New cranial and postcranial elements of Mourasuchus (Alligatoroidea: Caimaninae) from the late Miocene of Venezuela and their palaeobiological implications

References

• Aguilera OA. 2004. Tesoros Paleontológicos de Venezuela: Urumaco, património natural de la humanidad. Caracas: Universidad Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda, Editora Arte.
   Google Scholar
• Aguilera OA, Riff D, Bocquentin-Villanueva J. 2006. A new giant Purussaurus (Crocodyliformes, Alligatoridae) from the upper Miocene Urumaco Formation, Venezuela. J Sys Palaeontol. 4(3):221–232. doi:10.1017/S147720190600188X.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Aureliano T, Ghilardi AM, E G, Souza-Filho JP, Cavalcanti M, Riff D. 2015. Morphometry, bite-force, and paleobiology of the late Miocene caiman Purussaurus brasiliensis. Plos One. 10(2):e0117944. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117944.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Benton MJ, Clark JM. 1988. Archosaur phylogeny and the relationships of the Crocodylia. In: MJ B, editor. The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods (Vol. 1). Oxford: Clarendon Press; p. 295–338.
   Google Scholar
• Blanco RE, Jones WW, Villamil J. 2015. The ‘death roll’ of giant fossil crocodyliforms (Crocodylomorpha: Neosuchia): allometric and skull strength analysis. Hist Biol. 27(5):514–524. doi:10.1080/08912963.2014.893300.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bocquentin JC, Souza-Filho JP. 1990. O crogodiliano Sul-Americano Carandaisuchus como sinonímia de Mourasuchus (Nettosuchidae). Rev Bra Geoc. 20:230–233. doi:10.25249/0375-7536.1990230233.
   Google Scholar
• Bocquentin-Villanueva J. 1984. Um nuevo Nettosuchidae (Crocodylia, Eusuchia) proveniente de la Formación Urumaco (Mioceno Superior), Venezuela. Ameghiniana. 21:3–8.
   Google Scholar
• Bona P, Degrange FJ, Fernández MS. 2013. Skull anatomy of the bizarre crocodylian Mourasuchus nativus (Alligatoridae, Caimaninae). Anat Rec. 296(2):227–239. doi:10.1002/ar.22625.
   Google Scholar
• Bona P, Riff D, Gasparini Z. 2012. Late miocene crocodylians from Northeast Argentina: new approaches about the austral components of the Neogene South American crocodylian fauna. Ear Envir Sci Tran R Soc Ed. 103:1–20.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brochu CA. 1996. Closure of neurocentral sutures during crocodilian ontogeny: implications for maturity assessment in fossil archosaurs. J Vert Paleontol. 16(1):49–62. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011283.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brochu CA. 1999. Phylogenetics, taxonomy, and historical biogeography of Alligatoroidea. Mem Soc Vert Paleo. 6:9–100. doi:10.1080/02724634.1999.10011201.
