The skull anatomy and cranial endocast of the pseudosuchid archosaur Prestosuchus chiniquensis from the Triassic of Brazil

• Autorzy: Mastrantonio B.M. , Von Baczko M.B. , Desojo J.B. , Schultz C.L.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Prestosuchus chiniquensis is the most famous “rauisuchian” described by Friedrich von Huene, eight decades ago, and several specimens have been assigned to this taxon since then. In the present contribution, we provide the first detailed description of a complete and very well preserved skull (including the braincase) assigned to Prestosuchus chiniquensis from the Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Santa Maria Supersequence of southern Brazil. The detailed description of the skull of Prestosuchus chiniquensis, besides increasing the knowledge about this taxon, may help elucidate the taxonomic relationships of pseudosuchians even further, since most of the characters used in phylogenetic analyzes are cranial. The presence of the subnarial fenestra, a controvertial extra opening on the skull of “rauisuchians”, is thoroughly discussed considering the evidence provided by this new specimen. We consider that the small slit-opening between the premaxilla and the maxilla in Prestosuchus chiniquensis, can not safely be considered a true fenestra, but indicates more likely the existence of some degree of cranial kinesis between these elements which can result in different relative positions of the bones after definitive burial and fossilization, so that the size and shape of this opening is taphonomically controlled. Complementarily, the digital reconstruction of its cranial endocast was developed both from the observation of the preserved braincase and from CT scan images, which resulted in obtaining the first endocast known for a “rauisuchian”. The endocast of Prestosuchus chiniquensis exhibited some remarkable convergences with that of theropod dinosaurs, which could be a reflection of the similar niches they occupied, since “rauisuchians” were the top predators at the end of the Late Triassic, before the extinction of all non-crocodylomorph pseudosuchians.

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
• Rocznik: 2019
• Tom: 64
• Numer: 1
• Opis fizyczny: p.171-198,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Mastrantonio B.M.

• Laboratorio de Paleovertebrados, Departamento de Paleontologia e Estratigrafia, Instituto de Geociencias, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Cx. P. 15001, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

autor

Von Baczko M.B.

• Division Paleontologia de Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina
• Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Avenida Rivadavia 1917, C1033AAJ, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

autor

Desojo J.B.

• Division Paleontologia de Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina
• Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Avenida Rivadavia 1917, C1033AAJ, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

autor

Schultz C.L.

• Laboratorio de Paleovertebrados, Departamento de Paleontologia e Estratigrafia, Instituto de Geociencias, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Cx. P. 15001, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Bibliografia

