Abstract
New discoveries from a recently described nearshore marine fauna from northwestern Venezuela of presumed early Miocene age are reported. The fossils consist of a cranial portion of a crocodile assigned to the Tbmistominae, confirming the presence of this group in South America, and the scapula of a cetacean with affinities to the Platanistoidea. The stratigraphic section of the fossil locality ‘Cerro La Cruz’ consists of ca. 87 m of clayey marls interbedded with thin hardground units, with the upper strata being gypsiferous. The fossils were found in sandstones stratigraphically above this sequence.
Kurzfassung
Aus einer küstennahen marinen Fauna in NW-Venezuela (?unteres Miozän) werden neue Funde vorgestellt. Ein Schädelrest eines tomistominen Krokodils bezeugt die Anwesenheit dieser Gruppe in Südamerika. Weiterhin wurde eine Scapula eines platanistoiden Wales gefunden. Die Stratigraphie des Fundortes Cerro La Cruz umfasst etwa 87 m mächtige Kalkmergel mit zwischenlagernden Hartgründen, die im Hangenden gipsführend sind. Die Fossilfunde stammen aus diese Folge überlagernden Sandsteinen.
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Sánchez-Villagra, M.R., Gasparini, Z., Lozsán, R. et al. New discoveries of vertebrates from a near-shore marine fauna from the Early Miocene of northwestern Venezuela. Paläontol Z 75, 227–232 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988016
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988016