Nuevos restos craneales atribuidos a <i>Duerosuchus piscator</i> en el VIII CLPV

Desde el 14 al 19 de septiembre se está celebrando el VIII Congreso Latinoamericano de Paleontología de Vertebrados (CLPV) que en esta edición tiene como sede Rio de Janeiro (Brasil). El encuentro se centra en Latinoamérica como escenario de importantes debates como la descentralización científica en paleontología o la mejora de las estrategias para combatir el tráfico y el comercio ilegal de fósiles, así como el reconocimiento de la producción académica de los paleontólogos latinoamericanos, quienes han desarrollado investigaciones con un impacto significativo en el panorama paleontológico mundial y han contribuido sustancialmente a la investigación realizada en otros continentes. En nuestro caso particular, Andrea Arcucci (Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas, Laboratorio de Paleobiología de la Universidad de San Luis, Argentina) presenta la comunicación titulada "New cranial remains of Duerosuchus piscator (Planocraniidae, Eusuchia) from the Middle Eocene of the Duero Basin (Spain)", en la que están involucrados diferentes investigadores del Grupo de Biología de la UNED, el Institut Català de Paleontología Miquel Crusafont y la Universidad de Salamanca. El resumen del trabajo es el siguiente:

The Duero Basin has yielded one of the most diverse Crocodyliformes assemblages known from the European Eocene, including the notosuchian Iberosuchus and representatives of Crocodyloidea, Alligatoroidea, and Planocraniidae: Asiatosuchus oenotriensis, Diplocynodon tormis, and Duerosuchus piscator. In some cases, it is difficult to delimit the spatial and temporal distribution of each taxon, and there is isolated material of uncertain assignment that is challenging to interpret either as intraspecific variation within known forms or as evidence of a more complex diversity. Among them, Duerosuchus piscator was originally described from an incomplete skull, partial lower jaws, several osteoderms, and some vertebrae from the Middle Eocene of Corrales del Vino (Zamora, Spain). A subsequent reevaluation of the cranial material placed Duerosuchus as a member of Planocraniidae, a group of ziphodont eusuchian crocodiles from China, Germany and the United States, with no previous confirmed records from the Iberian Peninsula. The members of this group, previously known as “pristichampsines”, are interpreted as having a more terrestrial lifestyle than most other eusuchians. This study describes new cranial remains attributed to D. piscator from Corrales del Vino. The specimen preserves the skull table with the postorbital bars, part of the prefrontals, the exoccipitals, and the quadrates. Comparison with the holotype reveals similar features but also minor differences, such as the morphology of the frontoparietal suture. The new material expands the knowledge of the intraspecific anatomical variability of D. piscator, providing a better characterization of the morphology of the taxon within the context of the Duero Basin and improving the understanding of the planocraniid diversity in southwestern Europe.