   Google Scholar
• Brochu CA. 2011. Phylogenetic relationships of Necrosuchus ionensis Simpson, 1937 and the early history of caimanines. Zool J Linn Soc. 163:S228–S256. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00716.x.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cáceres C, Rincón AD, Solórzano A, Núñez-Flores M, Ruiz-Ramoni D, Sánchez L. 2016. The first record of Necronectes (Decapoda: portunidae) in Venezuela. Rev Bra Paleontol. 19(1):145–148.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Carlini AA, Brandoni D, Sánchez-Villagra MR. 2006a. First Megatherines (Xenarthra, Phyllophaga, Megatheriidae) from the Urumaco (late Miocene) and Codore (Pliocene) formations, Estado Falcón, Venezuela. J Sys Palaeontol. 4(3):269–278. doi:10.1017/S1477201906001878.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Carlini AA, Scillato-Yané GJ, Sánchez R. 2006b. New Mylodontoidea (Xenarthra, Phyllophaga) from the middle Miocene–Pliocene of Venezuela. J Sys Palaeontol. 4(3):255–267. doi:10.1017/S147720190600191X.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Chamero B, Buscalioni A, Marugán-Lobón J. 2013. Pectoral girdle and forelimb variation in extant Crocodylia: the coracoid–humerus pair as an evolutionary module. Biol J Linn Soc. 108:600–618. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.02037.x.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cidade GM, Fortier D, Hsiou AS. 2019a. The crocodylomorph fossil record of the Cenozoic of South America and its evolutionary history: a review. J Sou Ame Ear Sci. 90:392–411. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2018.12.026.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cidade GM, Riff D, Hsiou AS. 2019d. The feeding habits of the strange crocodylian Mourasuchus (Alligatoroidea, Caimaninae): a review, new hypotheses and perspectives. Rev Bra Paleontol. 22(2):106–119. doi:10.4072/rbp.2019.2.03.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cidade GM, Riff D, Souza-Filho JP, Hsiou AS. 2019c. A reassessment of the osteology of Mourasuchus amazonensis Price, 1964 with comments on the taxonomy of the species. Palaeontol Electron. 22.2.44A:1–23.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cidade GM, Solórzano A, Rincón AD, Riff D, Hsiou AS. 2017. A new Mourasuchus (Alligatoroidea, Caimaninae) from the late Miocene of Venezuela, the phylogeny of Caimaninae and considerations on the feeding habits of Mourasuchus. PeerJ. 5:e3056. doi:10.7717/peerj.3056.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cidade GM, Solórzano A, Rincón AD, Riff D, Hsiou AS. 2018. Redescription of the holotype of the Miocene crocodylian Mourasuchus arendsi (Alligatoroidea, Caimaninae) and perspectives on the taxonomy of the species. Hist Biol. Online first. 1–17. doi:10.1080/08912963.2018.1528246.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cidade GM, Souza-Filho JP, Hsiou AS, Brochu CA, Riff D. 2019b. New specimens of Mourasuchus (Alligatoroidea, Caimaninae) from the Miocene of Brazil and Bolivia and their taxonomic and anatomic implications. Alcheringa. 43:261–278. doi:10.1080/03115518.2019.1566495.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cuvier GL. 1807. Sur les differentes especes de crocodiles vivan set sur leur caracteres distinctifs. Ann Mus d’Hist Nat. 10:8–66.
   Google Scholar
• Cuvier GL. 1825. Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles de quadrupèdes, où l’on rétablit les caractères du plusieurs espèces d’animaux que les révolutions du globe paroissent avoir détruites. Vol. 5, Third. Paris: Dufour & d’Ocagne.
   Google Scholar
• Daudin FM. 1802. Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, des reptiles, Vol. 2. Paris: De l’Imprimerie de F. Dufort.
   Google Scholar
• Díaz de Gamero ML. 1989. El Mioceno Temprano y Medio de Falcón septentrional. Geos. 29:25–35.
   Google Scholar
• Díaz de Gamero ML, Linares OJ. 1989. Estratigrafía y paleontología de la Formación Urumaco, del Mioceno tardío de Falcón noroccidental. VII Con Geol Venez Mem. 1:419–439.
   Google Scholar
• Drumheller SK, Darlington J, Vliet KA. 2019. Surveying death roll behavior across Crocodylia. Ethol Ecol Evol. 31(4):329–347. doi:10.1080/03949370.2019.1592231.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Gasparini Z. 1985. Un Nuevo cocodrilo (Eusuchia) Cenozoico de América del Sur. Col Trab Paleont MME–DNPM, Sér Geol. 27:51–53.
   Google Scholar
• Gmelin J. 1789. Linnei Systema Naturae. Leipzig: G.E. Beer.
   Google Scholar
• Gray JE. 1844. Catalogue of tortoises, crocodilians, and amphisbaenians in the collection of the British Museum. London: British Museum (Natural History).