• Alcober, O. 2000. Redescription of the skull of Saurosuchus galilei (Archosauria: Rauisuchidae). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20: 302–316.
• Alcober, O. and Parrish, J.M. 1997. A new poposaurid from the Upper Triassic of Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 17: 548–556.
• Azevedo, S.A.K. 1991. Prestosuchus chinequensis Huene 1942 (Reptilia, Archosauria, Thecodontia, Proterosuchia, Rauisuchidae), da formação Santa Maria, Triássico do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. 157 pp. Ph.D. Thesis, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre.
• Baczko, M.B. von and Desojo, J.B. 2016. Cranial anatomy and palaeoneurology of the archosaur Riojasuchus tenuisceps from the Los Colorados Formation, La Rioja, Argentina. PLoS ONE 11 (2): e0148575.
• Baczko, M.B. von, Taborda, J.R.A., and Desojo, J.B. 2018. Paleoneuroanatomy of the aetosaur Neoaetosauroides engaeus (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia) and its paleobiological implications among archosauriforms. PeerJ 6: e5456.
• Barberena, M.C. 1978. A huge Thecodont skull from Triassic of Brazil. Pesquisas 9: 62–75.
• Benton, M.J. 1984. Rauisuchians and the success of dinosaurs. Nature 310: 101.
• Benton, M.J. 1986. The Late Triassic reptile Teratosaurus—a rauisuchian, not a dinosaur. Palaeontology 29: 293–301.
• Benton, M.J. and Clark, J.M. 1988. Archosaur phylogeny and the relationships of the Crocodilia. In: M.J. Benton (ed.), Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods. Volume 1, 295–338. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
• Bona, P., Paulina Carabajal, A., and Gasparini, Z. 2017. Neuroanatomy of Gryposuchus neogaeus (Crocodylia, Gavialoidea): a first integral description of the braincase and endocranial morphological variation in extinct and extant gavialoids. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 106: 235–246.
• Bonaparte, J.F. 1981. Descripcion de “Fasolasuchus tenax” y su significado em La sistemática y evolution de los Thecodontia. Revista Del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia” 3: 55–101.
• Bonaparte, J.F. 1984. Locomotion in rauisuchid thecodonts. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 3: 210–218.
• Bronzati, M., Rauhut, O.W., Bittencourt, J.S., and Langer, M.C. 2017. Endocast of the Late Triassic (Carnian) dinosaur Saturnalia tupiniquim: implications for the evolution of brain tissue in Sauropodomorpha. Scientific Reports 7: 11931.
• Brusatte, S.L., Benton, M.J., Desojo, J.B., and Langer, M.C. 2010. The higher-level phylogeny of Archosauria (Tetrapoda: Diapsida). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 8: 3–47.
• Brusatte, S.L., Butler, R.J., Sulej, T., and Niedzwiedzki, G. 2009. The taxonomy and anatomy of rauisuchian archosaurs from the Late Triassic of Germany and Poland. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 54: 221–230.
• Butler, R.J., Sullivan, C., Ezcurra, M.D., Liu, J., Lecuona, A., and Sookias, R.B. 2014. New clade of enigmatic early archosaurs yields insights into early pseudosuchian phylogeny and the biogeography of the archosaur radiation. BMC Evolutionary Biology 14: 1–16.
• Case, E.C. 1928. An endocranial cast of a phytosaur from the Upper Triassic beds of western Texas. Journal of Comparative Neurology 45: 161–168.
• Cerda, I., Desojo, J.B., Scheyer, T., and Schultz, C. 2013. Osteoderm microstructure of “rauisuchian” archosaurs from South America. Geobios 637: 273–283.
• Chatterjee, S. 1985. Postosuchus, a new thecodontian reptile from the Triassic of Texas and the origin of tyrannosaurs. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society London B 309: 395–460.
• Chatterjee, S. and Majumdar, P.K. 1987. Tikisuchus romeri, a new rauisuchid reptile from the Late Triassic of India. Journal of Paleontology 61: 787–793.
• Codorniú, L., Paulina Carabajal, A., Pol, D., Unwin, D., and Rauhut, O.W. 2016. A Jurassic pterosaur from Patagonia and the origin of the pterodactyloid neurocranium. PeerJ 4: e2311.
• Cope, E.D. 1869. Synopsis of the extinct Batrachia and Reptilia of North America. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 14: 1–252.
• Cruzado-Caballero, P., Fortuny, J., Llacer, S., and Canudo, J.I. 2015. Paleoneuroanatomy of the European lambeosaurine dinosaur Arenysaurus ardevoli. PeerJ 3: e802.
