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Morrinhosuchus
''Morrinhosuchus'' is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous Adamantina Formation of Brazil. It is known from a mandible and a portion of the front of the skull collected from the municipality of Monte Alto in São Paulo state. ''Morrinhosuchus'' refers to Morrinho de Santa Luzia, a hill nearby the collection site of the holotype, while ''luziae'' refers to the chapel of Santa Luzia, which is located on top of the hill. Description The skull and jaws are posteriorly broad but narrow significantly toward the front. The teeth at the back of the jaw are bulbous in shape and circular in cross-section (this shape is only found in one other notosuchian, ''Mariliasuchus'', also from the Adamantina Formation). The mandible arches upward. The symphysis, or area where the two sides of the lower jaw meet, is formed mostly by the mandibles but also partly by the splenials. The skull preserves an antorbital fenestra, or opening in front of the eyes. The nasal, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Notosuchia
Notosuchia is a suborder of primarily Gondwanan mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorphs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Some phylogenies recover Sebecosuchia as a clade within Notosuchia, others as a sister group (see below); if Sebecosuchia is included within Notosuchia its existence is pushed into the Middle Miocene, about 11 million years ago. Fossils have been found from South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Notosuchia was a clade of terrestrial crocodilians that evolved a range of feeding behaviours, including herbivory (''Chimaerasuchus''), omnivory ('' Simosuchus''), and terrestrial hypercarnivory ('' Baurusuchus''). It included many members with highly derived traits unusual for crocodylomorphs, including mammal-like teeth, flexible bands of shield-like body armor similar to those of armadillos (''Armadillosuchus''), and possibly fleshy cheeks and pig-like snouts (''Notosuchus''). The suborder was first named in 1971 by Zulma Gasparini and has since under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adamantina Formation
The Adamantina Formation is a geological formation in the Bauru Basin of western São Paulo state, in southeastern Brazil. Its strata date back to the Late Cretaceous epoch of the Cretaceous Period, during the Mesozoic Era. The formation is part of the Bauru Group in the northeastern Paraná Basin. Geology Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the Adamantina Formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, South America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 600-604. . According to some studies, the Adamantina Formation dates from the Turonian to the Santonian stage (90-83.5 million years ago) of the late Cretaceous, other studies have found a much younger age - Campanian to Maastrichtian (83.5-66 million years ago) of the late Cretaceous. More recent studies lean into the latter category and an unpublished ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxilla
The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxillary bones are fused at the intermaxillary suture, forming the anterior nasal spine. This is similar to the mandible (lower jaw), which is also a fusion of two mandibular bones at the mandibular symphysis. The mandible is the movable part of the jaw. Structure In humans, the maxilla consists of: * The body of the maxilla * Four processes ** the zygomatic process ** the frontal process of maxilla ** the alveolar process ** the palatine process * three surfaces – anterior, posterior, medial * the Infraorbital foramen * the maxillary sinus * the incisive foramen Articulations Each maxilla articulates with nine bones: * two of the cranium: the frontal and ethmoid * seven of the face: the nasal, zygomatic, lacrimal, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adamantinasuchus
''Adamantinasuchus'' is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph from and named after the Late Cretaceous Adamantina Formation of Brazil. It is known from only one fossil, holotype UFRJ-DG 107-R, collected by William Nava (hence the specific name ''navae''). The fossil consists of a partial skull, fragmentary limb bones and a few broken vertebrae, and was found 25 km SW of the town of Marilia, near a reservoir dam. ''Adamantinasuchus'' was approximately 60 cm long from nose to tail, and would have only weighed a few kilograms. Features Skull ''Adamantinasuchus'''s skull is quite well preserved; most of the right anterior part is present, along with some of the right posterior part, but the cranium is crushed and the left side of the skull is altogether missing. The right lower jaw is also preserved, along with many of the teeth. The skull is small, only 60 mm long and around 30 mm high, but the elliptical orbits are very large, almost as long as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sphagesaurus
''Sphagesaurus'' is an extinct genus of sphagesaurid notosuchian crocodylomorph from the Late Cretaceous of southwest São Paulo, southern Brazil. Species and discovery ''Sphagesaurus'' was first described and named by Llewellyn Ivor Price in 1950 and the type species is ''S. huenei''. ''S. huenei'' was described by Price (1950) on the basis of two isolated molariform maxillary teeth, the holotype DGM 332-R and the referred specimen DGM 333-R. The holotype was found in a railway cut between the cities of Presidente Bernardes and Santo Anastacio in the state of São Paulo, while DGM 333-R was found near Catanduva city of São Paulo, both from the Bauru Group. Bertini ''et al.'' (1993) referred the isolated molariform tooth, URC-R 015 from Locality 99 of the Adamantina Formation, to ''S. huenei'', and referred the DGM specimens to the same formation. Kellner ''et al.'' (1995) and Kellner & Campos (1999) tentatively assigned DGM 1411-R, a nearly comple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bauru Basin