   Google Scholar
• Grigg G. 2015. Biology and evolution of crocodylians. Clayton South: CSIRO Publishing.
   Google Scholar
• Hambalek N, Rull V, De Digiacomo E, Díaz de Gamero ML. 1994. Evolución paleoecológica y paleoambiental de la secuencia del Neogeno en el surco de Urumaco, estudio palinológico y litológico. Bol Soc Venez Geol. 191–192:7–19.
   Google Scholar
• Head J, Sanchez-Villagra MR, Aguilera O. 2006. Fossil snakes from the Neogene of Venezuela (Falcón state). J Sys Paleontol. 4(3):233–240. doi:10.1017/S1477201906001866.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hoorn C, Wesselingh FP, ter Steege H, Bermúdez MA, Mora A, Sevink J, Sanmartín I, Sánchez-Mesenguer A, Anderson CL, Figueiredo JP, et al. 2010. Amazonia through time: andean uplift, climate change, landscape evolution, and biodiversity. Science. 330:927–931.
   Google Scholar
• Hurlburt GR, Heckert AB, Farlow JO. 2003. Body mass estimates of phytosaurs (Archosauria: parasuchidae) from the Petrified Forest Formation (Chinle Group: revueltian) based on skull and limb bone measurements. N Mex Mus Nat Hist Sci Bull. 24:105–114.
   Google Scholar
• Langston W. 1965. Fossil crocodilians from Colombia and the Cenozoic history of the Crocodilia in South America. Univ Calif Publ Geol Sci. 52:1–168.
   Google Scholar
• Langston W. 1966. Mourasuchus Price, Nettosuchus Langston, and the family Nettosuchidae (Reptilia: crocodilia). Copeia. 4:882–885. doi:10.2307/1441424.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Langston W, Gasparini Z. 1997. Crocodilians, Gryposuchus, and the South Americans gavials. In: Kay RF, Madden RH, Ciffelli RL, Flynn JJ, Colombia LV, editors. Vertebrate paleontology in the neotropics: the Miocene fauna of La Venta, Colombia. Washington (DC): Smithsonian Institution; p. 113–154.
   Google Scholar
• Langston W. 2008. Notes on a partial skeleton of Mourasuchus (Crocodylia, Nettosuchidae) from the Upper Miocene of Venezuela. Arq Mus Nac. 66:125–143.
   Google Scholar
• Linares OJ. 2004. Bioestratigrafía de la fauna demamíferos de las formaciones Socorro, Urumaco y Codoré (Mioceno medio-Plioceno temprano) de la región de Urumaco, Falcón, Venezuela. Paleobio Neotropic. 1:1–26.
   Google Scholar
• Maidment SCR, Barrett PM. 2011. The locomotor musculature of basal ornithischian dinosaurs. J Vert Paleontol. 31(6):1265–1291. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.606857.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Mook CC. 1921. Notes on the postcranial skeleton in the Crocodilia. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist. 44:67–100.
   Google Scholar
• Moreno-Bernal JW, Head J, Jaramillo CA. 2016. Fossil crocodilians from the High Guajira Peninsula of Colombia: Neogene faunal change in northernmost South America. J Vert Paleontol. 36(3):e1110586. doi:10.1080/02724634.2016.1110586.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Müller S. 1838. Waarnemingen over de Indische Krokodillen en Beschrijving van eene nieuwe Soort. Tijds Natuur Gesch Physiol. 5:61–87.
   Google Scholar
• Norell MA 1988. Cladistic approaches to paleobiology as applied to the phylogeny of alligatorids [Phd thesis]. New Haven (CT): Yale University.
   Google Scholar
• Norell MA, Clark JM, Hutchison JH. 1994. The Late Cretaceous alligatoroid Brachychampsa montana (Crocodylia): new material and putative relationships. Am Mus Nov. 3116:1–26.
