Tetrapods from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian-Maastrichtian) Bauru Group of Brazil: a reappraisal

An updated, annotated list of all tetrapods from the Adamantina, Uberaba and Marilia formations (Bauru Group), which constitute some of the best studied Upper Cretaceous units in Brazil, is presented. Tetrapod diversity in the Bauru Group is remarkable, including an admixture of typically austral Gondwanan taxa (e.g., abelisaurids, notosuchians) and boreal Gondwanan forms (e.g., carcharodontosaurids). Of note is the absence of Laurasian taxa in the upper portion of the Bauru Group. With the exception of some turtles, an anuran, mesoeucrocodylians and one titanosaur, most taxa from the Bauru Group are based on fragmentary and isolated bones, and as such many specimens can be identified only to a higher taxonomic level. Fishes, turtles, anurans, mesoeucrocodylians, dinosaurs, birds and mammals from the Adamantina and Marilia formations resemble the latest Late Cretaceous vertebrate faunas from southern South America, except for the absence of ornithischian dinosaurs. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.