First record of Triassic marine reptiles (Nothosauria, Sauropterygia) from the Alpujarride Complex (Internal Zones of the Betic Cordillera, Spain)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/egeol.43592.535Keywords:
Lofer cyclothems, bivalve assemblages, Middle Triassic, Lújar Unit, Granada provinceAbstract
This work reports the first record in the Internal Zones of the Betic Cordillera of a vertebrate fossil remain, more exactly a rib, corresponding to a marine reptile (Sauropterygia). The development of epicontinental platforms restricted to the Tethys Ocean during the fragmentation of Pangea since the late Lower Triassic favoured the radiation of Sauropterygia, diapsid marine reptiles including Placodontiformes, Pachypleurosauria, Nothosauroidea, and Pistosauroidea. The Triassic of the Alpujarride Complex, in the Internal Zones of the Betic Cordillera, SE Spain, comprises the carbonate deposits of these epicontinental platforms developed during the Middle-Late Triassic in the northern margin of the Mesomediterranean Massif. The studied stratigraphic interval is located at Sierra de Lújar (Granada Province) and consists of 17.5-m thick succession of alternating fossiliferous marls and limestones with local intense bioturbation and abundance of macroinvertebrates. The studied interval represents shallow facies of the inter- to subtidal environment as deduced by the record of Lofer cycles and the record of carbonated breccia at the top of the sequence likely related to storm events. Lofer cycles display lamination at their bases and intense bioturbation and abundant bivalves towards the top. A 15-cm long dorsal rib of a sauropterygian, likely a nothosaur, was recorded in this succession. It is well preserved, without evidence of original fragmentation, borings, or encrustations. This study shows for the first time fossil bones of marine reptiles in the Alpujarride Complex, which inhabited the shallow-water environments during the Triassic, equivalent to the marine reptiles recorded in other areas such as the Iberian Palaeomargin and other central Europe basins.
Downloads
References
Alafont, L.S. (1992). Notosaurios y Placodontos (Reptilia) del Triásico Medio de Bienservida-Villarrodrigo. Instituto de Estudios Albacetenses, Diputación de Albacete, Serie 1, 60, Albacete, Spain, 131 pp.
Alonso-Chaves, F.M.; Andreo, B.; Azañón, J.M.; Balanya, J.C.; Booth-Rea, G.; Crespo, A.; Delgado, F.; Estévez, A.; García-Casco, A.; García-Dueñas, V.; López-Garrido, A.C.; Martín-Algarra, A.; Orozco, M.; Sánchez-Gómez, M.; Sánchez-Navas, A.; Sanz de Galdeano, C. & Torres-Rondalla, R.I. (2004). Sucesiones litológicas, petrología y estratigrafía (del Complejo Alpujárride). In: Geología de España (Vera, J.A., Ed.), SGE-IGME, Madrid, 409-411.
Azañón, J.M. & Goffé, B. (1997). Ferro- and magnesiocarpholite assemblages as record of high-P, low-T metamorphism in the Central Alpujarrides, Betic Cordillera (SE Spain). European Journal of Mineralogy, 9: 1035-1051. https://doi.org/10.1127/ejm/9/5/1035
Baeza-Carratalá, J.F.; Pérez-Valera, F. & Pérez-Valera, J.A. (2018). The oldest post-Paleozoic (Ladinian, Triassic) brachiopods from the Betic Range, SE Spain. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 63: 71-85. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00415.2017
Beardmore, S.R. & Furrer, H. (2016). Preservation of Pachypleurosauridae (Reptilia; Sauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland. Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontologie-Abhandlungen, 280: 221-240. https://doi.org/10.1127/njgpa/2016/0578
Braga, J.C. (1986). Upper Triassic Dasycladaceans in the Sierra de Baza (Alpujarride Complex, Betic Cordillera, SE Spain). Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontologie Monatshefte, 1986/4: 239-247. https://doi.org/10.1127/njgpm/1986/1986/239
Braga, J.M. & Martín, J.M. (1987a). Sedimentación cíclica lagunar y bioconstrucciones asociadas en el Trías Superior alpujárride. Cuadernos de Geología Ibérica, 11: 459-473.