• Dawley, R.M., Zawiskie, J.M., and Cosgriff, J.W. 1979. A rauisuchid thecodont from the Upper Triassic Popo Agie Formation of Wyoming. Journal of Paleonology 53: 1428–1431.
• Desojo, J.B. and Arcucci, A.B. 2009. New material of Luperosuchus fractus (Archosauria: Crurotarsi) from the Middle Triassic of Argentina: the earliest known South American rauisuchian. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29: 1311–1315.
• Desojo, J.B. and Ezcurra, M.D. 2016. Triassic pseudosuchian archosaurs of South America. In: F.L. Agnolin, G.L. Lio, F.B. Egli, N.R. Chimento, and F.E. Novas (eds.), Historia Evolutiva y Paleobiogeografica de los vertebrados de América del Sur. Contribuciones del MACN 6: 57–66.
• Desojo, J.B. and Rauhut, O. 2008. New insights on “rauisuchian” taxa (Archosauria: Crurotarsi) from Brazil. In: G. Dyke, D. Naish, and M. Parkes (eds.), SVP CA 12, Palaeontology, 31. National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.
• Edmund, A.G. 1962. Sequence and rate of tooth replacement in the crocodile. Life Sciences Division of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, Paleontology Contribution 56: 1–42.
• Edmund, A.S. 1969. Dentition. In: C. Gans (ed.), Biology of the Reptilia. Volume 1, 117–200. Academic Press, London.
• Evans, D.C., Ridgely, R., and Witmer, L.M. 2009. Endocranial anatomy of lambeosaurine hadrosaurids (Dinosauria: Ornithischia): a sensorineural perspective on cranial crest function. The Anatomical Record 292: 1315–1337.
• França, M.A.G.,Langer, M.C., and Ferigolo, J. 2011. Associated skeletons of a new middle Triassic “Rauisuchia” from Brazil. Science of Nature 98: 389–395.
• França, M.A.G., Langer, M.C., and Ferigolo J. 2013. The skull anatomy of Decuriasuchus quartacolonia (Pseudosuchia: Suchia: Loricata) from the middle Triassic of Brazi. In: S. Nesbitt, J.B. Desojo, and R.B. Irmis (eds.), Anatomy, Phylogeny and Palaeobiology of Early Archosaurs and Their Kin, 469–501. The Geological Society of London, London.
• Franzosa, J. and Rowe, T. 2005. Cranial endocast of the Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Acrocanthosaurus atokensis. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25: 859–864.
• Galton, P.M. 1985. The poposaurid thecodontian Teratosaurus suevicus v. Meyer, plus referred specimens mostly based on prosauropod dinosaurs, from the Middle Stubensandstein (Upper Triassic) of Nordwürttemberg. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B: Geologie und Palaontologie 116: 1–29.
• Gauthier, J.A. and Padian, K. 1985. Phylogenetic, functional, and aerodynamic analyses of the origin of birds and their flight. In: M.K. Hecht, J.H. Ostrom, G. Viohl, and P. Wellnhofer (eds.), The Beginings of Birds, 185–197. Freunde des Jura-Musems, Eichstätt.
• Giffin, E.B. 1989. Pachycephalosaur paleoneurology (Archosauria: Ornithischia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 9: 67–77.
• Gower, D.J. 1999. Cranial osteology of a new rauisuchian archosaur from the Middle Triassic of southern Germany. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde B 280: 1–49.
• Gower, D.J. 2000. Rauisuchian archosaurs (Reptilia, Diapsida): an overview. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Palaöntologie, Abhandlungen 218: 447–488.
• Gower, D.J. 2002. Braincase evolution in suchian archosaurs: evidence from the rauisuchian Batrachotomus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136: 49–76.
• Gower, D.J. and Sennikov, A.G. 1996. Endocranial casts of early archosaurian reptiles. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 70: 579–589.
• Holloway, W.L., Claeson, K.M., and O’Keefe, F.R. 2013. A virtual phytosaur endocast and its implications for sensory system evolution in archosaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33: 848–857.
• Hopson, J.A. 1979. Paleoneurology. Biology of the Reptilia 9: 39–146.
• Horn, B.L.D., Goldberg, K., and Schultz, C.L. 2018. A loess deposit in the Late Triassic of southern Gondwana, and its significance to global paleoclimate. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 81: 189–203.
• Huene, F. von 1938. Die fossilen Reptilien des südamerikanischen Gondwanalandes. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie 1938: 142–151.
• Huene, F. von 1942. Die fossilen Reptilien des südamerikanischen Gondwanalandes, Ergebnisse der Sauriergrabungen in Südbrasilien 1928/29. 332 pp. C.H. Becksche, München.