   Google Scholar
• Prevosti FJ, Forasiepi A, Zimicz N. 2013. The evolution of the cenozoic terrestrial mammalian predator guild in South America: competition or Replacement? J Mammal Evol. 20:3–21. doi:10.1007/s10914-011-9175-9.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Price L. 1964. Sobre o crânio de um grande crocodilídeo extinto do Alto de Rio Juruá, Estado do Acre. An Acad Brasil Ciên. 56:59–66.
   Google Scholar
• Quiroz L, Jaramillo CA. 2010. Stratigraphy and sedimentary environments of Miocene shallow to marginal marine deposits in the Urumaco trough, Falcón basin, Western Venezuela. In: Sánchez-Villagra MR, Aguilera OA, Carlini AA, editors. Urumaco and Venezuelan palaeontology – the fossil record of the Northern Neotropics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press; p. 153–172.
   Google Scholar
• Riff D, Romano PSR, Oliveira GR, Aguilera OA. 2010. Neogene crocodile and turtle fauna in Northern South America. In: Hoorn C, Wesselingh F, editors. Amazonia landscape and species evolution: a look into the past. London: Wiley-Blackwell; p. 259–280.
   Google Scholar
• Riff D, Aguilera O. 2008. The world’s largest gharials Gryposuchus: description of G. croizati n. sp. (Crocodylia, Gavialidae) from the upper Miocene Urumaco Formation, Venezuela. Palaeo Zeit. 82:178–195. doi:10.1007/BF02988408.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rincón AD, McDonald HG, Solórzano A, Flores MN, Ruiz-Ramoni D. 2015. A new enigmatic Late Miocene mylodontoid sloth from northern South America. Roy Soc Op Sci. 2(2):140256. doi:10.1098/rsos.140256.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Salas-Gismondi R, Antoine PO, Baby P, Brusset S, Benammi M, Espurt N, De Franceschi D, Pujos F, Tejada J, Urbina M. 2007. Middle Miocene crocodiles from the Fitzcarrald Arch, Amazonian Peru. Cuader Mus Geomin. 8:355–360.
   Google Scholar
• Salas-Gismondi R, Flynn JJ, Baby P, Tejada-Lara JV, Wesselingh FP, Antoine P-O. 2015. A Miocene hyperdiverse crocodylian community reveals peculiar trophic dynamics in proto-Amazonian mega-wetlands. Proc Roy Soc B. 282:20142490. doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2490.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sánchez-Villagra MR, Aguilera OA. 2006. Neogene vertebrates from Urumaco, Falcón State, Venezuela: diversity and significance. J Sys Palaeontol. 4:220–231.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sánchez-Villagra MR, Aguilera OA, Carlini AA. 2010. Urumaco and Venezuelan Palaeontology–The fossil record of the Northern Neotropics. Bloomington (IN): Indiana University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Scheyer TM, Moreno-Bernal JW. 2010. Fossil crocodylians from Venezuela in the context of South American faunas. In: Sánchez-Villagra MR, Aguilera OA, Carlini AA, editors. Urumaco and Venezuelan palaeontology – the fossil record of the Northern Neotropics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press; p. 192–213.
