Masiakasaurus-like theropod teeth from the Alcântara Formation, São Luís Basin (Cenomanian), northeastern Brazil

The Alcântara Formation (Early Cenomanian, São Luís Basin) that crops out on the northern shoreline of Maranhão State, northeastern Brazil, presents a unique record of northern South American vertebrates that is similar to North African Albian-Cenomanian records. In this paper, nine theropod teeth are described. Some of these show a long, distally curved profile, laterally compressed, with a textured distal surface and a basal cross section from elliptical to subcircular. The mesial carina is deflected lingually, the distal one is deflected labially and both are gently serrated. This set of dental features is peculiar to and typical of the Malagasy genus Masiakasaurus from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian). The Alcântara Formation material is here referred to a noasaurid related to Masiakasaurus knopfleri in spite of the spatial and temporal distance between them. This referral is based on the similarity of the Brazilian material with the easily distinguishable dental features of the Malagasy species. This new record should be taken into account in interpretations of the historical biogeography of noasaurids in Gondwana.