Braga, J.C. & Martín, JM. (1987b). Distribución de las algas dasycladáceas en el Trías Alpujárride. Cuadernos de Geología Ibérica, 11: 475-489.
Bromley, R.G. (1996). Trace fossils: Biology, taphonomy and applications. Chapman and Hall, London, 378 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2875-7. PMCid:PMC472764
Cotillon, P.; Banvillet, M.; Gaillard, C.; Grosheny, D. & Olivero, D. (2000). Les surfaces à Rhizocorallium de l'Aptien inférieur sur la bordure méridionale du bassin Vocontien (France Sud-Est), marqueurs de dynamiques locales; leur relation avec un événement anoxique global. Bulletin de la Sociètè Géologique de France, 17: 229-238. https://doi.org/10.2113/171.2.229
Cozzi, A.; Hinnov, L.A. & Hardie, L.A. (2005). Orbitally forced Lofer cycles in the Dachstein Limestone of the Julian Alps (northeastern Italy). Geology, 33: 789-792. https://doi.org/10.1130/G21578.1
Dalla Vecchia, F.M. (2006). A new sauropterygian reptile with plesiosaurian affinity from the Later Triassic of Italy. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 112: 207-225.
Dalla Vecchia, F.M. (2008). First record of Simosaurus (Sauropterygia, Nothosauroidea) from the Carnian (Late Triassic) of Italy. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 114: 273-285.
Delgado, f.; Estévez Rubio, A.; Martín, J.M. & Martín Algarra, A. (1981). Observaciones sobre la estratigrafía de la Formación Carbonatada de los Mantos Alpujárrides (Cordillera Bética). Estudios geológicos, 37 (1-2): 45-58.
Diedrich, C.G. (2010). Palaeoecology of Placodus gigas (Reptilia) and other placodontids - Middle Triassic macroalgae feeders in the Germanic Basin of central Europe - and evidence for convergent evolution with Sirenia. Palaeoeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeocology 285: 287-306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.11.021
Diedrich, C.G. (2012). The Middle Triassic marine reptile biodiversity in the Germanic Basin, in the centre of the Pangaean world. Central European Journal of Geosciences, 4: 9-46. https://doi.org/10.2478/s13533-011-0060-0
Dunham, R.J. (1962). Classification of Carbonate Rocks According to Depositional Textures. In: Classification of carbonate rocks: a symposium (Ham, W.E. Ed.). American Association of Petroleum Geologists, pp. 108-121.
Embry, A.F. & Klovan, J.E. (1972). Absolute water depth limits of Late Devonian paleoecological zones. Geologische Rundschau, 61(2): 672-686. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01896340
Enos, P. & Samankassou, E. (1998). Lofer cyclothems revisited (late Triassic, northern Alps, Austria). Facies, 38: 207-227. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02537366
Escudero-Mozo, M.J.; Márquez-Aliaga, A.; Goy, A.; Martín-Chivelet, J.; López-Gómez, J.; Márquez, L.; Arche, A.; Plasencia, P.; Pla, C.; Marzo, M. & Sánchez-Fernández, D. (2015). Middle Triassic carbonate platforms in Eastern Iberia: Evolution of their fauna and palaeogeographic significance in the western Tethys. Palaeogeography, Palaeoeclimatology, Palaeoecology, 417: 236-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.10.041
Fischer, A.G. (1964). The Lofer cyclothems of the Alpine Triassic. Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin, 169: 107-149.
Fortuny, J.; Bolet, A.; Sellés, A.G.; Cartanyà, J. & Galobart, A. (2011). New insights on the Permian and Triassic vertebrates from the Iberian Peninsula with emphasis on the Pyrenean and Catalonian basins. Journal of Iberian Geology, 37: 65-86.
