RIOJAN PALEOHERPETOLOGY FROM THE CRILAR: HISTORY OF FINDINGS AND TRANSFERENCE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5710/PEAPA.16.05.2021.363Keywords:
Paleoherpetology, CRILAR, La Rioja, Triassic, Cretaceous, Science outreachAbstract
Since the creation of the CRILAR (Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica) more than 20 years ago in the province of La Rioja, paleoherpetology has been present throughout its research and outreach history. In this paper, the details of its creation, its initial objectives, and the difficult first years are narrated. It will describe how and when the institute’s paleoherpetological studies began, as well as the discovery of
the Sanagasta nesting site, the rediscovery of the Cretaceous of Los Llanos, the paleontological works in Quebrada Santo Domingo, and the
investigations in the Triassic of the extraordinary Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin. In addition to the different lines of research, various colleagues who collaborate with CRILAR and the inter-institutional networks generated during its history are mentioned. CRILAR is the only CONICET research center in La Rioja Province, but it is also an institution for scientific outreach. These aspects are addressed in detail throughout this paper.
References
Albanesi, G.L. y Fiorelli, L.E. 2013. Prof. Dr. Mario Alfredo Hünicken (1926–2013) – Nota necrológica. Ameghiniana 50(4): 472–473.
Arcucci, A.B., Marsicano, C.A. y Coria, R.A. 2005. Una nueva localidad fosilífera en el Cretácico de la Precordillera de La Rioja. Ameghiniana 42, 60R.
Basilici, G., Hechenleitner, E.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Dal Bó, P.F. y Mountney, N.P. 2017. Preservation of titanosaur egg clutches in Upper Cretaceous cumulative palaeosols (Los Llanos Formation, La Rioja, Argentina). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 482, 83–102.
Benedetto, J.L. 2019. El continente de Gondwana a través del tiempo. Capítulo 7: El Sistema Triásico y el inicio de la ruptura de Pangea. Academia Nacional de Ciencias: 317–345.
Benton, M.J., Tverdokhlebov, V.P. y Surkov, M.V. 2004. Ecosystem remodeling among vertebrates at the Permian–Triassic boundary in Russia. Nature 432: 97–100.
Bodenbender, G. 1911. Constitución geológica de la parte meridional de La Rioja y regiones limítrofes, República Argentina. Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Córdoba 19: 5–221.
Coughlin, T.J. 2001. Linked orogen-oblique fault zones in the Central Argentine Andes: the basis of a new model for Andean orogenesis and metallogenesis. Tesis Doctoral (University Queensland, Australia).
Desojo, J.B., Fiorelli, L.E., Ezcurra, M.E., Martinelli, A.G., Ramezani, J., Da Rosa, A.A.S., von Baczko, M.B., Trotteyn, M.J., Montefeltro, F.C., Ezpeleta, M. y Langer, M.C. 2020. The Late Triassic Ischigualasto Formation at Cerro Las Lajas (La Rioja, Argentina): fossil tetrapods, high-resolution chronostratigraphy, and faunal correlations. Scientific Reports 10: 12782.
Ezcurra, M.D., Fiorelli, L.E., Martinelli, A.G., Rocher, S., von Baczko, B., Ezpeleta, M., Taborda, J.R.A., Hechenleitner, E.M., Trotteyn, M.J. y Desojo, J.B. 2017. Deep faunistic turnovers preceded the rise of dinosaurs in southwestern Pangaea. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1: 1477–1483.
Ezcurra, M.D., Nesbitt, S., Fiorelli, L.E. y Desojo, J.B. 2020. New specimen sheds light on the anatomy and taxonomy of the early Late Triassic dinosauriforms from the Chañares Formation, NW Argentina. The Anatomical Record 33(5): 1393–1438.
Gorla, D.E. 2008. CRILAR 1998 – 2008: Historia de su primera década. Ed. CRILAR, Anillaco, La Rioja: 92 p.
Fiorelli, L.E., Ezcurra, M.D., Hechenleitner, E.M., Argañaraz, E., Taborda, J.R.A., Trotteyn, M.J., Von Baczko, M.B. y Desojo, J.B. 2013b. The oldest known communal latrines provide evidence of gregarism in Triassic megaherbivores. Scientific Reports 3: 3348.
