Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, Argentina

ABSTRACT The uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits of the Neuquén Basin (west-central Argentina) have yielded a high diversity vertebrate assemblage, including numerous dinosaur species. The Neuquén Group is the richest unit in remains of dinosaur of the basin and comprises the Río Limay, the Rí...

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Autor principal:	Previtera,Elena
Lenguaje:	English
Publicado:	Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN) 2019
Materias:	Taphonomy Dinosaurs Upper Cretaceous Neuquén Basin Neuquén Group Palaeoenvironments Argentina
Acceso en línea:	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-71062019000200345
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spelling	oai:scielo:S0718-710620190002003452019-08-02Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, ArgentinaPrevitera,Elena Taphonomy Dinosaurs Upper Cretaceous Neuquén Basin Neuquén Group Palaeoenvironments Argentina ABSTRACT The uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits of the Neuquén Basin (west-central Argentina) have yielded a high diversity vertebrate assemblage, including numerous dinosaur species. The Neuquén Group is the richest unit in remains of dinosaur of the basin and comprises the Río Limay, the Río Neuquén and the Río Colorado subgroups. In this group, there is abundance of isolated, disarticulated or partially articulated sauropods and theropods. However, little is known about the taphonomic history of fossil assemblages. In this study, dinosaur remains from the Plottier Formation (late Coniacian-early Santonian) found in the Cerro Guillermo area in southern Mendoza are examined. The investigation of fossil occurrences within the study area revealed the existence of different taphonomic modes, from isolated bones until partially articulated skeletons preserved in deposits of floodplain and fluvial channel settings. SEM-EDS analysis showed the substitution of hydroxyapatite by francolite in the bone microstructure. The presence of fluorine-in one of the cases-suggested a link between the elemental composition and depositional environments: floodplain and fluvial channel. The survey of the vertebrate accumulation types and their sedimentary context allowed documenting a wide range of processes responsible for their genesis, operating within a meandering fluvial environment. This contribution represents a holistic approach about taphonomic history of Cretaceous dinosaurs for assessing the differential preservation of fossil assemblages in fluvial environments.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessServicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN)Andean geology v.46 n.2 20192019-05-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-71062019000200345en10.5027/andgeov46n2-3161
institution	Scielo Chile
collection	Scielo Chile
language	English
topic	Taphonomy Dinosaurs Upper Cretaceous Neuquén Basin Neuquén Group Palaeoenvironments Argentina
spellingShingle	Taphonomy Dinosaurs Upper Cretaceous Neuquén Basin Neuquén Group Palaeoenvironments Argentina Previtera,Elena Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, Argentina
description	ABSTRACT The uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits of the Neuquén Basin (west-central Argentina) have yielded a high diversity vertebrate assemblage, including numerous dinosaur species. The Neuquén Group is the richest unit in remains of dinosaur of the basin and comprises the Río Limay, the Río Neuquén and the Río Colorado subgroups. In this group, there is abundance of isolated, disarticulated or partially articulated sauropods and theropods. However, little is known about the taphonomic history of fossil assemblages. In this study, dinosaur remains from the Plottier Formation (late Coniacian-early Santonian) found in the Cerro Guillermo area in southern Mendoza are examined. The investigation of fossil occurrences within the study area revealed the existence of different taphonomic modes, from isolated bones until partially articulated skeletons preserved in deposits of floodplain and fluvial channel settings. SEM-EDS analysis showed the substitution of hydroxyapatite by francolite in the bone microstructure. The presence of fluorine-in one of the cases-suggested a link between the elemental composition and depositional environments: floodplain and fluvial channel. The survey of the vertebrate accumulation types and their sedimentary context allowed documenting a wide range of processes responsible for their genesis, operating within a meandering fluvial environment. This contribution represents a holistic approach about taphonomic history of Cretaceous dinosaurs for assessing the differential preservation of fossil assemblages in fluvial environments.
author	Previtera,Elena
author_facet	Previtera,Elena
author_sort	Previtera,Elena
title	Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, Argentina
title_short	Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, Argentina
title_full	Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, Argentina
title_fullStr	Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, Argentina
title_full_unstemmed	Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, Argentina
title_sort	taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the plottier formation (upper cretaceous), mendoza, argentina
publisher	Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN)
publishDate	2019
url	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-71062019000200345
work_keys_str_mv	AT previteraelena taphonomicanalysisofsaurischiandinosaursfromtheplottierformationuppercretaceousmendozaargentina
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Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, Argentina

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