THE MARINE ICHTHYOFAUNA FROM THE UPPER JURASSIC (TITHONIAN) OF VACA MUERTA FORMATION, NEUQUÉN BASIN, ARGENTINA: A PRELIMINARY REPORT

SOLEDAD GOUIRIC CAVALLI; ALBERTO LUIS CIONE

Heidelberg

Congreso; 22nd International Coloquium on Latin American Earth Sciences; 2011

Universitätt Heidelberg/ DAAD

The Jurassic was a significant moment in the history of bony and cartilaginous fishes. Certainly in this period begin to delineate the major taxa that dominate the seas and rivers today. For example, batoids (rays and related forms) and many of the basal teleosts groups appear in the fossil record. Most of the marine Jurassic fish assemblages comes from Europe, the fossil record from southern of South america is characterized by descriptions based in fragmentary specimens, except for some studies based on exceptionally preserved fishes from the quebrada del Profeta in the Jurassic (oxfordian) of northern Chile (e.g. Arratia et al., 1975) and from the Vaca Muerta Formation in the Jurassic (Tithonian) of Argentina (Cione et al., 1987). In Argentina, Jurassic marine fishes have been found in the Vaca Muerta Formation at neuquén and Mendoza provinces, where they are the most abundant and diverse vertebrates (e.g. Arratia & Cione, 1996). These fishes were primarily studied by Dolgopol de saez (e.g. 1939), who identified many new species based on fragmentary material. These identifications were subsequently questioned by Cione et al. (1987) and Cione & Pereira (1990). In this poster communication we briefly present the current state of knowledge of the Jurassic ichthyofauna of Vaca Muerta Formation; several taxa previously identified as Batoidea, Semionotiforms, aspidorhynchiforms, Pachycormiforms, teleostei sensu stricto and a possible Coelacanthiform. all this taxa are also present in the classical and contemporary limestones of Solnhofen (Germany) and Cerin (France), representatives of the tethyan faunas. However there are some taxa described for the European limestones (e.g. sharks, chondrosteans, pycnodontids and macrosemids) that have not been found yet in any area of the neuquén Basin.