A new basal titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Titanosaurs were the most common and diversified group of neosauropods throughout the Cretaceous (Curry Rogers, 2005). Although their remains are present in almost all continents, in South America their fossil record is more abundant and complete (Santucci and Bertini, 2001, Powell, 2003, Poropat et al., 2016). In Brazil, titanosaurs are best recorded in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Bauru Basin, being represented mostly by body fossils (Kellner and Azevedo, 1999, Campos et al., 2005, Kellner et al., 2005, Kellner et al., 2006, Santucci and Bertini, 2006, Salgado and Carvalho, 2008, Santucci and Arruda-Campos, 2011, Bandeira et al., 2016). In the São Luís-Grajaú Basin, northern South America, titanosaurs are badly preserved in the lower-Upper Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) strata (Medeiros and Schultz, 2001, Medeiros and Schultz, 2002, Castro et al., 2007, Freire et al., 2007, Lindoso et al., 2013, Medeiros et al., 2014).
Intriguingly, the fossil record of these sauropods in the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian to Hauterivian) of Equatorial deposits of Brazil are represented almost entirely by footprints (Leonardi, 1979, Carvalho, 1996, Carvalho, 2000, Leonardi and Carvalho, 2000, Leonardi and Carvalho, 2007, Leonardi and Santos, 2004). The only titanosaur species described from this interval comes from the Sanfranciscana Basin (Aptian, Areado Group) (Zaher et al., 2011). Recently, the first titanosaur body fossil has been discovered from the Rio do Peixe Basin complex (Ghilardi et al., 2016). Among the interior basins situated in the Northeastern Brazil, those located in the region of Rio do Peixe, specially Sousa and Triunfo, stand out due to their prolific dinosaur fossil record, in particular on their paleoichnological aspects (Carvalho, 2001, Leonardi and Carvalho, 2002). Footprints and trackways, mainly of large theropods, sauropods and ornithopods and invertebrate ichnofossils, such as traces and burrows produced by arthropods and annelids, are also common (Fernandes and Carvalho, 2001, Carvalho et al., 2017).
The paleontological-geological relevance of Sousa and Triunfo basins lies on the abundance of dinosaurian ichnofaunas that represent an extensive Lower Cretaceous megatracksite (Viana et al., 1993, Carvalho, 2000, Leonardi and Carvalho, 2000, Leonardi and Carvalho, 2002) established during the early stages of the South Atlantic opening. In this area, 37 sites and approximately 96 individual stratigraphic levels preserve occurrences of more than 535 individual dinosaurian trackways, as well as rare tracks and traces of the vertebrate mesofauna (Leonardi, 1989, Leonardi, 1994, Leonardi and Carvalho, 2000, Carvalho et al., 2013). On the other hand, dinosaur remains are poorly represented in these basins. Then, one of the main challenges in the vertebrate paleontology in northeastern Brazil is to find dinosaur body-fossils, which can unveil the anatomy, functional morphology and paleoecological aspects of the dinosaurian fauna recorded until now only by footprints and trackways (Carvalho, 2004, Carvalho et al., 1993a, Carvalho et al., 1993b).
This paper presents a new species of a titanosaur from the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian to lower Hauterivian) of Brazil and one of oldest worldwide. Additionally, it provides new insights regarding the pattern of distribution of this successful group of sauropods in the equatorial Gondwana.
Section snippets
Geological and paleontological setting
Located in the west of Paraíba State in the counties of Uiraúna, Poço, Brejo das Freiras, Triunfo and Santa Helena, this basin of 480 km2 is an asymmetric graben that was controlled by a northwest transcurrent fault system (Fig. 1). The Precambrian basement is composed of igneous (granites, gabbros and diorites) and metamorphic (migmatites, gneisses, quartzites and marbles) rocks (ANP, 2008, Carvalho, 2000).
In the basin, the main lithologies are clastic rocks: breccias, conglomerates,
Systematic paleontology
DINOSAURIA Owen, 1842.
SAUROPODA Marsh, 1878.
TITANOSAURIFORMES Salgado et al., 1997.
TITANOSAURIA Bonaparte and Coria, 1993.
Triunfosaurus gen. nov.
Type species. Triunfosaurus leonardii sp. nov.
Derivation of name. For the type-locality where the specimen comes from; plus saurus, Greek for lizard, reptile.
