Microbioerosion on a Late Cretaceous mosasaur fall from Antarctica

• Main Authors: Talevi, Marianella, Brezina, Soledad Silvana
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Microbioerosion; Late Cretaceous; Antarctica; Argentina; Marambio; Seymour; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://rid.unrn.edu.ar/jspui/handle/20.500.12049/5233; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12049/5233

Fil: Talevi, Marianella. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología. Río Negro, Argentina. Fil: Talevi, Marianella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Brezina, Soledad S. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología. Río Negro, Argentina. Fil: Brezina, Soledad S. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Recent large marine vertebrates? falls create significant habitats that support diverse and highly specialized nekton-fall communities (Danise et al., 2014; Dick, 2015). In the Mesozoic, marine reptile-falls could have fulfilled similar roles and hosted analogous communities (Kaim et al., 2008). In this sense, paleoecological studies of fall communities allow delineation of the successional stages that preceded final burial of carcasses (Danise et al., 2014). Microbial organisms such as algae, bacteria and fungi and macroinvertebrates are known to play an important role in the degradation of bones in marine ecosystems (Danise et al., 2012; 2014) and leave different bioerosion structures. Evidence of microbial activity was observed in Cretaceous age plesiosaur and sea turtle bones and in Jurassic age ichthyosaur and sea turtle bones, suggesting that similar communities to those of whale falls could have existed associated with carcasses of Mesozoic marine reptiles (Kaim et al., 2008; Danise et al., 2014; Danise and Higgs 2015).The aim of this work is to report and describe traces attributed to microbial activity in a mosasaur fall from Antarctica. A histological thin section from a vertebra of a mosasaurid (MPL 88-I-2-1) collected from the upper Maastrichtian of the López de Bertodano Formation in Marambio Island (Seymour), Antarctica, was analysed. Thin sections of vertebra were observed and photographed in natural and polarized transmitted light. The compact cortical region is well outlined and vascularised, formed ...