Dinosaurs and Other Reptiles from the Mesozoic of Mexico

Description

Mesozoic reptiles of Mexico and the event that hastened their demise

This overview of dinosaur discoveries in Mexico synthesizes current information about the geography and environment of the region during the Mesozoic when it was the western margin of the ancient continent of Pangea. The book summarizes research on various groups, including turtles, lepidosauromorphs, plesiosaurs, crocodyliforms, pterosaurs, and last but not least, dinosaurs. In addition, chapters focus on trackways and other trace fossils and on K/P boundary (the Chicxulub crater, beneath the Gulf of Mexico, has been hypothesized as the site of the boloid impact that killed off the dinosaurs). Dinosaurs and Other Reptiles from the Mesozoic of Mexico is an up-to-date, informative volume on an area that has not been comprehensively described until now.

Contributors
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. History of the Discoveries of Dinosaurs and Mesozoic Reptiles in Mexico
Jose Ruben Guzman-Gutierrez and Héctor E. Rivera-Sylva
2. Paleogeography and Paleoenvironment of Mexico during the Mesozoic
Wolfgang Stinnesbeck and Eberhard Frey
3. Turtles of the Mesozoic of México
Donald Brinkman
4. Mesozoic Lepidosauromorphs of Mexico: A Review and Discussion of Taxonomic Assignments
Víctor Hugo Reynoso and J. Alberto Cruz
5. Plesiosaurs, Reptiles between Grace and Awe
Eberhard Frey and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
6. Mexican Ichthyosaurs
Eberhard Frey and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
7. Overview of Mesozoic Crocodyliforms from Mexico
Gerardo Carbot-Chanona
8. Mexican Pterosaurs—Rare Jewels in the Fossil Record
Eberhard Frey and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
9. Mexican Saurischian Dinosaurs
Héctor E. Rivera-Sylva and Kenneth Carpenter
10. The Ornithischian Dinosaurs of Mexico
Héctor E. Rivera-Sylva and Kenneth Carpenter
11. A Summary of the Mesozoic Vertebrate Tracks of Mexico
Victor Manuel Bravo Cuevas and Rubén Rodríguez de la Rosa
12. The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) Boundary in Mexico
Wolfgang Stinnesbeck and Eberhard Frey
Index

Sujets

• Sciences de la nature
• Biologie
• Natural History
• Life Sciences
• Fossils
• Sciences et techniques
• América del Sur
• Biology
• Rock (geology)
• South America
• Paleontology
• Latin America
• Evolution
• 454 Life Sciences
• Rocks
• Science

