulation was less affected by taphonomic processes, although it is also a time-averaged fossil concentration. Finally, some of the taphonomic features indicate an arid paleoclimate.     

A new ornithischian dinosaur and the terrestrial vertebrate fauna from a bone bed in the Wealden of Ardingly,West Sussex

The Wealden Supergroup of south-east England has long been of interest to palaeontologists because of its diverse flora and fauna. The Supergroup is Early Cretaceous in age, occupying the time period immediately after the enigmatic end-Jurassic extinction. Wealden faunas therefore have the potential to be informative about the tempo and mode of post-extinction recovery, but due to lack of exposure in this densely populated part of southern England, are difficult to sample. In the summer of 2012, a number of ex situ fossiliferous blocks of sandstone, siltstone and limestone were discovered from building excavations at Ardingly College, near Haywards Heath in West Sussex. The sedimentology of the blocks indicates that they are from the Valanginian Hastings Group, and that Ardingly College is underlain by the Grinstead Clay Formation, rather than the Ardingly Sandstone Member. The blocks contain a diverse invertebrate fauna and flora, as well as vertebrate remains, which are found in a distinct sandstone horizon that probably represents the Top Lower Tunbridge Wells pebble bed. A tooth from an ornithschian dinosaur cannot be referred to any of the ornithischian taxa known from the Wealden Supergroup, and therefore represents a new taxon. Teeth of the crocodilian Theriosuchus extend the known range of this taxon in the Wealden, while teeth of an ornithocheird pterosaur confirm the presence of these animals in the skies above the Wealden sub-basins. Fusainized plant remains and the wing-case of a cupedid beatle indicate that wildfire was a ubiquitous feature of the Weald Sub-basin during the Valanginian.     

A Late Jurassic fossil assemblage in Gondwana: Biostratigraphy and correlations of the Tacuarembó Formation, Parana Basin, Uruguay

The Tacuarembó Formation has yielded a fossil assemblage that includes the best known body fossils, consisting of isolated scales, teeth, spines, and molds of bones, recovered from thin and patchy bonebeds, from the Botucatu Desert, Parana Basin, South America. The remains are preserved in the sandstones widespread around the city of Tacuarembó. We propose a new formalized nomenclature for the Tacuarembó Formation, naming its “Lower” and “Upper” members as the Batoví (new name) and Rivera (new rank) members, respectively. An assemblage zone is defined for the Batoví Member (fluviolacustrine and aeolian deposits). In this unit, the freshwater hybodontid shark Priohybodus arambourgi D’Erasmo is well represented. This species was previously recorded in Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous units of the Sahara and the southern Arabian Peninsula. Globally considered, the fossil assemblage of this member (P. arambourgi, dipnoan fishes, Ceratosaurus-like theropods, and conchostracans) is indicative of a Kimmeridgian–Tithonian age, which in combination with the stratigraphic relationships of the Tacuarembó Formation with the overlying basalts of the Arapey Formation (132 My average absolute age) implies that the latter was deposited during the Kimmeridgian–Hauterivian interval.     

The East Side Story – The Transylvanian latest Cretaceous continental vertebrate record and its implications for understanding Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary events

The latest Cretaceous continental vertebrate faunas of the wider Transylvanian area figured prominently in discussions concerning the Cretaceous–Paleogene Boundary (K-Pg) events when they were first described by Nopcsa between 1897 and 1929, because they were assumed to be late Maastrichtian in age. Subsequently their age was reconsidered as early Maastrichtian, and were thus regarded of lesser importance in understanding the K-Pg boundary events in Europe and worldwide. Moreover, Transylvanian continental vertebrate assemblages (the so-called ‘Haţeg Island’ faunas) were often lumped together as a temporally restricted assemblage with a homogenous taxonomic composition. Recent fossil discoveries and more precise dating techniques have considerably expanded knowledge of the Transylvanian vertebrate assemblages, their ages, and their evolution. A synthesis of the available stratigraphic data allows development of the first comprehensive chronostratigraphic framework of the latest Cretaceous Transylvanian vertebrates. According to these new data, expansion of continental habitats and emergence of their vertebrate faunas started locally during the latter part of the late Campanian, and these faunas continued up to the second half of the Maastrichtian. During this time, long-term faunal stasis appears to have characterized the Transylvanian vertebrate assemblages, which is different from the striking turnovers recorded in western Europe during the same time interval. This suggests that there was no single ‘Europe-wide’ pattern of latest Cretaceous continental vertebrate evolution. Together, the available data shows that dinosaurs and other vertebrates were relatively abundant and diverse until at least ca. 1 million years before the K-Pg boundary, and is therefore consistent with the hypothesis of a sudden extinction, although this must be tested with future discoveries and better age constraints and correlations.     

The shark-beds of the Eyam Limestone Formation (Lower Carboniferous,Viséan) of Steeplehouse Quarry,Wirksworth, Derbyshire,UK

The Eyam Limestone Formation of Steeplehouse Quarry, Wirksworth, Derbyshire, UK yields a diverse assemblage of Lower Carboniferous vertebrate remains. The assemblage is dominated by dermal denticles of the enigmatic selachian Petrodus patelliformis M’Coy, 1848, but also contains teeth of petalodonts, hybodonts and neoselachians. Actinopterygian remains also occur. The assemblage has yielded the earliest Neoselachian, Cooleyella fordi (Duffin and Ward, 1983) and the earliest British lonchidiid, Reesodus wirksworthensis (Duffin 1985). The first occurrence of the enigmatic spiny shark Acanthorhachis (Listracanthidae) is reported from the Viséan, extending its range back some 10 million years. Associated invertebrate remains and sedimentological data indicates a thriving fore-reef environment, deposited in a low energy off-reef setting. The vertebrate remains are well preserved with little abrasion, indicating short transport distances. Conodont elements indicating a late Brigantian age (Early Carboniferous, Viséan) have unusual and extensive euhedral apatite overgrowths.