FEEDING TRACES ON SAUROPOD DORSAL VERTEBRAE FROM UPPER CRETACEOUS (BAJO DE LA CARPA FORMATION, SANTONIAN) OF NORTH OF NEUQUÉN PROVINCE

FILIPPI, L.S.; BELLARDINI, F.

Neuquén

Jornada; 2DAS JORNADAS DE PALEOVERTEBRADOS DE LA CUENCA NEUQUINA; 2022

UNCO-APA-Ministerio Culturas Neuquén

In non-avian dinosaur fossil record, bite marks are not common or mostly ambiguous or of uncertain origin, however theycan represent the better direct evidences of interactions between carnivorous and their prey. In this contribution, we presentthe evidence of feeding traces on an isolated sauropod element from Cerro Overo, Bajo de la Carpa Formation outcrops(Upper Cretaceous, Santonian) of north of Neuquén Province (Patagonia, Argentina). The specimen represents a partialsauropod dorsal vertebral centrum (MAU-Pv-CO-651). In lateroventral surface of the centrum three types of marks arepreserved. They include a first series of three large and deep longitudinal grooves, perpendicularly oriented respect to theantero-posterior axis of centrum and partially filled with matrix, a second series of three shallower and smaller longitudinalgrooves and, finally, a series of small pits that we tentatively regarded as perforations. These kinds of marks can be regardedas feeding traces produced by macro-vertebrates, probably during scavenging. However, we consider both series of threelongitudinal grooves as ?drag marks? and could be referred to the bite-marks of theropod dinosaurs. Furthermore, thesmall perforations could be representing ?punctures?, and represent the product of bite-marks of crocodiles. In relation topotential carnivorous in the fossil record for the area, we can report: the abelisaur Viavenator exxoni Filippi et al. and thepeirosaur Kinesuchus overoi Filippi et al. These evidences suggest that the bite-marks on this material may be the productof the interaction of several scavengers as it happens in current ecosystems.