Systematics of new Dinosauriformes specimens from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) of Cerro da Alemoa, Santa Maria-RS Formation and their importance for evolution and paleobiology of the first dinosaurs

• Grant number: 18/24031-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2019
• End date: March 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Principal Investigator: Max Cardoso Langer
• Grantee: Gabriel Mestriner da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/03825-3 - The origin and rise of dinosaurs in Gondwana (late Triassic - early Jurassic), AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/07510-0 - Systematics of new Dinosauriform specimens from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) Santa Maria Formation and phylogenetic implications of silesaurid mandible histology, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

The research plan presented contemplates the preparation and description of silesaurid materials collected in Cerro da Alemoa, near Santa Maria, RS, at the upper levels of the Upper Triassic Santa Maria Formation. The material consists of partial jaws containing teeth, vertebrae, ribs, ilia, femora, tibiae, fibulae and pedal elements. Simultaneously, computer tomography, scanning electron microscopy, and osteohistological analyzes of one of the mandibular elements will be performed to verify the nature of the dental implantation pattern present in Silesauridae (described as ankylo-tecodont in the literature). The information obtained will be included in a comparative study for taxonomic identification. A cladistic study encompassing the oldest dinosaurs will also be developed. This is justified as there are still many uncertainties regarding the phylogenetic position of Silesauridae, sometimes placed within ornitischian dinosaurs, sometimes recovered as the dinosaur sister-group. Further importance is cast upon these material as they represent the first occurrence of silesaurids in the locality and for the Brazilian Carnian as a whole. Their description will clarify distinct aspects of the origin and diversification of dinosauromorphs and the characteristics that were stablished in the clade and allowed for its evolutionary success. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MESTRINER, GABRIEL; LEBLANC, AARON; NESBITT, STERLING J.; MARSOLA, JULIO C. A.; IRMIS, RANDALL B.; DA-ROSA, ATILA AUGUSTO STOCK; RIBEIRO, ANA MARIA; FERIGOLO, JORGE; LANGER, MAX. Histological analysis of ankylothecodonty in Silesauridae (Archosauria: Dinosauriformes) and its implications for the evolution of dinosaur tooth attachment. Anatomical Record-Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology, JUN 2021. (18/24031-6, 19/07510-0)

MESTRINER, GABRIEL; LEBLANC, AARON; NESBITT, STERLING J.; MARSOLA, JULIO C. A.; IRMIS, RANDALL B.; DA-ROSA, ATILA AUGUSTO STOCK; RIBEIRO, ANA MARIA; FERIGOLO, JORGE; LANGER, MAX. istological analysis of ankylothecodonty in Silesauridae (Archosauria: Dinosauriformes) and its implications for the evolution of dinosaur tooth attachmen. Anatomical Record-Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology, v. 305, n. 2, p. 393-423, FEB 2022. (19/07510-0, 18/24031-6)

MESTRINER, GABRIEL; MARSOLA, JULIO C. A.; NESBITT, STERLING J.; DA-ROSA, ATILA AUGUSTO STOCK; LANGER, MAX. Anatomy and phylogenetic affinities of a new silesaurid assemblage from the Carnian beds of south Brazil. JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY, v. N/A, p. 26-pg., 2023-08-24. (18/24031-6, 20/07997-4, 21/14560-4, 19/07510-0, 22/00171-9)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SILVA, Gabriel Mestriner da. Tooth attachment in Silesauridae: understanding the ankylo-thecodont ontogenetic phase in the evolution of archosaur thecodonty. 2021. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC) Ribeirão Preto.