Goldhammer, R.K.; Dunn, P.A. & Hardie, L.A. (1990). Depositional cycles, composite sea-level changes, cycle stacking patterns, and the hierarchy of stratigraphic forcing: examples from Alpine Triassic platform carbonates. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 102: 535-562. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1990)102<0535:DCCSLC>2.3.CO;2
Hirsch, F.; Márquez-Aliaga, A. & Santisteban, C. (1987). Distribución de moluscos y conodontos del tramo superior del Muschelkalk en el Sector Occidental de la Provincia Sefardí. Cuadernos de Geología Ibérica, 11: 799-814.
Klein, N. & Scheyer, T.M. (2014). A new placodont sauropterygian from the Middle Triassic of the Netherlands. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 59: 887-902. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2012.0147
Klein, N. & Sichelschmidt, O.J. (2014) Remarkable dorsal ribs with distinct uncinated processes from the early Anisian of the Germani Basin (Winterswijk, The Netherlands). Neues Jarbuch Paläontologische Abhandlungen, 271: 307-314. https://doi.org/10.1127/0077-7749/2014/0391
Klein, N.; Voeten, D.F.A.E.; Lankamp, J.; Bleeker, R.; Sichelschmidt, O.J.; Liebrand, M.; Nieweg, D.C. & Sander, P.M. (2015). Postcranial material of Nothosaurus marchicus from the Lower Muschelkalk (Anisian) of Winterswijk, The Netherlands, with remarks on swimming styles and taphonomy. Paläontologische Zeitzfrich, 89: 961-981. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-015-0273-5
Klein, N.; Canoville, A. & Houssaye, A. (2019). Microstructure of vertebrae, ribs, and gastralia of Triassic sauropterygians - New insights into the microanatomical processes involved in aquatic adaptations of marine reptiles. The Anatomical Record, 302: 1770-1791. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24140 PMid:30989828
Kolb, C.; Sánchez-Villagra, M.R. & Scheyer, T.M. (2011). The palaeohistology of the basal ichthyosaur Mixosaurus Baur, 1887 (Ichthyopterygia, Mixosauridae) from the Middle Triassic: Palaeobiological implications. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 10: 403-411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2010.10.008
López-Garrido, A.C.; Pérez-López, A. & Sanz de Galdeano, C. (1997) Présence de faciès Muschelkalk dans des unités alpujarrides de la région de Murcie (Cordillère Bétique, sud-est de l'Espagne) et implications paléogéographiques. Comptes Rendus Academie Sciences Paris, 324: 647-654.
Márquez-Aliaga, A.; Hirsch, F. & López-Garrido, A.C. (1986). Middle Triassic bivalves from the Hornos- Siles Formation (Sephardic Province, Spain). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläonologie, Abhandlungen, 173: 201-227.
Márquez-Aliaga, A.; Klein, N.; Reolid, M.; Plasencia, P.; Villena, J.A. & Martínez-Pérez, C. (2019). An enigmatic marine reptile, Hispaniasaurus cranioelongatus (gen. et sp. nov.) with nothosauroid affinities from the Ladinian of the Iberian Range (Spain). Historical Biology, 31: 223-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2017.1359264
Martín, J.M. & Braga, J.C. (1987a). Alpujarride carbonate deposits (southern Spain): marine sedimentation in a Triassic Atlantic. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 59: 243-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(87)90083-6
Martín, J.M. & Braga, J.C. (1987b). Bioconstrucciones del Anisiense-Ladiniense en el Trías Alpujárride. Cuadernos de Geología Ibérica, 11: 421-444.
