First direct archosauromorph remains from the Early-Middle Triassic transition of the Iberian Peninsula

EZCURRA, M.D.; FORTUNY, J.; MUJAL, E.; BOLET, A.

PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA

COQUINA PRESS

Lugar: New York; Año: 2017

1094-8074

This paper discusses the taxonomic affinities of three isolated teeth discovered inthe Buntsandstein facies of the Catalan Coastal Ranges and central-eastern Pyreneanbasins that crop out in Catalonia, north-eastern Spain. The tooth crowns are blade-like,labiolingually compressed, distally recurved, and proportionally apicobasally tall, inwhich the most complete of them is at least 2.4 times taller than its mesiodistal depth atbase. The distal margins possess a densely serrated carina, and the mesial marginslack carina and serrations. The enamel of the crowns lacks ornamentation (e.g., wrinkles,ridges) or macroscopic wear-facets. The three teeth are referred to indeterminatecrocopodan archosauromorphs based on the presence of labiolingually compressedand serrated crowns. The absence of mesial denticles resembles the condition in thenon-archosauriform archosauromorph Teyujagua, proterosuchids, and some morecrownward archosauriforms (e.g., some proterochampsids). We could not find evidenceto determine if these teeth belong to a single or multiple closely related species.These remains represent the first direct archosauromorph remains from Lower−MiddleTriassic beds of the Iberian Peninsula and add information about the geographic distributionof the group during the dawn of the evolutionary radiation of the group.