First record of triassic marine reptiles (nothosauria, sauropterygia) from the alpujarride complex (internal zones of the Betic Cordillera, Spain)

Abstract

This work reports the first record in the Internal Zones of the Betic Cordillera of a vertebrate fossil remain, more exactly a rib, corresponding to a marine reptile (Sauropterygia). The development of epicontinental platforms restricted to the Tethys Ocean during the fragmentation of Pangea since the late Lower Triassic favoured the radiation of Sauropterygia, diapsid marine reptiles including Placodontiformes, Pachypleurosauria, Nothosauroidea, and Pistosauroidea. The Triassic of the Alpujarride Complex, in the Internal Zones of the Betic Cordillera, SE Spain, comprises the carbonate deposits of these epicontinental platforms developed during the Middle-Late Triassic in the northern margin of the Mesomediterranean Massif. The studied stratigraphic interval is located at Sierra de Lújar (Granada Province) and consists of 17.5-m thick succession of alternating fossiliferous marls and limestones with local intense bioturbation and abundance of macroinvertebrates. The studied interval represents shallow facies of the inter- to subtidal environment as deduced by the record of Lofer cycles and the record of carbonated breccia at the top of the sequence likely related to storm events. Lofer cycles display lamination at their bases and intense bioturbation and abundant bivalves towards the top. A 15-cm long dorsal rib of a sauropterygian, likely a nothosaur, was recorded in this succession. It is well preserved, without evidence of original fragmentation, borings, or encrustations. This study shows for the first time fossil bones of marine reptiles in the Alpujarride Complex, which inhabited the shallow-water environments during the Triassic, equivalent to the marine reptiles recorded in other areas such as the Iberian Palaeomargin and other central Europe basins.