The Santa Maria Formation makes up the majority of the Santa Maria Supersequence, which extends through the entire Late Triassic. The Santa Maria Supersequence is divided into four geological sequences, separated from each other by short unconformities. The first two of these sequences (Pinheiros-Chiniquá and Santa Cruz sequences) lie entirely within the Santa Maria Formation, while the third (the Candelária sequence) is shared with the overlying Norian-age Caturrita Formation. The fourth and youngest sequence (the Mata sequence) is equivalent to the Rhaetian-age Mata Sandstone.[7]
The oldest sequence in the formation is the Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequence (latest Ladinian-earliest Carnian, ~237 Ma), which is biostratigraphically equivalent to the DinodontosaurusAssemblage Zone. It is followed by the shorter Santa Cruz Sequence (early Carnian-middle Carnian, ~236 Ma),[3] biostratigraphically equivalent to the Santacruzodon Assemblage Zone.[7]
The final sequence, which is only partially present within the formation, is the Candelária Sequence (middle Carnian-latest Carnian, ~233-228 Ma).[4][14][5][6][15] The lower portion of this sequence, coinciding with the upper part of the Santa Maria Formation, is equivalent to the Hyperodapedon Assemblage Zone.The Hyperodapedon Assemblage Zone is itself subdivided into Hyperodapedon Acme Zone (most of the zone, where the rhynchosaurHyperodapedon is widely reported) and Exaeretodon Zone (restricted to about three known and sampled localities, where rhynchsaurs are almost completely absent, but the traversodontid cynodont Exaeretodon is widely reported).[16][7] These subdivisions are also known as Lower and Upper Hyperodapedon Assemblage Zone, respectively.[15][16]
U-Pb radiometric dating of Cerro da Alemoa (the type locality of Saturnalia tupiniquim) in the Upper portion of the Santa Maria Formation found an estimated age of 233.23±0.73 million years ago, putting that locality 1.5 million years older than the Ischigualasto Formation and younger than Los Chañares Formation. The Santa Maria and Ischigualasto formations are approximately equal as having the earliest dinosaur localities.[4][9][17][18][19]
Vertebrate paleofauna
Most of the information below was included on a revision of the Triassic faunal successions of the Paraná Basin, southern Brazil by Schultz et al. (2020).[7]
Lower and Middle Santa Maria Formation, Alemoa Member, Santa Cruz nad Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequences, Santacruzodon Assemblage Zone and Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone
Lower Santa Maria Formation ('Picada do Gama' site), Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequence, Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone
A partial right ilium; a partial left femur and four incomplete vertebrae found in association with the holotype may belong to Gamatavus, but they were not assigned
One of the oldest known silesaurids from South America
Lower Santa Maria Formation ('Linha Várzea 2' site), Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequence, Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone
Associated remains possibly belonging to multiple individuals, including cervical, dorsal, sacral, and caudal vertebrae, a partial pelvic girdle, and a femur
One of the oldest known silesaurids from South America
Upper Santa Maria Formation, Alemoa Member, Candelária Sequence, Hyperodapedon Assemblage Zone, Hyperodapedon Acme Zone
Partial skull including a partial maxilla and both dentaries, most of the presacral vertebrae, two sacral vertebrae, several caudal verterae and associated chevrons, scapula and humerus, femora of at least two individuals, and tibia
Upper Santa Maria Formation, Alemoa Member, Candelária Sequence, Hyperodapedon Assemblage Zone, Hyperodapedon Acme Zone
Partially articulated skeleton consisting of an incomplete skull, cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, a partial pelvic girdle, and elements of the arms and legs
^ abPhilipp, Ruy P.; Schultz, Cesar L.; Kloss, Heiny P.; Horn, Bruno L.D.; Soares, Marina B.; Basei, Miguel A.S. (December 2018). "Middle Triassic SW Gondwana paleogeography and sedimentary dispersal revealed by integration of stratigraphy and U-Pb zircon analysis: The Santa Cruz Sequence, Paraná Basin, Brazil". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 88: 216–237. Bibcode:2018JSAES..88..216P. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2018.08.018. S2CID134201307.
