Dentary morphological variation in Clevosaurus brasiliensis (Rhynchocephalia, Clevosauridae) from the Upper Triassic of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

ABSTRACT: Clevosaurus was a cosmopolitan rhynchocephalian genus, known from the Late Triassic to the Early Jurassic. In South America this genus is represented by C. brasiliensis, an important component of the Linha São Luiz taphocoenosis, on the top of the Norian Santa Maria 2 Sequence of Southern Brazil. The best preserved and most abundant bone elements of C. brasiliensis are dentaries, in which variations of shape and size are observed. The aim of this study is to describe and evaluate the variation, using geometric morphometrics methods. Geometric morphometric analysis of 10 specimens highlights variations in relative size of the dentary. Most of the variation observed for PC1 (83.3%) is likely related to ontogeny, and PC2 (10.0%) is likely related to taphonomic signatures. The development patt

SUBMITTER: Romo de Vivar Martinez PR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4368672 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature