First sauropod bones from Italy offer new insights on the radiation of Titanosauria between Africa and Europe

Sasso, Cristiano Dal; Pierangelini, Gustavo; Famiani, Federico; Cau, Andrea; Nicosia, Umberto

doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.03.008

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…Gheerbrant & Rage, 2006;Ezcurra & Agnolin, 2012), and palaeogeographic support for a terrestrial connection between these regions via a series of emergent carbonate platforms during the Barremian-Albian (and possibly earlier) (e.g. Dalla Vecchia, 2005;Canudo et al, 2009;Dal Sasso et al, 2016).…”

Section: Biogeographic Origins Of the Tendaguru Sauropod Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution

Mannion

Upchurch

Schwarz

et al. 2019

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

168

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The Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania, southeastern Africa, records a rich sauropod fauna, including the diplodocoids Dicraeosaurus and Tornieria, and the brachiosaurid titanosauriform Giraffatitan. However, the taxonomic affinities of other sympatric sauropod taxa are poorly understood. Here, we critically reassess and redescribe these problematic taxa, and present the largest phylogenetic analysis for sauropods (117 taxa scored for 542 characters) to explore their placement within Eusauropoda. Janenschia robusta has played a prominent role in discussions of titanosaur origins, with various authors referring at least some remains to Titanosauria, a clade otherwise known only from the Cretaceous. Re-description of the holotype of Janenschia, and all referable remains, supports its validity and placement as a non-neosauropod eusauropod. It forms a clade with Haestasaurus, from the earliest Cretaceous of the UK, and the Middle/Late Jurassic Chinese sauropod Bellusaurus. Phylogenetic analysis and CT scans of the internal pneumatic tissue structure of Australodocus bohetii tentatively support a non-titanosaurian somphospondylan identification, making it the only known pre-Cretaceous representative of that clade. New information on the internal pneumatic tissue structure of the dorsal vertebrae of the enigmatic Tendaguria tanzaniensis, coupled with a full re-description, results in its novel placement as a turiasaur. Tendaguria is the sister taxon of Moabosaurus, from the Early Cretaceous of North America, and is the first turiasaur recognised from Gondwana. A previously referred caudal sequence cannot be assigned to Janenschia and displays several features that indicate a close relationship with Middle-Late Jurassic East Asian mamenchisaurids. It can be diagnosed by six autapomorphies, and we erect the new taxon Wamweracaudia keranjei gen. et sp. nov. The presence of a mamenchisaurid in the Late Jurassic of southern Gondwana indicates an earlier and more widespread diversification of this clade than previously realised, prior to the geographic isolation of East Asia. Our revised phylogenetic dataset sheds light on the evolutionary history of Eusauropoda, including supporting a basal diplodocoid placement for Haplocanthosaurus, and elucidating the interrelationships of rebbachisaurids. The Tendaguru Formation shares representatives of nearly all sauropod lineages with Middle Jurassic-earliest Cretaceous global faunas, but displays a greater range of diversity than any of those faunas considered individually. Biogeographic analysis indicates that the Tendaguru sauropod fauna was assembled as a result of three main phenomena during the late Early and/or Middle Jurassic: (1) invasions from Euramerica (brachiosaurids, turiasaurs); (2) endemism in west Gondwana (dicraeosaurids, diplodocids); and (3) regional extinctions that restricted the ranges of once widespread groups (mamenchisaurids, the Janenschia lineage). Multiple dispersals across the Central Gondwanan Desert are required to explain the distributions ...

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Section: Biogeographic Origins Of the Tendaguru Sauropod Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution

Mannion

Upchurch

Schwarz

et al. 2019

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

168

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Perhaps the hypothesized continental connection also allowed titanosaurs to migrate between Laurasia and Gondwana. Furthermore, next to European sauropods, also theropods, crocodyliforms, amphibians, and snakes and even batoids from southern Europe (France, Spain, Italy, Croatia) have been found to show Gondwanan affinities ( Soler-Gijón & López-Martínez, 1998 ; Gardner, Evans & Sigogneau-Russell, 2003 ; Pereda-Suberbiola, 2009 ; Pereda-Suberbiola et al, 2015 ; Sweetman & Gardner, 2013 ; Csiki-Sava et al, 2015 ; Blanco et al, 2016 ; Blanco et al, 2017 ; Dal Sasso et al, 2016 ; Blanco, In Press ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Mannion & Barrett (2013) suggested that the Cretaceous North African titanosauriforms may not be closely related to southern African forms, as the lineages were cut off from each other by the trans-Saharan seaway. Moreover, close relations are suggested between Cretaceous North African sauropods and Italian sauropods ( Zarcone et al, 2010 ; Dal Sasso et al, 2016 ), and Iberian sauropods ( Sallam et al, 2018 ; Díez Díaz et al, 2018 ). More specifically, close relations between Egyptian and European sauropods ( Sallam et al, 2018 ) and between Tunisian and European sauropods ( Fanti et al, 2015 ) have been found.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Late Cretaceous sauropod tooth morphotypes may provide supporting evidence for faunal connections between North Africa and Southern Europe