^ abcZerfass, Henrique; Lavina, Ernesto Luiz; Schultz, Cesar Leandro; Garcia, Antônio Jorge Vasconcellos; Faccini, Ubiratan Ferrucio; Chemale, Farid (2003-09-01). "Sequence stratigraphy of continental Triassic strata of Southernmost Brazil: a contribution to Southwestern Gondwana palaeogeography and palaeoclimate". Sedimentary Geology. 161 (1): 85–105. Bibcode:2003SedG..161...85Z. doi:10.1016/S0037-0738(02)00397-4. ISSN0037-0738.
^ abHorn, B. L. D.; Melo, T. M.; Schultz, C. L.; Philipp, R. P.; Kloss, H. P.; Goldberg, K. (2014-11-01). "A new third-order sequence stratigraphic framework applied to the Triassic of the Paraná Basin, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, based on structural, stratigraphic and paleontological data". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 55: 123–132. Bibcode:2014JSAES..55..123H. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2014.07.007. ISSN0895-9811.
^ abcdGarcia, Maurício S.; Müller, Rodrigo T.; Da-Rosa, Átila A.S.; Dias-da-Silva, Sérgio (2019). "The oldest known co-occurrence of dinosaurs and their closest relatives: A new lagerpetid from a Carnian (Upper Triassic) bed of Brazil with implications for dinosauromorph biostratigraphy, early diversification and biogeography". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 91: 302–319. Bibcode:2019JSAES..91..302G. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2019.02.005. S2CID133873065.
^ abColbert, EH (1970). "A saurischian dinosaur from the Triassic of Brazil". American Museum Novitates (2045): 1–39.
^ abDias-Da-Silva, Sérgio; Müller, Rodrigo T.; Garcia, Maurício S. (2019-07-04). "On the taxonomic status of Teyuwasu barberenai Kischlat, 1999 (Archosauria: Dinosauriformes), a challenging taxon from the Upper Triassic of southern Brazil". Zootaxa. 4629 (1): 146–150. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4629.1.12. ISSN1175-5334. PMID31712541. S2CID198274900.
^ abLanger, Max C.; Abdala, F; Richter, M; Benton, MJ (1999). "A sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) of southern Brazil". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. 329 (7): 511–517. Bibcode:1999CRASE.329..511L. doi:10.1016/s1251-8050(00)80025-7.
^Martínez, Ricardo N.; Apaldetti, Cecilia; Alcober, Oscar A.; Colombi, Carina E.; Sereno, Paul C.; Fernandez, Eliana; Malnis, Paula Santi; Correa, Gustavo A.; Abelin, Diego (November 2012). "Vertebrate succession in the Ischigualasto Formation". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (sup1): 10–30. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.818546. hdl:11336/7771. ISSN0272-4634. S2CID37918101.
^Desojo, Julia B.; Trotteyn, M. Jimena; Hechenleitner, E. Martín; Taborda, Jeremías R. A.; Miguel Ezpeleta; von Baczko, M. Belén; Rocher, Sebastián; Martinelli, Agustín G.; Fiorelli, Lucas E. (October 2017). "Deep faunistic turnovers preceded the rise of dinosaurs in southwestern Pangaea". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 1 (10): 1477–1483. doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0305-5. hdl:11336/41466. ISSN2397-334X. PMID29185518. S2CID10007967.
^D. P. Sengupta. 1995. Chigutisaurid temnospondyls from the Late Triassic of India and a review of the Family Chigutisauridae. Palaeontology 38(2):313-339
^Dias-da-Silva, Sérgio, et al. 2011. The presence of Compsocerops (Brachyopoidea: Chigutisauridae) (Late Triassic) in southern Brazil with comments on chigutisaurid palaeobiogeography. Palaeontology 55(1):163-172
^ abVon Huene. Die Fossilien Reptilien des südamerikanischen Gondwanalandes an der Zeitenwende (Denwa-Molteno-Unterkeuper = Ober-Karnisch). Ergebnisse der Sauriergrabungen in Südbrasilien 1928/29. (The fossil reptiles of South American Gondwana during the temporal transition) (Denwa-Molteno-Upper Triassic = Upper Carnian). Results of the excavations in South Brazil 1928/29, part II.) 1936. Pages 93–159.
