Miocene fossils from the southeastern Pacific shed light on the last radiation of marine crocodylians

Salas-Gismondi, Rodolfo; Ochoa, Diana; Jouve, Stéphane; Romero, Pedro E.; Cardich, Jorge; Pérez, Alexander; DeVries, Thomas J.; Baby, Patrice; Urbina, Mario; Carré, Matthieu

doi:10.1098/rspb.2022.0380

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 60 publications

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“…Our compilation shows five molluscan genera that became globally extinct: the muricid genus Herminespina (DeVries & Vermeij, 1997 ), the scallops Dietotenhosen and Ckaraotippur (Santelli & del Río, 2019a ), the pseudolivid gastropod Testallium (Vermeij & DeVries, 1997 ), and the venerid bivalve Austrocallista (Alvarez et al., 2020 ). Some 42% of vertebrate marine genera, including all bottom‐feeding marine mammals, the fish‐eating ocean‐going bony‐toothed bird Pelagornis , two fish‐eating marine crocodylians, and the apex predator Otodus megalodon (the megatooth shark) also disappeared (Mayr & Rubilar‐Rogers, 2010 ; Ochoa et al., 2021 ; Salas‐Gismondi et al., 2022 ; Villafaña & Rivadeneira, 2014 ). Species‐level losses range from 89% for Peruvian mollusks (DeVries, 2005 ) and 61%–76% for specific sites in Peru and Chile (Rivadeneira & Nielsen, 2017 ).…”

Section: Large‐scale Processes and Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The temperate marine Peruvian Province: How history accounts for its unusual biota

Vermeij,

DeVries,

Griffin

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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The Peruvian Province, from 6° S in Peru to 42° S in Chile, is a highly productive coastal marine region whose biology and fossil record have long been studied separately but never integrated. To understand how past events and conditions affected today's species composition and interactions, we examined the role of extinction, colonization, geologic changes to explain previously unrecognized peculiar features of the biota and to compare the Peruvian Province's history to that of other climatically similar temperate coasts. We synthesized all available data on the benthic (or benthically feeding) biota, with emphasis on fossilizable taxa, for the interval from the Miocene (23–5.4 Ma) and Pliocene (5.4–2.5 Ma) to the present. We outline the history of ecological guilds including primary producers, herbivores, predators, and suspension‐feeders and document patterns of extinction, colonization, and geographic restriction. We identify twelve unusual attributes of the biota, most of which are the result of repeated episodes of extinction. Several guilds present during the Miocene and Pliocene are not represented in the province today, while groups such as kelps and perhaps intertidal predatory sea stars are relative newcomers. Guilds on soft bottoms and in sheltered habitats were severely affected by extinction, whereas those on hard bottoms were most affected by colonists and held their own in diversity. The Peruvian Province has not served as a biogeographic refuge, in contrast to the coasts of Australasia and Argentina, where lineages no longer present in the Peruvian Province survive. The loss of sheltered habitats since the Pliocene explains many of the present‐day peculiarities of the biota. The history of the province's biota explains its unique attributes. High productivity, a rich Southern Hemisphere heritage, and colonization from the north account for the present‐day composition and unusual characteristics of the biota.

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Section: Large‐scale Processes and Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The temperate marine Peruvian Province: How history accounts for its unusual biota

Vermeij,

DeVries,

Griffin

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Endocranial anatomy and phylogenetic position of the crocodylianEosuchus lericheifrom the late Paleocene of northwestern Europe and potential adaptations for transoceanic dispersal in gavialoids

Burke,

Boerman,

Perrichon

et al. 2024

The Anatomical Record

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Eosuchus lericheiis a gavialoid crocodylian from late Paleocene marine deposits of northwestern Europe, known from a skull and lower jaws, as well as postcrania. Its sister taxon relationship with the approximately contemporaneous speciesEosuchus minorfrom the east coast of the USA has been explained through transoceanic dispersal, indicating a capability for salt excretion that is absent in extant gavialoids. However, there is currently no anatomical evidence to support marine adaptation in extinct gavialoids. Furthermore, the placement ofEosuchuswithin Gavialoidea is labile, with some analyses supporting affinities with the Late Cretaceous to early Paleogene “thoracosaurs.” Here we present novel data on the internal and external anatomy of the skull ofE. lericheithat enables a revised diagnosis, with 6 autapormorphies identified for the genus and 10 features that enable differentiation of the species fromEosuchus minor. Our phylogenetic analyses recoverEosuchusas an early diverging gavialid gavialoid that is not part of the “thoracosaur” group. In addition to thickened semi‐circular canal walls of the endosseous labyrinth and paratympanic sinus reduction, we identify potential osteological correlates for salt glands in the internal surface of the prefrontal and lacrimal bones ofE. lerichei. These salt glands potentially provide anatomical evidence for the capability of transoceanic dispersal withinEosuchus, and we also identify them in the Late Cretaceous “thoracosaur”Portugalosuchus. Given that the earliest diverging and stratigraphically oldest gavialoids either have evidence for a nasal salt gland and/or have been recovered from marine deposits, this suggests the capacity for salt excretion might be ancestral for Gavialoidea. Mapping osteological and geological evidence for marine adaptation onto a phylogeny indicates that there was probably more than one independent loss/reduction in the capacity for salt excretion in gavialoids.

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Anatomy and phylogeny of a new small macraucheniid (Mammalia: Litopterna) from the Bahía Inglesa Formation (late Miocene), Atacama Region, Northern Chile

et al. 2023

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We describe a new macraucheniine macraucheniid, Micrauchenia saladensis gen. et sp. nov., from the late Miocene (Huayquerian SALMA). This is the first litoptern from Bahía Inglesa Formation, Chile. The specimen includes a partial mandible, cervical and thoracic vertebrae fragments, and portions of the forelimbs (a scapula fragment, an ulna-radius fragment, seven carpals, three metapodials, two proximal phalanges and four intermediate phalanges). The postcranial anatomy of Micrauchenia saladensis is consistent with terrestrial and cursorial locomotion, which suggests an allochthonous position of this specimen within the marine Bahía Inglesa Formation. The fusion of the ulna and radius and the presence of a radial aliform expansion align Micrauchenia with other macraucheniines, with which it shares these features. We interpret the fusion of the ulna and radius as a cursorial specialization and the aliform expansion as an adaptation for strong flexion movements and to resist higher transverse stresses during locomotion. In addition, Micrauchenia saladensis is the smallest member of the subfamily Macraucheniinae. To test the systematics and phylogenetics of this specimen, we expanded previous morphological matrices of macraucheniids by adding one dental and eight postcranial characters and scoring Micrauchenia saladensis. We performed maximum parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses, the latter applied for the first time to macraucheniid phylogeny. Our analyses confirm Micrauchenia saladensis as a member of the subfamily Macraucheniinae, although with uncertain affinities within this subfamily.

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Miocene fossils from the southeastern Pacific shed light on the last radiation of marine crocodylians

Cited by 7 publications

References 60 publications

The temperate marine Peruvian Province: How history accounts for its unusual biota

The temperate marine Peruvian Province: How history accounts for its unusual biota

Endocranial anatomy and phylogenetic position of the crocodylianEosuchus lericheifrom the late Paleocene of northwestern Europe and potential adaptations for transoceanic dispersal in gavialoids

Anatomy and phylogeny of a new small macraucheniid (Mammalia: Litopterna) from the Bahía Inglesa Formation (late Miocene), Atacama Region, Northern Chile

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