Diagnosis. Titanosaur characterized by the following characters (the characters indicated with the asterisks are autapomorphies recovered in the phylogenetic analysis): middle-anterior caudal
Discussion
In spite of the fragmentary condition of the material, it is possible to assess the affinities of the new sauropod. The pubic articulation of the ischium of Triunfosaurus leonardii gen. et sp. nov. is longer than the anteroposterior length of the iliac peduncle, as in Camarasauromorpha (Salgado et al., 1997). Within Camarasauromorpha, Triunfosaurus leonardii gen. et sp. nov. is a member of the clade formed by Europasaurus plus more derived sauropods because of the presence of caudal neural
Conclusion
The new sauropod from the Triunfo Basin opens new perspectives into the understanding of the paleobiogeographical distribution of the titanosaur sauropods throughout South America during the first steps of their evolution. The species described herein is one of the oldest described titanosaur ever recorded in that landmass. This reinforces the hypothesis of a Gondwanan origin in South America for Titanosauria during the Early Cretaceous.
Acknowledgements
We specially thanks the detailed review and suggestions presented by Professor Ralph Molnar. Proper thanks are due to Sidnei da Conceição Berlamino, Wanderlei Andrade de Sousa, Carlos André Santana Duarte that coordinate the excavation of the specimen and to Cao Scarpini and Deverson Pepi by the illustrations. The financial support was provided by Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Faperj) and the Conselho Nacional do Desenvolvimento Científico e
Glossary
- ac
- acetabulum
- af
- articular facets
- c
- centrum
- ias
- iliac articular surface
- pas
- pubic articular surface
- pc
- pleurocoel
- poz
- postzygapophysis
- prz
- prezygapophysis
- sp
- sagital processes
- pt
- protuberance
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2019, Cretaceous ResearchCitation Excerpt :Several titanosauriform materials are used on this work to compare with the specimens described below. The following taxa of titanosauriformes were used for comparisons purposes: Venenosaurus dicrocei Tidwell et al., 2001, Aeolosaurus maximus Santucci and Arruda-Campos, 2011; Aeolosaurus rionegrinus Powell, 1987; Aeolosaurus colhuehuapensis Casal et al., 2007; Alamosaurus sanjuanensis Gilmore, 1922; Andesaurus delgadoi Calvo and Bonaparte, 1991; Antarctosaurus giganteus von Huene, 1929; Argentinosaurus huinculensis Bonaparte and Coria, 1993; Austroposeidon magnificus Bandeira et al., 2016a; Brasilotitan nemophagus Machado et al., 2013; Baurutitan britoi Kellner et al., 2005; Bonitasaura salgadoi Apesteguía, 2004; Dreadnoughtus schrani Lacovara et al., 2014; Epachthosaurus sciuttoi Powell, 1990; Futalognkosaurs dukei Calvo et al., 2007a; Gondwanatitan faustoi Kellner and Azevedo, 1999; Isisaurus colberti (Jain and Bandyopadhyay, 1997); Malawisaurus dixeyi Jacobs et al., 1993 (Gomani, 2005); Maxakalisaurus topai Kellner et al., 2006; Mendozasaurus neguyalap Gonzalez-Riga, 2003; Muyelensaurus pecheni Calvo et al., 2007c; Neuquensaurus australis (Lydekker, 1893); Opisthocoelicaudia skarzynskii Borsuk-Białynicka, 1977; Overosaurus paradasorum Coria et al., 2013; Petrobrasaurus puestohernandezi Filippi et al., 2011a,b; Pitekunsaurus macayai Filippi and Garrido 2008; Rapetosaurus krausei Curry-Rogers and Foster, 2001; Rinconsaurus caudamirus Calvo and González-Riga, 2003; Rocasaurus muniozi Salgado and Azpilicueta, 2000; Saltasaurus loricatus Bonaparte and Powell, 1980; Shingopana songwensis Gorsack et al., 2017; Tapuiasaurus macedoi Zaher et al., 2011; Triunfosaurus leonardii Carvalho et al., 2017; Trigonosaurus pricei Campos et al., 2005; and Uberabatitan riberoi Salgado and Carvalho, 2008. Other lithostrotians used considered here are: CPP 248 (Santucci and Bertini, 2001); MAU-Pv-N-414 (Filippi et al., 2013); and MCT 1487-R (known as “Série A” by Powell, 1987, 2003).