   Google Scholar
• Scheyer TM, Aguilera OA, Delfino M, Fortier DC, Carlini AA, Sánchez R, Carrillo-Briceño JD, Quiroz L, Sánchez-Villagra MR. 2013. Crocodylian diversity peak and extinction in the late Cenozoic of the northern Neotropics. Nat Commun. 4:1907. doi:10.1038/ncomms2940.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Scheyer TM, Delfino M. 2016. The late Miocene caimanine fauna (Crocodylia: Alligatoroidea) of the Urumaco Formation, Venezuela. Palaeontol Electron. 19.3.48A:1–57.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Scheyer TM, Sánchez−Villagra MR. 2007. Carapace bone histology in the giant pleurodiran turtle Stupendemys geographicus: phylogeny and function. Acta Palaeontol Polon. 52(1):137–154.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Smith CJ, Collins LS, Jaramillo C, Quiroz LI. 2010. Marine paleoenvironments of Miocene–Pliocene formations of North-Central Falcón State, Venezuela. J Foramin Res. 40(3):266–282. doi:10.2113/gsjfr.40.3.266.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Snyder D. 2007. Morphology and systematics of two miocene alligators from Florida, with a discussion of Alligator biogeography. J Paleontol. 81(5):917–928. doi:10.1666/pleo05-104.1.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Solórzano A, Núñez‐Flores M, Inostroza‐Michael O, Hernández CE. 2020. Biotic and abiotic factors driving the diversification dynamics of Crocodylia. Palaeontology. 63(3):415–429. doi:10.1111/pala.12459.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Solórzano A, Núñez–Flores M, Rincón AD. 2018. Gryposuchus (Crocodylia, Gavialoidea) from the early Miocene of Venezuela. Palaeo Zeit. 92(1):121–129. doi:10.1007/s12542-017-0383-3.
   Google Scholar
• Solórzano A, Rincón AD, Cidade GM, Núñez–Flores M, Sánchez L. 2019. Lower Miocene alligatoroids (Crocodylia) from the Castillo Formation, northwestern of Venezuela. Palaeodiv Palaeoenviron. 99:241–259. doi:10.1007/s12549-018-0332-5.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Souza RG, Cidade GM, Campos DA, Riff D. 2016. New crocodylian remains from the Solimões Formation (Lower Eocene–Pliocene), state of Acre, southwestern Brazilian Amazonia. Rev Bras Paleontol. 19(2):217–232. doi:10.4072/rbp.2016.2.06.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Souza-Filho JP, Guilherme E. 2011. Ampliação da diagnose e primeiro registro de Mourasuchus arendsi (Crocodylia-Nettosuchidae) no Neógeno da Formação Solimões, Amazônia Sul-Ocidental. In: Carvalho IS, editor. Paleontologia: cenários de Vida, Volume 4. 1st ed. Rio de Janeiro (Brazil): Interciencia; p. 399–408.
   Google Scholar
• Souza-Filho JP, Bocquentin-Villanueva JC. 1989. Brasilosuchus mendesi, n. g., n. sp.,um novo representante da Família Gavialidae do Neógeno do Acre, Brasil. In: Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia, editor. XI Congresso Brasileiro de Paleontologia. Anais do XI Congresso Brasileiro de Paleontologia; Sep 1–7; Curitiba. Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia. p. 457–463.
   Google Scholar
• Souza-Filho JP, Souza RG, Hsiou AS, Riff D, Guilherme E, Negri FR, Cidade GM. 2018. A new caimanine (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) species from the Solimões Formation of Brazil and the phylogeny of Caimaninae. J Vert Paleontol. 38(5). online first. doi:10.1080/02724634.2018.1528450.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Spix JB 1825. Animalia nova sive species novae Lacertarum, quas in itinere per Brasiliam annis MDCCCXVII-MDCCCXX jussu et auspiciis Maximiliani Josephi I. Bavaria Regis suscepto collegit et descripsit D. J. B. De Pix. Typis Franc. Seraph. Munich: Hübschamanni.
   Google Scholar
• Tineo DE, Bona P, Pérez LM, Vergani GD, González G, Poiré DG, Gasparini ZN, Legarreta P. 2014. Palaeoenvironmental implications of the giant crocodylian Mourasuchus (Alligatoridae, Caimaninae) in the Yecua Formation (late Miocene) of Bolivia. Alcheringa. 39(2):224–235. doi:10.1080/03115518.2015.967162.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Woodburne MO. 2010. The Great American Biotic Interchange: dispersals, tectonics, climate, sea level and holding pens. J Mammal Evol. 17:245–264. doi:10.1007/s10914-010-9144-8.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar