Palaeoenvironmental implications of the giant crocodylian Mourasuchus (Alligatoridae, Caimaninae) in the Yecua Formation (late Miocene) of Bolivia

Tineo, D.E., Bona, P., Perez, L.M., Vergani, G.D., Gonzalez, G., Poire, D.G., Gasparini, Z.N. & Legarreta, P., 1.10.2014. Palaeoenvironmental implications of the giant crocodylian Mourasuchus (Alligatoridae, Caimaninae) in the Yecua Formation (late Miocene) of Bolivia. Alcheringa 39, xxx-xxx. ISSN 0311-5518 Outcrops of the Yecua Formation (late Miocene) are exposed for approximately 230 m along the La Angostura section of the Pirai River (50 km southwest of Santa Cruz de la Sierra). These reveal massive (argillic palaeosols) and laminated (quiet-water lacustrine and marsh settings) mudstones interbedded with thin sandstones containing microfossils, molluscs and vertebrate remains. Significantly, the succession hosts a giant crocodylian, Mourasuchus (Alligatoridae, Caimaninae), which is represented by both skull and postcranial fragments found in association with freshwater turtles and fishes. Mourasuchus was distributed widely from the middle Miocene of Colombia to upper Miocene of Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina, suggesting connections between major fluvial systems and an active mechanism for dispersal of South American freshwater vertebrates during the Miocene. David Eric Tineo [tineo.d.e@gmail.com] and Daniel Gustavo Poire [dgpoire@yahoo.com.ar], CONICET-Centro de Investigaciones Geologicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Calle 1 (644), B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina; Paula Bona [paulabona26@gmail.com] and Zulma Gasparini [zgaspari@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar], CONICET-Division Paleontologia Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata. Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina; Leandro Martin Perez [pilosaperez@gmail.com] CONICET-Division Paleozoologia Invertebrados, Museo de La Plata. Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina; Gustavo Dardo Vergani [gvergani@pluspetrol.net]-Pluspetrol S.A. Lima (339), C1073AAG, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Gloria Gonzalez Rigas [ggonzalez@pluspetrol.net]-Pluspetrol Bolivia Corporation SA, Av. Grigota esq. Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia; Pablo Legarreta [plegarreta@pluspetrol.net]-Pluspetrol S.A. Lima (339), C1073AAG, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.