Holwerda

Díaz

Blanco

et al. 2018

PeerJ

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The Cretaceous Kem Kem beds of Morocco and equivalent beds in Algeria have produced a rich fossil assemblage, yielding, amongst others, isolated sauropod teeth, which can be used in species diversity studies. These Albian-Cenomanian (∼113–93.9 Ma) strata rarely yield sauropod body fossils, therefore, isolated teeth can help to elucidate the faunal assemblages from North Africa, and their relations with those of contemporaneous beds and geographically close assemblages. Eighteen isolated sauropod teeth from three localities (Erfoud and Taouz, Morocco, and Algeria) are studied here, to assess whether the teeth can be ascribed to a specific clade, and whether different tooth morphotypes can be found in the samples. Two general morphotypes are found, based on enamel wrinkling and general tooth morphology. Morphotype I, with mainly rugose enamel wrinkling, pronounced carinae, lemon-shaped to (sub)cylindrical cross-section and mesiodistal tapering towards an apical tip, shows affinities to titanosauriforms and titanosaurs. Morphotype II, characterized by more smooth enamel, cylindrical cross-section, rectangular teeth with no apical tapering and both labial and lingual wear facets, shows similarities to rebbachisaurids. Moreover, similarities are found between these northwest African tooth morphotypes, and tooth morphotypes from titanosaurs and rebbachisaurids from both contemporaneous finds from north and central Africa, as well as from the latest Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian, 83.6 Ma–66.0 Ma) of the Ibero-Armorican Island. These results support previous hypotheses from earlier studies on faunal exchange and continental connections between North Africa and Southern Europe in the Cretaceous.

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“…() consider the Mediterranean basin as a biodiversity hotspot and they included the shores of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates in this region. Despite the African–Eurasian connectivity during the mid‐ or Late Cretaceous (Zarcone et al ., ; Dal Sasso et al ., ), Omalisidae are currently known only from the Eurasian plate. The incompletely metamorphosed, nonflying omalisids kept allopatric ranges in the region without any considerable dispersal barriers at least since the Upper Eocene when the contiguous European coast was uplifted by the northward drifting African tectonic plate (Golonka, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The molecular phylogeny of Omalisidae (Coleoptera) defines the family limits and demonstrates low dispersal propensity and ancient vicariance patterns

Boček

Fancello²,

Motyka

et al. 2017

Systematic Entomology

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The genus-level molecular phylogeny of Omalisidae Lacordaire is presented for six of seven currently recognised genera. The monophyly and internal relationships are well-supported including the taxa which were placed in other elateroid families. We conducted molecular analyses using maximum-likelihood optimality criterion and Bayesian inference and 18S, 28S rRNA, rrnL and cox1 mtDNA markers (4038 homologous positions). Euanoma Reitter is a sister lineage to other Omalisidae. Thilmanus Gemminger is related to Paradrilus Kiesenwetter and Phaeopterus Costa. Thilmaninae Kazantsev (erected in Lycidae), Euanomini Kazantsev (erected in Drilidae), and Paradrilinae Kundrata et al. are removed from within omalisid classification due to widely overlapping concepts of generic and subfamilial taxa. Pseudeuanoma Pic, syn.n. was recovered as a paraphylum and is a younger synonym of Euanoma. Euanoma caligo (Kazantsev), comb.n., E. ionica (Pic), comb.n., E. obscura (Pic), comb.n. and E. reitteri (Pic), comb.n. are newly combined with Euanoma. The earlier classification of incompletely metamorphosed taxa was affected by the parallel evolution of morphological traits. We report on the discovery of the incompletely metamorphosed female of Thilmanus obscurus Baudi and compare it with the female of O. fontisbellaquei Geoffroy. The female is weakly sclerotised, has physogastric abdomen, vestigial elytra, no wings and simplified thoracic morphology. Furthermore, we describe allopatric ranges of ancient omalisid lineages and vicariance events resulting from geological transformations in the Mediterranean. Euanoma was split from other Omalisidae in the late Jurassic and remains restricted to the Eastern Mediterranean. Omalisus Geoffroy split from the Iberian genera in the Cretaceous and most species occur on southern slopes of the Alps and in the western Balkan. The separation of Paradrilus and Thilmanus + Phaeopterus corresponds with the isolation of the Ebro and Hesperian massifs in the Cretaceous; the fauna of Sardinia and Corsica is of Iberian origin and Phaeopterus dispersed from these islands to the Elba and Apennine Peninsula. The diversity of Omalisidae has an ancient origin, but survived till present only in the Mediterranean, mostly in Pleistocene refugia close to the sea. 250

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First sauropod bones from Italy offer new insights on the radiation of Titanosauria between Africa and Europe

Cited by 25 publications

References 88 publications

Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution

Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution

Late Cretaceous sauropod tooth morphotypes may provide supporting evidence for faunal connections between North Africa and Southern Europe

The molecular phylogeny of Omalisidae (Coleoptera) defines the family limits and demonstrates low dispersal propensity and ancient vicariance patterns

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