Paleobiology of a unique vertebrate coprolites concentration from Rio do Rasto Formation (Middle/Upper Permian), Paraná Basin, Brazil

Dentzien‐Dias, Paula; Figueiredo, Ana Emilia Q. de; Horn, Bruno Ludovico Dihl; Cisneros, Juan Carlos; Schultz, César Leandro

doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2012.09.008

Cited by 43 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…In the same outcrop where UFRGS-PV-429-P was collected, we have found around 500 other coprolites in an area of 100 m×30 m [18]. All the specimens were photographed and measured and 14 specimens were cut using standard thin section techniques (the same used for rock samples), in order to search for internal structures, petrographic fabrics and inclusions [18], [19].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tapeworm Eggs in a 270 Million-Year-Old Shark Coprolite

et al. 2013

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Remains of parasites in vertebrates are rare from the Mesozoic and Paleozoic. Once most parasites that live in – or pass through – the gastrointestinal tract of vertebrates, fossil feces (coprolites) or even intestinal contents (enterolites) can eventually preserve their remains. Here we announce the discovery of a spiral shark coprolite from the Paleozoic bearing a cluster of 93 small oval-elliptical smooth-shelled structures, interpreted as eggs of a tapeworm.The eggs were found in a thin section of an elasmobranch coprolite. Most of the eggs are filled by pyrite and some have a special polar swelling (operculum), suggesting they are non-erupted eggs. One of the eggs contains a probable developing larva. The eggs are approximately 145–155 µm in length and 88–100 µm in width and vary little in size within the cluster. The depositional and morphological features of the eggs closely resemble those of cestodes. Not only do the individual eggs have features of extant tapeworms, but their deposition all together in an elongate segment is typical to modern tapeworm eggs deposited in mature segments (proglottids). This is the earliest fossil record of tapeworm parasitism of vertebrates and establishes a timeline for the evolution of cestodes. This discovery shows that the fossil record of vertebrate intestinal parasites is much older than was hitherto known and that the interaction between tapeworms and vertebrates occurred at least since the Middle-Late Permian.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tapeworm Eggs in a 270 Million-Year-Old Shark Coprolite

et al. 2013

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“…They mostly fossilize in situ (Hu et al, 2010;Bajdek, 2013), as isolated coprolites (Eriksson et al, 2011;Dentzien-Dias et al, 2012;Niedźwiedzki et al, 2016) or associated with the producer's skeleton (Hone et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2016). However, the latter is a far less frequent situation and the coprolite producers are usually very hard or impossible to identify.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, the present study represents an exceptional case where coprolites, gastric contents, cololites, and regurgitalites of a single animal species, i.e., all the "basic" bromalite types, are described. Lower Permian vertebrate coprolites have been briefly described in several papers (e.g., Hunt and Lucas, 2005a,b;Hunt et al, 2005a,b;Shelton, 2013), but more detailed studies were until now restricted to Middle/Upper Permian materials (Smith and BothaBrink, 2011;Dentzien-Dias et al, 2012Owocki et al, 2012;Bajdek et al, 2016;Niedźwiedzki et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Feeding Habits of Mesosauridae

Silva

Ferigolo

Bajdek³

et al. 2017

Front. Earth Sci.

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Mesosauridae comprises the oldest known aquatic amniotes which lived in Gondwana during the Early Permian. Previous work in the Uruguayan mesosaur-bearing Mangrullo Formation suggested that mesosaurids lived in an inland water body, inferred as moderately hypersaline, with exceptional preservational conditions that justified describing these strata as a Fossil-Lagerstätte. Exquisitely preserved articulated mesosaur skeletons, including gastric content and associated coprolites, from the Brazilian Iratí Formation in the State of Goiás (central-western Brazil) indicate excellent conditions of preservation, extending the Konservat-Lagerstätte designation to both units in the Paraná Basin. The near-absence of more resistant fossil remains, like actinopterygian and temnospondyl bones, demonstrates the faunistic poverty of the mesosaur-bearing "salty sea." Our studies of the alimentary habits of mesosaurids through the use of stereoscopic microscopy, light and electronic microscopy, and X-ray diffractometry suggest that the diet of mesosaurids was predominantly composed of pygocephalomorph crustaceans (possibly not exceeding 20 mm in length). However, the presence of bones and bone fragments of small mesosaurs in the gastric content, cololites, coprolites, and possible regurgitalites may also indicate cannibalistic and/or scavenging habits. Cannibalism is relatively common among vertebrates, particularly during conditions of environmental stress, like food shortage. Likewise, the apparent abundance of pygocephalomorph crustacean fossils in the Iratí and Mangrullo Formations, outside and within the studied gastric, cololite, and coprolite contents, might have to do with environmental stress possibly caused by volcanic activity, in particular ash spread into the basin during the Early Permian. In this context, casual necrophagy on the dead bodies of small mesosaurs and large pygocephalomorphs might have been an alternative alimentary behavior adopted for survival in mesosaurs.

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“…The eggs were obtained from a coprolite (Figure 3(a)), which was isolated from its host and forms part of a set of more than 800 coprolites of different shapes and sizes found in a geographically restricted area (Dentzien-Dias et al, 2012. It was identified as a shark coprolite by its spiral structure and fossil content (Dentzien-Dias et al, 2012. The eggs occur in a cluster (Figure 3(b)) and are ovoid, smooth shelled and with a small operculum (polar swelling) suggesting that they are nonerupted eggs (Figure 3(c) and (d)).…”

Section: Permo-carboniferous Egg Remains In Shark Coprolitesmentioning

confidence: 99%