^Martinelli, A.G.; Eltink, E.; Da-Rosa, Á.A.S.; Langer, Max C. (2017). "A new cynodont from the Santa Maria formation, south Brazil, improves Late Triassic probainognathian diversity". Papers in Palaeontology. 3 (3): 401–423. doi:10.1002/spp2.1081
^Abdala, F.; Ribeiro, A. M. (2000). "A new therioherpetid cynodont from the Santa Maria Formation (middle Late Triassic), southern Brazil" (PDF). Geodiversitas. 22 (4): 589–596. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
^Oliveira, É. V. (2006). "Reevaluation of Therioherpeton cargnini Bonaparte & Barberena, 1975 (Probainognathia, Therioherpetidae) from the Upper Triassic of Brazil" (PDF). Geodiversitas. 28 (3): 447–465.
^Desojo, Julia B.; Ezcurra, Martin D.; Kischlat, Edio E. (2012). "A new aetosaur genus (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia) from the early Late Triassic of southern Brazil". Zootaxa. 3166: 1–33. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3166.1.1.
^Schultz, Cesar L.; de França, Marco A. G.; Lacerda, Marcel B. (2018-10-20). "A new erpetosuchid (Pseudosuchia, Archosauria) from the Middle–Late Triassic of Southern Brazil". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 184 (3): 804–824. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly008. ISSN0024-4082.
^Roberto-da-Silva, L.; Desojo, J. B.; Cabreira, S. F.; Aires, A. S. S.; Müller, R. T.; Pacheco, C. P.; Dias-da-Silva, S. (2014). "A new aetosaur from the Upper Triassic of the Santa Maria Formation, southern Brazil". Zootaxa. 3764 (3): 240–278. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3764.3.1. hdl:11336/20729. PMID24870635.
^Roberto-Da-Silva, Lúcio; Müller, Rodrigo Temp; França, Marco Aurélio Gallo de; Cabreira, Sérgio Furtado; Dias-Da-Silva, Sérgio (2018-12-24). "An impressive skeleton of the giant top predator Prestosuchus chiniquensis (Pseudosuchia: Loricata) from the Triassic of Southern Brazil, with phylogenetic remarks". Historical Biology. 32 (7): 976–995. doi:10.1080/08912963.2018.1559841. ISSN0891-2963. S2CID92517047.
^Gower, D. J. (2000). "Rauisuchian archosaurs (Reptilia:Diapsida): An overview". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 218 (3): 447–488. doi:10.1127/njgpa/218/2000/447.
^Müller, Rodrigo T; Langer, Max C; Bronzati, Mario; Pacheco, Cristian P; Cabreira, Sérgio F; Dias-Da-Silva, Sérgio (2018-05-15). "Early evolution of sauropodomorphs: anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of a remarkably well-preserved dinosaur from the Upper Triassic of southern Brazil". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly009. ISSN0024-4082.
^Pacheco, Cristian; Müller, Rodrigo T.; Langer, Max C.; Pretto, Flávio A.; Kerber, Leonardo; Dias da Silva, Sérgio (2019-11-08). "Gnathovorax cabreirai : a new early dinosaur and the origin and initial radiation of predatory dinosaurs". PeerJ. 7: e7963. doi:10.7717/peerj.7963. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6844243. PMID 31720108.
^Müller, Rodrigo Temp; Garcia, Maurício Silva (August 2020). "A paraphyletic 'Silesauridae' as an alternative hypothesis for the initial radiation of ornithischian dinosaurs". Biology Letters. 16 (8): 20200417. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0417. ISSN 1744-9561.
