Carnivorous dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous Bauru Group in Central Brazil: Records, diversity, taxonomic composition and paleobiogeography

Abstract

The region of Central Brazil has one of the most diverse records of carnivorous dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of South America. The recent increase in discoveries and re-study of previously discovered fossil material has allowed us to create a picture of the composition of the fauna, as well as of the diversity and paleobiogeography of theropods. For this study, the theropod-bearing units of the Uberaba, Adamantina and Marília formation in 21 municipalities in the states of Goi´as, Minas Gerais and S˜ao Paulo, were analyzed. This work provides an overview of the fauna of these carnivores, as well as taphonomic/paleoenvironmental and macroevolutionaryinferences. The arid climatic conditions or variable water supply in fluvial systems with strong preburial weathering processes, have conditioned the taphonomic preservation of theropods, the majority of them, represented by isolated and/or fragmented fossils. Nevertheless, the analysis suggests a probable post-Santonian isolation of this region, an interesting topic for understanding the evolutionary and paleobiogeographic history of dinosaurs on the southern continents during the last several million years before non-avian dinosaurs went extinct.