• Juul, L. 1994. The phylogeny of basal archosaurs. Paleontologia Africana 31: 1–38.
• Kley, N.J., Sertich, J.J., Turner, A.H., Krause, D.W., O’Connor, P.M., and Georgi, J.A. 2010. Craniofacial morphology of Simosuchus clarki (Crocodyliformes: Notosuchia) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30: 13–98.
• Krebs, B. 1976. Pseudosuchia. In: O. Kuhn (ed.), Handbuch der Palaeoherpetologie: Thecondonti, 13: 40–98. Gustav Fischer-Verlag, Stuttgart.
• Lacerda, M.B., Mastrantonio, B.M., Fortier, D.C., and Schultz C.L. 2016. New insights on Prestosuchus chiniquensis Huene, 1942 (Pseudosuchia, Loricata) based on new specimens from the “Tree Sanga” Outcrop, Chiniquá Region, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. PeerJ 4: e1622.
• Lacerda, M.B., Schultz, C.L., and Bertoni-Machado, C. 2015. First “Rauisuchian” archosaur (Pseudosuchia, Loricata) for the Middle Triassic Santacruzodon Assemblage Zone (Santa Maria Supersequence), Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. PLoS ONE 10 (2): e0118563.
• Lautenschlager, S. and Butler, R.J. 2016. Neural and endocranial anatomy of Triassic phytosaurian reptiles and convergence with fossil and modern crocodylians. PeerJ 4: e2251.
• Lautenschlager, S. and Rauhut, O.W.M. 2015. Osteology of Rauisuchus tiradentes from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Santa Maria Formation of Brazil, and its implications for rauisuchid anatomy and phylogeny. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173: 55–91.
• Lessner, E.J., Stocker, M.R., Smith, N.D., Turner, A.H., Irmis, R.B., and Nesbitt, S.J. 2016. A new taxon of rauisuchid (Archosauria, Pseudosuchia) from the Upper Triassic of New Mexico increases the diversity and temporal range of the clade. PeerJ 4: e2336.
• Liparini, A. 2008. Estudo da Biomecânica craniana de um rauissuquídeo a partir de tomografias computadorizadas e técnicas de imagens digitais em 3 dimensões. 122 pp. Dissertação de Mestrado, Programa de Pós-graduação em Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre.
• Long, L.A. and Murry, P.A. 1995. Late Triassic (Carnian and Norian) tetrapods from the Southwestern United States. Bulletin New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science 4: 1–254.
• Mastrantonio, B.M. 2010. Descrição Osteológica de Materiais Cranianos e Pós-cranianos de Prestosuchus chiniquensis (Archosauria, Rauisuchia) do Mesotriássico do RS (Biozona de Dinodontosaurus, Formação Santa Maria) e Considerações Filogenéticas sobre Rauissúquios. Ph.D. Thesis, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre.
• Mastrantonio, B.M., Schultz, C.L., Desojo, J.B., and Garcia, J.B. 2013. The braincase of Prestosuchus chiniquensis (Archosauria: Suchia). In: S. Nesbitt, J.B. Desojo, and R.B. Irmis (eds.), Anatomy, Phylogeny and Palaeobiology of Early Archosaurs and their Kin. Geological Society of London Special Publications 379: 425–440.
• Merrem, B. 1820. Versuch eines Systems der Amphibien I (Tentamen Systematis Amphibiorum). 191 pp. J.C. Kriegeri, Marburg.
• Miyashita, T., Arbour, V.M., Witmer, L.M., and Currie, P.J. 2011. The internal cranial morphology of an armoured dinosaur Euoplocephalus corroborated by X-ray computed tomographic reconstruction. Journal of Anatomy 219: 661–675.
• Nesbitt, S.J. 2011. The early evolution of archosaurs: relationships and the origin of major clades. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 352: 1–292.
• Nesbitt, S. and Desojo, J.B. 2017. The osteology and phylogenetic position of Luperosuchus fractus (Archosauria: Loricata) from the latest Middle Triassic or earliest Late Triassic of Argentina. Ameghiniana 54: 261–282.
• Nesbitt, S.J., Brusatte, S.L., Desojo, J.B., Liparini, A., De França, M.A., Weinbaum, J.C., and Gower, D.J. 2013. Rauisuchia. In: S. Nesbitt, J.B. Desojo, and R.B. Irmis (eds.), Anatomy, Phylogeny and Palaeobiology of Early Archosaurs and their Kin. Geological Society of London Special Publication? 379: 241–274.
• Nesbitt, S.J., Stocker, M.R., Parker, W.G., Wood, T.A., Sidor, C.A., and Angielczyk, K.D. 2018. The braincase and endocast of Parringtonia gracilis, a Middle Triassic suchian (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37: 122–141.
