A serrated tooth from the Coniacian-Santonian (Upper Cretaceous) Polazzo fossil site (Karst, NE Italy) is the first record of a notosuchian crocodyliform from Italy. Although it shares synapomorphies with teeth referred to the European genus Doratodon and with the Gondwanan genus Araripesuchus, it is distinct in the unusual combination of features, suggesting the presence of a yet unreported notosuchian taxon in the Adriatic-Dinaric Carbonate Platform located in the Tethys between the Afroarabian continent and the North European landmass during Late Cretaceous times. Notosuchians were typically terrestrial crocodyliforms, supporting the presence of emergent areas on the carbonate platform.
Dalla Vecchia, F., Cau, A. (2011). First record of a notosuchian crocodyliform from Italy. RIVISTA ITALIANA DI PALEONTOLOGIA E STRATIGRAFIA, 117(2), 309-321 [10.13130/2039-4942/5977].
First record of a notosuchian crocodyliform from Italy.
CAU, ANDREA
2011
Abstract
A serrated tooth from the Coniacian-Santonian (Upper Cretaceous) Polazzo fossil site (Karst, NE Italy) is the first record of a notosuchian crocodyliform from Italy. Although it shares synapomorphies with teeth referred to the European genus Doratodon and with the Gondwanan genus Araripesuchus, it is distinct in the unusual combination of features, suggesting the presence of a yet unreported notosuchian taxon in the Adriatic-Dinaric Carbonate Platform located in the Tethys between the Afroarabian continent and the North European landmass during Late Cretaceous times. Notosuchians were typically terrestrial crocodyliforms, supporting the presence of emergent areas on the carbonate platform.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
