Bite traces in a sauropod rib from the Upper Cretaceous São José do Rio Preto Formation (Bauru Basin), Brazil

ABSTRACT

By studying fossil bite traces, we can reconstruct the behaviour of extinct organisms and better understand past communities, environments, and ecosystems. In this paper, we analyse bite traces on a fragmented sauropod rib from the Upper Cretaceous of the Bauru Basin, southeastern Brazil. The fossil was collected in the Ibirá municipality, São Paulo State, in the strata of the São José do Rio Preto Formation (Santonian-?Maastrichtian). The analysed specimen displays nine tooth drag traces on its external surface, produced by six or seven biting events. The traces consist of shallow linear grooves, with tapered ends and a serrated or smooth edge morphology. They can be classified as Linichnus serratus, Linichnus bromleyi, and Knethichnus parallelum and were produced by an organism with ziphodont dentition, probably an Abelisauridae. This work adds to the knowledge of the Bauru Basin palaeoecology and palaeobiology and expands the record of Mordichnia of Gondwana.

KEYWORDS:

• Bioerosion
• Theropoda
• Crocodylomorpha
• Ibirá
• Praedichnia
• Mordichnia

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ms. Dáfini L. Bruno and Gabriel Leandro Gomes for their help with the photographs and figures. Also, to Prof. Dr. Pedro V. Buck, Dr. Jorge F. Moura de Jesus, and Dr. Sandra Tavares for making suggestions on a previous version of this manuscript, as well as to the reviewers Dr. Agustín Martinelli and Dr. Rafael Delcourt for their helpful insights. Finally, we are grateful to Prof. Dr. Jane Piton Serra Sanches and Prof. Dr. Mireile Reis dos Santos for their support, availability, and loan of materials.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The first author of this paper received financial support from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES 001).