• Paulina Carabajal, A. 2015. Guía para el estudio de la neuroanatomía de dinosaurios Saurischia, con énfasis en formas sudamericanas. Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina 15 (1): 108–142.
• Paulina Carabajal, A. and Canale, J.I. 2010. Cranial endocast of the carcharodontosaurid theropod Giganotosaurus carolinii Coria & Salgado. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 258: 249–256.
• Paulina Carabajal, A. and Currie, P.J. 2012. New information on the braincase of Sinraptor dongi (Theropoda: Allosauroidea): Ethmoidal region, endocranial anatomy, and pneumaticity. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 4: 85–101.
• Parrish, J.M. 1993. Phylogeny of the crocodylotarsy, with reference to archosaurian and crurotarsan monophyly. Journal of Vertebrate Paleonto logy 13: 287–308.
• Peyer, K., Carter, J.G., Sues, H.D., Novak, S.E., and Olsen, P.E. 2008. A new suchian archosaur from the Upper Triassic of North Carolina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28: 363–381.
• Raugust, T. 2014. Um novo material de rauissúquio (Archosauria, Crurotarsi) da Formação Santa Maria, Triássico Médio Sul-Rio-Grandense, Brasil. Ph.D. Thesis, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre.
• Reig, O.A. 1959. Primeros datos descriptivos sobre nuevos reptiles arcosaurios Del Triásico de Ischigualasto. Revista de la Asociacion Geológica Argentina 13: 257–270.
• Roberto-Da-Silva, L., França, M.A.G., Cabreira, S.F., Müller, R.T., and Dias-Da-Silva, S. 2016. On the presence of the subnarial foramen in Prestosuchus chiniquensis (Pseudosuchia: Loricata) with remarks on its phylogenetic distribution. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 88 (3): 1309–1323.
• Romer, A.S. 1971. The Chañares (Argentina) Triassic reptile fauna. VIII. A fragmentary skull of a large thecodont, Luperosuchus fractus. Breviora 73: 1–8.
• Sampson, S.D. and Witmer, L.M. 2007. Craniofacial anatomy of Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. In: S.D. Sampson and D.W. Krause (eds.), Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27: 32–104.
• Sereno, P.C. and Novas, F.E. 1993. The skull and neck of the basal theropod Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 13: 451–476.
• Sill, W.D. 1974. The anatomy of Saurosuchus galilei and the relationships of the rauisuchid thecodonts. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 146: 317–362.
• Sobral, G., Sookias, R.B., Bhullar, B.A.S., Smith, R., Butler, R.J., and Müller, J. 2016. New information on the braincase and inner ear of Euparkeria capensis Broom: implications for diapsid and archosaur evolution. Royal Society Open Science 3 (7): 160072.
• Stocker, M.R., Nesbitt, S.J., Criswell, K.E., Parker, W.G., Witmer, L.M., Rowe, T.B., Ridgely, R., and Brown, M.A. 2016. A dome-headed stem archosaur exemplifies convergence among dinosaurs and their distant relatives. Current Biology 26: 2674–2680.
• Sulej, T. 2005. A new rauisuchian reptile (Diapsida: Archosauria) from the Late Triassic of Poland. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25: 78–86.
• Trotteyn, M.J., Desojo, J.B., and Alcober, O. 2011. Nuevo material postcraneano de Saurosuchus galilei Reig (Archosauria: Crurotarsi) del Triasico Superior del centro-oeste de Argentina. Ameghiniana 48: 605–620.
• Weinbaum, J.C. 2011. The skull of Postosuchus kirkpatricki (Archosauria: Paracrocodyliformes) from the Upper Triassic of the United States. PaleoBios 30: 18–44.
• Witmer, L.M. and Ridgely, R.C. 2008. The paranasal air sinuses of predatory and armored dinosaurs (Archosauria: Theropoda and Ankylosauria) and their contribution to cephalic structure. The Anatomical Record 291: 1362–1388.
• Witmer, L.M. and Ridgely, R.C. 2009. New insights into the brain, braincase, and ear region of tyrannosaurs (Dinosauria, Theropoda), with implications for sensory organization and behavior. The Anatomical Record 292: 1266–1296.
• Witmer, L.M., Chatterjee, S., Franzosa, J., and Rowe, T. 2003. Neuroanatomy of flying reptiles and implications for flight, posture and behaviour. Nature 425: 950.
• Witmer, L.M., Ridgely, R.C., Dufeau, D.L., and Semones, M.C. 2008. Using CT to peer into the past: 3D visualization of the brain and ear regions of birds, crocodiles, and nonavian dinosaurs. In: H. Endo and R. Frey (eds.), Anatomical Imaging, 67–87. Springer, Tokyo.

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.4202/app.00527.2018