Captorhinid reptiles from the lower Permian Pedra de Fogo Formation, Piauí, Brazil: the earliest herbivorous tetrapods in Gondwana

PeerJ

article

Juan C. Cisneros¹  Kenneth Angielczyk²  Christian F. Kammerer³  Roger M.H. Smith⁴  Jörg Fröbisch⁶  Claudia A. Marsicano⁸  Martha Richter⁹ 

[1] Museu de Arqueologia e Paleontologia, Universidade Federal do Piauí;Negaunee Integrative Research Center;North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences;Department of Karoo Palaeontology;Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of Witwatersrand;Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung;Institut für Biologie, Humboldt Universität Berlin;Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, FCEN, IDEAN-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires;Earth Sciences Department

关键词: Reptilia;    Captorhinidae;    South America;    Gondwana;    Parnaíba basin;    Cisuralian;    Permian;    Herbivory;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.8719

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

The Pedra de Fogo Formation in the Parnaíba Basin of northeastern Brazil hosts a recently discovered lacustrine fauna and provides the only known record of the Captorhinidae in South America. Here, new captorhinid remains from this unit are described. Two partial mandibles, including one formerly ascribed to the genus Captorhinus, are here referred to Captorhinikos sp. a genus previously described from North America. The natural mould of a large mandible probably represents a new taxon within the captorhinid subclade Moradisaurinae, and a small skull roof is regarded as Captorhinidae indet. Captorhinids are generally considered to have been herbivores or omnivores. The Pedra de Fogo captorhinids likely played an important ecological role as primary consumers in the palaeoenvironment of this geological unit, which is also known for its extensive record of petrified forests. The new finds reinforce the close relationships between the continental faunas of palaeotropical western Gondwana and palaeoequatorial North America during the Cisuralian.

【 授权许可】

CC BY