^Müller, Rodrigo T. (2020). "A new theropod dinosaur from a peculiar Late Triassic assemblage of southern Brazil". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 107: 103026. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.103026.
^Garcia, Maurício S.; Müller, Rodrigo T.; Pretto, Flávio A.; Da-Rosa, Átila A. S.; Dias-Da-Silva, Sérgio (2021-01-02). "Taxonomic and phylogenetic reassessment of a large-bodied dinosaur from the earliest dinosaur-bearing beds (Carnian, Upper Triassic) from southern Brazil". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (1): 1–37. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.1873433. ISSN 1477-2019.
^Novas, Fernando E.; Agnolin, Federico L.; Ezcurra, Martín D.; Müller, Rodrigo T.; Martinelli, Agustìn; Langer, Max C. (April 2021). "Review of the fossil record of early dinosaurs from South America, and its phylogenetic implications". Journal of South American Earth Sciences: 103341. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103341.
^Cabreira, Sergio F.; Cesar L. Schultz; Jonathas S. Bittencourt; Marina B. Soares; Daniel C. Fortier; Lúcio R. Silva; Max C. Langer (2011). "New stem-sauropodomorph (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Triassic of Brazil". Naturwissenschaften. 98 (12): 1035–1040. Bibcode:2011NW.....98.1035C. doi:10.1007/s00114-011-0858-0. PMID22083251. S2CID5721100.
^Mattar, L.C.B. 1987. Descrição osteólogica do crânio e segunda vértebrata cervical de Barberenasuchus brasiliensis Mattar, 1987 (Reptilia, Thecodontia) do Mesotriássico do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Anais, Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 61: 319–333
^Leandro Schultz, Cesar; Cardoso Langer, Max C.; Chinaglia Montefeltro, Felipe (2016). "A new rhynchosaur from south Brazil (Santa Maria Formation) and rhynchosaur diversity patterns across the Middle-Late Triassic boundary". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 90 (3): 593–609. doi:10.1007/s12542-016-0307-7. hdl:11449/161986. S2CID130644209.
^The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs: Faunal Change across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary by Kevin Padian
^Langer, Max C.; Schultz, Cesar L. (October 2000). "A New Species Of The Late Triassic Rhynchosaur Hyperodapedon From The Santa Maria Formation Of South Brazil". Palaeontology. 43 (4): 633–652. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00143. S2CID83566087.
^ abPaes-Neto, V. T.; Lacerda, M. B.; Ezcurra, M. D.; Raugust, T.; Trotteyn, M. J.; Soares, M. B.; Schultz, C. L.; Pretto, F. A.; Francischini, H.; Martinelli, A. G. (2023). "New rhadinosuchine proterochampsids from the late Middle-early Late Triassic of southern Brazil enhance the diversity of archosauriforms". The Anatomical Record. 307 (4): 851–889. doi:10.1002/ar.25294. PMID37589539.
^Tiago Raugust, Marcel Lacerda & Cesar Leandro Schultz (2013). "The first occurrence of Chanaresuchus bonapartei Romer 1971 (Archosauriformes, Proterochampsia) of the Middle Triassic of Brazil from the Santacruzodon Assemblage Zone, Santa Maria Formation (Paraná Basin)". In S.J. Nesbitt; J.B. Desojo & R.B. Irmis (eds.). Anatomy, phylogeny and palaeobiology of early archosaurs and their kin. Vol. 379. The Geological Society of London. p. 303. Bibcode:2013GSLSP.379..303R. doi:10.1144/SP379.22. S2CID130219417. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
^Ezcurra, Martín D.; Desojo, Julia B.; Rauhut, Oliver W.M. (August 2015). "Redescription and Phylogenetic Relationships of the Proterochampsid Rhadinosuchus gracilis (Diapsida: Archosauriformes) from the Early Late Triassic of Southern Brazil". Ameghiniana. 52 (4): 391–417. doi:10.5710/AMGH.28.04.2015.2867. hdl:11336/135741. ISSN0002-7014. S2CID128784202.
.jpg)