Martin-Rojas, I.; Somma, R.; Delgado, F.; Estévez, A.; Iannace, A.; Perrone, V. & Zamparelli, V. (2009). Triassic continental rifting of Pangaea: direct evidence from the Alpujarride carbonates, Betic Cordillera, SE Spain. Journal of the Geological Society, 166(3), 447-458. https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492008-091
Martín-Rojas, I.; Somma, R.; Estévez, A.; Delgado F. & Zamparelli, V. (2014). La plataforma triásica alpujárride (Zonas Internas de la Cordillera Bética, España). Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España, 27: 63-78.
Miguel Chaves, C. De; Pérez-García, A.; Cobos, R.; Royo-Torres, F.; Ortega, F. & Alcalá L. (2015). A diverse Late Triassic tetrapod fauna from Manzanera (Teruel, Spain). Geobios, 48: 479-490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2015.09.002
Miguel Chaves, C. De; García-Gil, S.; Ortega, F.; Sanz, J.L. & Pérez-García, A. (2016). First Triassic tetrapod (Sauropterygia, Nothosauridae) from Castilla y León: evidence of an unknown taxon for the Spanish record. Journal of Iberian Geology, 42: 29-38. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_JIGE.2016.v42.n1.51210
Miguel Chaves, C. De; Ortega, F. & Pérez-García, A. (2017). The eosauropterygian fossils from the Middle Triassic of Canales de Molina (Guadalajara, Spain). Journal of Iberian Geology, 43: 129-138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-017-0011-9
Miguel Chaves, C. De; Ortega, F. & Pérez-García, A. (2018). New highly pachyostotic nothosauroid interpreted as a filter-feeding Triassic marine reptile. Biology Letters, 14: 20180130. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0130 PMid:30068541 PMCid:PMC6127125
Motani, R. (2009). The evolution of marine reptiles. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 2: 224-235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12052-009-0139-y
Müller, J. (2005). The anatomy of Askeptosaurus italicus from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio, and the interrelationships of thalattosaurs (Reptilia, Diapsida). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 42: 1347-1367. https://doi.org/10.1139/e05-030
Myrow, P.M.; Tice, L.; Archuleta, B.; Clark, B.; Taylors, J.F. & Ripperdan, R.L. (2004). Flat-pebble conglomerate: its multiple origins and relationship to metre-scale depositional cycles. Sedimentology, 51: 973-996. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2004.00657.x
Niemeyer, J. (2002). Invertebraten und Vertebraten aus dem Muschelkalk von Siles (Jaén), Spanien. Münstersche Forschungen zur Geologie und Paläontogie, 94: 1-99.
Ortí, F.; Pérez-López, A. & Salvany, J.M. (2017). Triassic evaporites of Iberia; sedimentological and palaeogeographical implications for the western Neotethys evolution during the Middle Triassic-Earliest Jurassic. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 471: 157-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.025
Pérez-López, A. (1991). El Trías de facies germánicas del sector central de la Cordillera Bética. PhD Thesis, Universidad de Granada, 400 pp.
Preto, N.; Kustatscher, E. & Wignall, P.B. (2010). Triassic climates: State of the art and perspectives. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 290: 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.03.015
Quesada, J.M. & Aguera González S. (2005). Descripción del primer ejemplar de Ceresiosaurus (Reptilia: Sauropterygia), hallado en la Península Ibérica en el Ladiniense (Triásico Medio) de Mont-Ral-Alcover (Tarragona). Estudios Geológicos, 61: 247-269. https://doi.org/10.3989/egeol.05613-667
Reolid, M.; Marok, A. & Lasgaa, I. (2014b). Taphonomy and ichnology: tools for interpreting a maximum flooding interval in the Berriasian of Tlemcen Domain (Western Tellian Atlas, Algeria). Facies, 60: 905-920. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-014-0413-5
Reolid, M.; Pérez-Valera, F.; Benton, M.J. & Reolid, J. (2014a). Marine flooding event in continental Triassic facies identified by a nothosaur and placodont bone bed (South Iberian Paleomargin). Facies, 60: 277-293. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-013-0360-6
Reolid, J. & Reolid, M. (2017). Traces of floating archosaurs: an interpretation of the enigmatic trace fossils from the Triassic of the Tabular Cover of Southern Spain. Ichnos, 24: 222-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/10420940.2016.1265524
Rieppel, O. (2000). Sauropterygia I. In: Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology (Wellnhofer, P., Ed.), Volume 12A, Dr. Friedrich Pfeil Verlag, München, 134 pp.
