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.
Highlights
IntroductionThe quality of the fossil record is controlled by different extrinsic and intrinsic factors (physical, chemical and biological) that modify the diversity, abundance and distribution of the preserved fossil assemblages
The quality of the fossil record is controlled by different extrinsic and intrinsic factors that modify the diversity, abundance and distribution of the preserved fossil assemblages
Both taphonomy and sedimentology are essential for the reconstruction of the ecological relations among fossil organisms
Summary
The quality of the fossil record is controlled by different extrinsic and intrinsic factors (physical, chemical and biological) that modify the diversity, abundance and distribution of the preserved fossil assemblages In this sense, taphonomy is extremely useful for the understanding of the biases that introduce these processes. It serves a broader role in incentivizing research over all types of biases that affected, on the one hand, paleontological information during collecting; publication and curation methods and stratigraphic incompleteness on the other (Lyman, 1994; Donovan and Paul, 1998) Both taphonomy and sedimentology are essential for the reconstruction of the ecological relations among fossil organisms. Taphonomic research in Mesozoic reptiles is increasing worldwide contributing to clarify palaeoenvironmental, paleontological and biostratigraphic interpretations (e.g., Paik et al, 2001; Britt et al, 2004; Eberth et al, 2006; Britt et al, 2009; Eberth and Currie, 2010; Brown et al, 2013; Casal et al, 2014; Smith et al, 2015; Dai et al, 2015; Canudo et al, 2016, among others)
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