The Bauru Group is a geological group of the Bauru Sub-basin, Paraná Basin in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, General Salgado, Itapecuru-Mirim, Mato Grosso, Brazil whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. Subdivisions According to a 2016 study: The Bauru Basin covers an area of approximately 379.362 km2 located almost exclusively in Brazil.., with selected outcrops in Northeastern Paraguay (Fúlfaro, 1996). This Cretaceous sedimentary succession reflects changing nonmarine environments, such as eolian, lacustrine, fluvial and alluvial fans. The Bauru Group was divided by Fernandes and Coimbra (1996) in four formations, namely Adamantina, Uberaba, Araçatuba and Marília. In 1998, Fernandes revised the group and recognize six formations, Uberaba, Vale do Rio do Peixe, Araçatuba, São José do Rio Preto, Presidente Prudente and Marília. The Adamantina Formation was divided in Vale do Rio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bioturbation
Bioturbation is defined as the reworking of soils and sediments by animals or plants. It includes burrowing, ingestion, and defecation of sediment grains. Bioturbating activities have a profound effect on the environment and are thought to be a primary driver of biodiversity. The formal study of bioturbation began in the 1800s by Charles Darwin experimenting in his garden. The disruption of aquatic sediments and terrestrial soils through bioturbating activities provides significant ecosystem services. These include the alteration of nutrients in aquatic sediment and overlying water, shelter to other species in the form of burrows in terrestrial and water ecosystems, and soil production on land.Shaler, N. S., 1891, The origin and nature of soils, in Powell, J. W., ed., USGS 12th Annual report 1890-1891: Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, p. 213-45. Bioturbators are deemed ecosystem engineers because they alter resource availability to other species through the physical ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concretion
A concretion is a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes also occur. The word 'concretion' is derived from the Latin "(act of) compacting, condensing, congealing, uniting", itself from ''con'' meaning 'together' and ''crescere'' meaning "to grow". Concretions form within layers of sedimentary strata that have already been deposited. They usually form early in the burial history of the sediment, before the rest of the sediment is hardened into rock. This concretionary cement often makes the concretion harder and more resistant to weathering than the host stratum. There is an important distinction to draw between concretions and nodules. Concretions are formed from mineral precipitation around some kind of nucleus while a nodule is a replacement body. Descriptions dating from the 18th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nodule (geology)
In sedimentology and geology, a nodule is a small, irregularly rounded knot, mass, or lump of a mineral or mineral aggregate that typically has a contrasting composition, such as a pyrite nodule in coal, a chert nodule in limestone, or a phosphorite nodule in marine shale, from the enclosing sediment or sedimentary rock. Normally, a nodule has a warty or knobby surface and exists as a discrete mass within the host strata. In general, they lack any internal structure except for the preserved remnants of original bedding or fossils. Nodules are closely related to concretions and sometimes these terms are used interchangeably. Minerals that typically form nodules include calcite, chert, apatite (phosphorite), anhydrite, and pyrite.Neuendorf, KKE, JP Mehl, Jr., and JA Jackson, eds. (2005) ''Glossary of Geology'' (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute. 779 pp. Boggs S, Jr. (2009) ''Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks.'' Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carbonate
A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group C(=O)(O–)2. The term is also used as a verb, to describe carbonation: the process of raising the concentrations of carbonate and bicarbonate ions in water to produce carbonated water and other carbonated beverageseither by the addition of carbon dioxide gas under pressure or by dissolving carbonate or bicarbonate salts into the water. In geology and mineralogy, the term "carbonate" can refer both to carbonate minerals and carbonate rock (which is made of chiefly carbonate minerals), and both are dominated by the carbonate ion, . Carbonate minerals are extremely varied and ubiquitous in chemically precipitated sedimentary rock. The most common are calcite or calcium carbonate, CaCO3, the chief constituent of limestone (as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) because they are the most resistant minerals to weathering processes at the Earth's surface. Like uncemented sand, sandstone may be any color due to impurities within the minerals, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, certain colors of sandstone have been strongly identified with certain regions. Rock formations that are primarily composed of sandstone usually allow the percolation of water and other fluids and are porous enough to store large quantities, making them valuable aquifers and petroleum reservoirs. Quartz-bearing sandstone can be changed into quartzite through metamorphism, usually r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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