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 15 avril 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253012715
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Dinosaurs and Other Reptiles from the Mesozoic of Mexico
DINOSAURS AND OTHER REPTILES FROM THE MESOZOIC OF MEXICO
EDITED BY H CTOR E. RIVERA-SYLVA,
KENNETH CARPENTER,
AND EBERHARD FREY
Life of the Past James O. Farlow, editor
Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of Indiana University Press
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2014 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dinosaurs and other reptiles from the Mesozoic of Mexico / edited by H ctor E. Rivera-Sylva, Kenneth Carpenter, and Eberhard Frey.
pages cm. - (Life of the past)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-01183-1 (cl : alk. paper) - ISBN 978-0-253-01271-5 (ebk.)
1. Dinosaurs-Mexico. 2. Paleontology-Mexico. 3. Paleontology-Mesozoic. 4. Paleogeography-Mexico. 5. Paleogeography-Mesozoic. I. Rivera-Sylva, H ctor E., [date] II. Carpenter, Kenneth, [date] III. Frey, Eberhard, [date]
QE861.9.M49D56 2014
567.90972-dc23
2013036587
1 2 3 4 5 19 18 17 16 15 14
This volume is dedicated to Antonio del Castillo (1820-1895), founder and director of the National Geological Institute, who led the way in the study of Mexican vertebrate paleontology.
Contents
C
Contributors
Acknowledgments
Preface
1
History of the Discoveries of Dinosaurs and Mesozoic Reptiles in Mexico
Jose Ruben Guzman-Gutierrez and H ctor E. Rivera-Sylva
2
Paleogeography and Paleoenvironment of Mexico during the Mesozoic
Wolfgang Stinnesbeck and Eberhard Frey
3
Turtles of the Mesozoic of Mexico
Donald B. Brinkman
4
Mesozoic Lepidosauromorphs of Mexico: A Review and Discussion of Taxonomic Assignments
V ctor Hugo Reynoso and J. Alberto Cruz
5
Plesiosaurs, Reptiles between Grace and Awe
Eberhard Frey and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
6
Mexican Ichthyosaurs
Eberhard Frey and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
7
Overview of Mesozoic Crocodyliforms from Mexico
Gerardo Carbot-Chanona
8
Mexican Pterosaurs-Rare Jewels in the Fossil Record
Eberhard Frey and Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
9
Mexican Saurischian Dinosaurs
H ctor E. Rivera-Sylva and Kenneth Carpenter
10
The Ornithischian Dinosaurs of Mexico
H ctor E. Rivera-Sylva and Kenneth Carpenter
11
A Summary of the Mesozoic Vertebrate Tracks of Mexico
Victor Manuel Bravo-Cuevas and Rub n Rodr guez-de la Rosa
12
The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) Boundary in Mexico
Wolfgang Stinnesbeck and Eberhard Frey
Index
Contributors
C
Victor Manuel Bravo-Cuevas
Museo de Paleontolog a
Universidad Aut noma del Estado de Hidalgo
Ciudad Universitaria S/N
Pachuca, HID 42184
Mexico
Donald B. Brinkman
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
Box 7500
Drumheller, AB T0J 0Y0
Canada
Gerardo Carbot-Chanona
Museo de Paleontolog a Eliseo Palacios Aguilera
Direcci n de Paleontolog a Secretar a de Medio
Ambiente e Historia Natural Calzada de Los Hombres Ilustres S/N
Antiguo Parque Madero
Tuxtla Guti rrez, CHP 29000
Mexico
Kenneth Carpenter
Prehistoric Museum
Utah State University Eastern
155 East Main Street
Price, UT 84501
J. Alberto Cruz
Museo de Paleontolog a rea Acad mica de Biolog a
Universidad Aut noma del Estado de Hidalgo
Ciudad Universitaria S/N
Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo km 4.5
Pachuca, HID 42184
Mexico
Eberhard Frey
Staatliches Museum f r Naturkunde
Erbprinzenstra e 13
76133 Karlsruhe
Germany
Jose Ruben Guzman-Gutierrez
Unidad Acad mica de Ciencias Biol gicas
Universidad Aut noma de Zacatecas
Edificio de Biolog a Campus II
Zacatecas, ZAC 98000
Mexico
V ctor Hugo Reynoso
Departamento de Zoolog a Instituto de Biolog a
UNAM Ciudad Universitaria
Mexico, DF 04510
Mexico
H ctor E. Rivera-Sylva
Departamento de Paleontolog a Museo del Desierto
Carlos Abedrop D vila 3745
Parque Las Maravillas
Saltillo, COA 25022
Mexico
Rub n Rodr guez-de la Rosa
Unidad Acad mica de Ciencias Biol gicas
Universidad Aut noma de Zacatecas
Edificio de Biolog a Campus II
Zacatecas, ZAC 98000
Mexico
Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
Institut for Earth Sciences
University of Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 234
D-69120 Heidelberg
Germany
Acknowledgments
A
We thank James Farlow (Indiana University-Purdue University Ft. Wayne) and Bob Sloan (Indiana University Press) for their support in making this volume possible. Thanks also to Amy J. Schneider, copyeditor, for her hard work. Thanks also to the contributors for pushing themselves to complete their manuscripts.
Preface
H ctor E. Rivera-Sylva, Kenneth Carpenter, and Eberhard Frey
P
Dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles of Mexico have long been underappreciated despite their first discovery more than 100 years ago. The first Mexican paleontological studies were mainly conducted on invertebrates and mammals. Other vertebrates did not draw research attention until recently. The discoveries and subsequent studies of the Mesozoic reptiles from Mexico were driven mainly by foreigners during the 1970s, and later during the 1980s, by Rene Hernandez. The discoveries provided encouragement for others to carry on the research. Many of those are contributors to the present volume.
The book summarizes several years of research from around the country. The first two chapters offer an introductive background on the history of Mexican paleontology and the geology of the country, while the other chapters cover different reptile taxa that have been found. Finally, the last chapter is an account of the extinction at the end of the Mesozoic from a perspective from Mexico. A geographic distribution of these chapters by state is shown on the map. Our intent in this edited volume, Dinosaurs and other Reptiles from the Mesozoic of M xico, is not to be the last word on the subject, but rather have it trigger more and expanded studies.