Rieppel, O. (2002). Feeding mechanics in Triassic stem group sauropterygians: the anatomy of a successful invasion of Mesozoic seas. Zoological Journal Linnean Society 135: 33-63. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00019.x
Rieppel, O. & Hagdorn, H. (1998). Fossil reptiles from the Spanish Muschelkalk (Montral and Alcover, Province Tarragona). Historical Biology, 13: 77-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912969809386575
Rieppel, O. (2019). Mesozoic sea dragons: Triassic marine life from the Ancient tropical lagoon of Monte San Giorgio. Indiana University Press, 256 pp. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvd58t86
Rodríguez-Tovar, F.J.; Pérez-Valera, F. & Pérez-López, A. (2007). Ichnological analysis in high-resolution sequence stratigraphy: The Glossifungites ichnofacies in Triassic successions from the Betic Cordillera (southern Spain). Sedimentary Geology, 198: 293-307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2007.01.016
Sanz, J.L. (1976). Lariosaurus balsami (Sauropterygia, Reptilia) de Estaeda (Huesca). Estudios Geológicos, 32: 547-567.
Sanz, J.L. (1983a). Los Nothosaurios (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) Españoles. Estudios Geológicos, 39: 193-215.
Sanz, J.L. (1983b). Consideraciones sobre el género Pistosaurus. El suborden Pistosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia). Estudios Geológicos, 39: 451-458.
Sanz, J.L.; Alafont, L.S. & Moratalla, J.J. (1993). Triassic reptile faunas from Spain. In: Evolution, Ecology and Biogeography of the Triassic Reptiles (Mazin, J.M. & Pinna, G., Eds.), Paleontol Lombarda NS, 2: 153-164.
Sanz de Galdeano, C. & López-Garrido, A.C. (2014). Structure of the Sierra de Lujar (Alpujarride Complex, Betic Cordillera). Estudios Geológicos, 70: e005. https://doi.org/10.3989/egeol.41491.290
Satterley, A.K. & Brandner, R. (1995). The genesis of Lofer Cycles of the Dachstein Limestone, Northern calcareous Alps, Austria. Geologische Rundschau, 84: 287- 292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s005310050006
Somma, R.; Martín-Rojas, I.; Delgado, F.; Estévez, A.; Iannace, A.; Perrone, V. & Zamparelli, V. (2009). Facies and facies association distribution on the Triassic carbonate platform of the Alpujarride Complex (Betic Internal Zone, SE Spain). Geogaceta, 47: 81-84.
Taylor, A.; Goldring, R. & Gowland, S. (2003). Analysis and application of ichnofabrics. Earth-Science Reviews, 60: 227-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-8252(02)00105-8
Tschanz, K. (1989). Lariosaurus buzzii n. sp. from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland) with comments on the classification of nothosaurs. Palaeontographica. Abteilung A, Paläozoologie, Stratigraphie, 208(4-6): 153-179.
Wignall, P.B. & Twitchett, R.J. (1999). Unusual intraclastic limestones in Lower Triassic carbonates and their bearing on the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction. Sedimentology, 46: 303-316. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3091.1999.00214.x
Worsley, D. & Mørk, A. (2001). The environmental significance of the trace fossil Rhizocorallium jenense in the Lower Triassic of western Spitsbergen. Polar Research, 20: 37-48. https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v20i1.6498
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International” (CC BY 4.0) License. You may read here the basic information and the legal text of the license. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 License must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the published by the Editor, is not allowed.
