scholarly journals A unique predator in a unique ecosystem: modelling the apex predator from the late cretaceous crocodyliform-dominated fauna in brazil

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe C. Montefeltro ◽  
Stephan Lautenschlager ◽  
Pedro L. Godoy ◽  
Gabriel S. Ferreira ◽  
Richard J. Butler

ABSTRACTTheropod dinosaurs were relatively scarce in the Late Cretaceous ecosystems of southeast Brazil. Instead, hypercarnivorous crocodyliforms known as baurusuchids were abundant and probably occupied the ecological role of apex predators. Baurusuchids exhibited a series of morphological adaptations hypothesised to be associated with this ecological role, but quantitative biomechanical analyses of their morphology have so far been lacking. Here, we employ a biomechanical modelling approach, applying finite element analysis (FEA) to models of the skull and mandibles of a baurusuchid specimen. This allowed us to characterise the craniomandibular apparatus of baurusuchids, as well as to compare the functional morphology of the group to that of other archosaurian carnivores, such as theropods and crocodylians. Our results support the ecological role of baurusuchids as specialised apex predators in the continental Late Cretaceous ecosystems of South America. With a relatively weak bite force (∼600 N), baurusuchids’ predation strategies likely relied on other morphological specializations, such as ziphodont dentition and strong cervical musculature. Comparative assessments of the stress distribution and magnitude of scaled models of other predators (the theropod Allosaurus fragilis and the living crocodylian Alligator mississippiensis) consistently show different responses to loadings under the same functional scenarios, suggesting distinct predatory behaviours for these animals. The unique selective pressures in the arid to semi-arid Late Cretaceous ecosystems of southeast Brazil, which were dominated by crocodyliforms, possibly drove the emergence and evolution of the biomechanical features seen in baurusuchids, which are distinct from those previously reported for other predatory taxa.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. e00841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Ciucci ◽  
Sara Mancinelli ◽  
Luigi Boitani ◽  
Orlando Gallo ◽  
Lorenza Grottoli

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. I. Shnyukova ◽  
E. K. Zolotareva
Keyword(s):  

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Rallakis ◽  
Raymond Michels ◽  
Marc Brouand ◽  
Olivier Parize ◽  
Michel Cathelineau

The Zoovch Ovoo uranium deposit is located in East Gobi Basin in Mongolia. It is hosted in the Sainshand Formation, a Late Cretaceous siliciclastic reservoir, in the lower part of the post-rift infilling of the Mesozoic East Gobi Basin. The Sainshand Formation corresponds to poorly consolidated medium-grained sandy intervals and clay layers deposited in fluvial-lacustrine settings. The uranium deposit is confined within a 60- to 80-m-thick siliciclastic reservoir inside aquifer driven systems, assimilated to roll-fronts. As assessed by vitrinite reflectance (%Rr < 0.4) and molecular geochemistry, the formation has never experienced significant thermal maturation. Detrital organic matter (type III and IV kerogens) is abundant in the Zoovch Ovoo depocenter. In this framework, uranium occurs as: (i) U-rich macerals without any distinguishable U-phase under SEM observation, containing up to 40 wt % U; (ii) U expressed as UO2 at the rims of large (several millimeters) macerals and (iii) U oxides partially to entirely replacing macerals, while preserving the inherited plant texture. Thus, uranium is accumulated gradually in the macerals through an organic carbon–uranium epigenization process, in respect to the maceral’s chemistry and permeability. Most macerals are rich in S and, to a lesser extent, in Fe. Frequently, Fe and S contents do not fit the stoichiometry of pyrite, although pyrite also occurs as small inclusions within the macerals. The organic matter appears thus as a major redox trap for uranium in this kind of geological setting.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 2115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo F. B. Moreira ◽  
Tainá F. Dorado-Rodrigues ◽  
Vanda L. Ferreira ◽  
Christine Strüssmann

Species composition in floodplains is often affected by different structuring factors. Although floods play a key ecological role, habitat selection in the dry periods may blur patterns of biodiversity distribution. Here, we employed a partitioning framework to investigate the contribution of turnover and nestedness to β-diversity patterns in non-arboreal amphibians from southern Pantanal ecoregion. We investigated whether components of β-diversity change by spatial and environmental factors. We sampled grasslands and dense arboreal savannas distributed in 12 sampling sites across rainy and dry seasons, and analysed species dissimilarities using quantitative data. In the savannas, both turnover and nestedness contributed similarly to β diversity. However, we found that β diversity is driven essentially by turnover, in the grasslands. In the rainy season, balanced variation in abundance was more related to altitude and factors that induce spatial patterns, whereas dissimilarities were not related to any explanatory variable during dry season. In the Pantanal ecoregion, amphibian assemblages are influenced by a variety of seasonal constraints on terrestrial movements and biotic interactions. Our findings highlighted the role of guild-specific patterns and indicated that mass effects are important mechanisms creating amphibian community structure in the Pantanal.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document