0.1. Map of Mexico showing the distribution of chapters by state. The greatest number of chapters include the state of Coahuila, which reflects the result of more field work, as well as fossil richness; the more fossils found, the greater the taxonomic richness.
Dinosaurs and Other Reptiles from the Mesozoic of Mexico
History of the Discoveries of Dinosaurs and Mesozoic Reptiles in Mexico
Jose Ruben Guzman-Gutierrez and H ctor E. Rivera-Sylva
1
The Earliest Records
The oldest records for the discovery of prehistoric gigantic bones in what is today Mexico begins with the mythology of pre-Hispanic Aztecs who believed in the existence of giants they called Quinametzin or Quinametin (Maldonado-K erdell, 1948; see also Mayor, 2005). Later, during the Spanish conquest, some documents chronicle the discovery of gigantic bones. One of these reports was by Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas (1549-1626), who wrote in 1615 about the bones of giants from what are today the Mexican states of Tlaxcala and Yucat n. He also wrote that Hernando Cort s shipped some of the bones to the king of Spain during the first years of the Spanish occupation (Herrera y Tordesillas, 1730; published posthumously).
In 1754, Jesuit father Fray Joseph Torrubia (1698-1761) wrote in his work on the natural history of Spain and its colonies that fossils (petrifactions, as they were called) were organic in origin, which was contrary to the then-accepted explanation of them as games of Nature. He also dissents about what he calls Spanish Gigantology, which documented the existence of a race of giants in both the Old and New Worlds (Torrubia, 1754). These bones were recognized as belonging to fossil elephants as early as 1795. The remains of extinct proboscidians were commonly found during the excavations for buildings and wells. Although Pleistocene and other Late Tertiary mammals are common throughout Mexico, we have no record of dinosaur bones being found at this early date (Anonymous, 1799). Additional fossils from Mexico were mentioned by Don Andr s Manuel del R o (1764-1849) in his Elements of Orictognosy [mineralogy] (Del R o, 1795). Del Rio was a Spanish mineralogist who had studied with Abraham Gottlob Werner and Antoine Lavoisier.
The first report about dinosaurs in Mexico turned out to be an error. In 1840, Wilhelm Mahlmann briefly mentioned the discovery by Carl Degenhardt (a German mining engineer and friend of Baron Alexander von Humboldt) of footprints belonging to great birds at Oiva, which was erroneously stated as being in Mexico, instead of Colombia (Mahlmann, 1840). This error has subsequently confused many workers, who have perpetuated the mistake (e.g., Winkler, 1886; Kuhn, 1963; Thulborn, 1990) and was only recently corrected (Buffetaut, 2000). French geologists M. M. Dollfus and E. de Montserrat of the Commission Scientifique du Mexique made the first authentic report of dinosaurs from Mexico. Their report on the geological reconnaissance of the mining district of Sultepec, now a municipality in the southern state of Mexico, makes reference to some small saurian footprints : in the Barranca of Tisate, there is a whitish tuff, very fine, appearing to be perhaps silica. It is claimed that footprints of small saurians have been found in these tuffs, and we saw also the imprints of leaves and snails (Dollfus and Montserrat, 1867:479). This report essentially initiates the discipl