The first dinosaur from the Jurassic Aliança Formation of northeastern Brazil, west Gondwana: a basal Neotheropoda and its age and paleobiogeographical significance
Abstract
In South America, little is known about Jurassic dinosaurs, contrasting with the extensive record of the late Triassic and Cretaceous, mainly in a vast area corresponding to the northern half of South America (west Gondwana). Herein, we describe for the first time a theropod dinosaur recovered from the Aliança Formation of the Jatobá Basin, represented by a caudal vertebra. Compared with theropods from the Jurassic, the specimen from Brazil is closer related to the basal neotheropods such as Dilophosaurus wetherilli, from the early Jurassic of North America. Basal neotheropods exhibited a worldwide distribution during the early Jurassic period, as suggested by the record in North America, South Africa and Antarctica. Thus, the new record from the Brazil suggests the survival of the basal lineage represented by Dilophosaurus and close relatives during the Middle-Late Jurassic. The new fossil occurrence described here also enables a worldwide correlation, reinforcing a Jurassic rather than a Late Triassic age for the Aliança Formation, for which it is provisionally assigned a Middle-Late Jurassic age.
- Publication:
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Journal of South American Earth Sciences
- Pub Date:
- June 2022
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.jsames.2022.103835
- Bibcode:
- 2022JSAES.11603835D
- Keywords:
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- Caudal vertebra;
- Taxonomy;
- Neotheropoda;
- Gondwana;
- Paleobiogeography;
- South America