A Late Jurassic plesiosaur in Antarctica: Evidence of the dispersion of marine fauna through the Trans-Erythraean Seaway?
During the Jurassic two main marine pathways might act as dispersion routes for vertebrates and invertebrates between Laurasia and Gondwana: the Caribbean Seaway (between North and South America) and the Trans-Erythraean Seaway (splitting Africa from India, Madagascar). The former has proven to be o...
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2018
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Online Access: | https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_16310683_v17_n3_p158_OGorman https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_16310683_v17_n3_p158_OGorman |
Summary: | During the Jurassic two main marine pathways might act as dispersion routes for vertebrates and invertebrates between Laurasia and Gondwana: the Caribbean Seaway (between North and South America) and the Trans-Erythraean Seaway (splitting Africa from India, Madagascar). The former has proven to be of relevance as a dispersion route for marine vertebrates and invertebrates between the Tethys and Pacific margin of Gondwana. Nevertheless, little is known about the role of the Trans-Erythraean Seaway as a vertebrate dispersion pathway. The Trans-Erythraean Seaway divides the eastern and western South of Gondwana landmasses in the so-called break-up of Gondwana and connects the Tethys Sea with the Palaeo-Pacific. We describe a newly recovered plesiosaur specimen from the Ameghino (= Nordensköld) Formation, Antarctic Peninsula, the first Jurassic plesiosaur from Antarctica. We discuss the importance of this record regarding the hypothesis of marine vertebrate dispersion through the Trans-Erythraean Seaway. © 2017 Académie des sciences |
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