Fiorelli, L.E., Grellet-Tinner, G., Alasino, P.H. y Argañaraz, E. 2012. The geology and paleoecology of the newly discovered Cretaceous neosauropod hydrothermal nesting site in Sanagasta (Los Llanos Formation), La Rioja, northwest Argentina. Cretaceous Research 35: 94–117.
Fiorelli, L.E., Grellet-Tinner, G., Argañaraz, E. y Salgado, L. 2013a. Tafonomía del sitio de nidificación de neosaurópodos de Sanagasta (La Rioja, Argentina): ejemplo de preservación excepcional en un paleoambiente hidrotermal del Cretácico Inferior. Ameghiniana 50: 389–406.
Fiorelli, L.E., Leardi, J.M., Hechenleitner, E.M., Pol, D., Basilici, G. y Grellet-Tinner, G. 2016. A new Late Cretaceous crocodyliform from the western margin of Gondwana (La Rioja Province, Argentina). Cretaceous Research 60: 194–209.
Fiorelli, L.E., Rocher, S., Martinelli, A.G., Ezcurra, M.D., Hechenleitner, E.M. y Ezpeleta, M. 2018. Tetrapod burrows from the Middle−Upper Triassic Chañares Formation (La Rioja, Argentina) and its palaeoecological implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 496: 85–102.
Grellet-Tinner, G. y Fiorelli, L.E. 2010. A new Argentinean nesting site showing neosauropod dinosaur reproduction in a Cretaceous hydrothermal environment. Nature Communications 1: 32.
Grellet-Tinner, G., Fiorelli, L.E. y Salvador, R.B. 2012. Water vapor conductance of the Lower Cretaceous dinosaurian eggs from Sanagasta, La Rioja, Argentina –paleobiological and paleoecological implications for South American faveoloolithid and megaloolithid eggs. Palaios 27: 35–47.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Grellet-Tinner, G., Leúzinger, L., Basilici, G., Taborda, J.R.A., De la Vega, D.R. y Bustamante, A.C. 2016b. A new Upper Cretaceous titanosaur nesting site from La Rioja (NW Argentina), with implications for titanosaur nesting strategies. Palaeontology 59(3): 433–446.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Larrovere, M.A., Grellet-Tinner, G. y Carignano, A.P. 2014. Comment on "Dynamic topography in South America" by Federico M. Dávila & Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 50: 93–94.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Martinelli, A.G. y Grellet-Tinner, G. 2018b. Titanosaur dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of La Rioja province, NW Argentina. Cretaceous Research 85, 42–59.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Grellet-Tinner, G. y Fiorelli, L.E. 2015. What do giant titanosaur dinosaurs and modern Australasian megapodes have in common? PeerJ 3: e1341.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Grellet-Tinner, G., Foley, M., Fiorelli, L.E. y Thompson, M.B. 2016a. Micro-CT scan reveals an unexpected high-volume and interconnected pore network in a Cretaceous Sanagasta dinosaur eggshell. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 20160008.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Leuzinger, L., Martinelli, A.G., Rocher, S., Fiorelli, L.E., Taborda, J.A.R. y Salgado, L. 2020. Two Late Cretaceous sauropods reveal titanosaurian dispersal across South America. Communications Biology 3: 622.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Taborda, J.R.A., Fiorelli, L.E., Grellet-Tinner, G. y Nuñez-Campero, S.R. 2018a. Biomechanical evidence suggests extensive eggshell thinning during incubation in the Sanagasta titanosaur dinosaurs. PeerJ 6: e4971.
Hünicken, M.A., Tauber, A.A. y Leguizamón, R.R. 2001. Hallazgo de huevos y nidos de dinosaurios, asociados a restos de vegetales silicificados: asignación al Cretácico de las secuencias portadoras aflorantes en Sanagasta, provincia de La Rioja. 17º Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados (Esquel), Ameghiniana Suplemento Resúmenes: 38: 10R.
Leuzinger, L., Bernasconi, S.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Hechenleitner, E.M. y Alasino, P.H. 2017. Preliminary clumped isotope data from Late Cretaceous titanosaur (sauropoda) eggshells: preservation of the original isotopic signal and implications for palaeoecological and palaeobiological interpretations. VI Symposium on Dinosaur Eggs and Babies, Caparica, Portugal. Abstract book: 29.
Limarino, C.O., Ciccioli, P.L., Krapovickas, V. y Benedito, L.D. 2016. Estratigrafía de las sucesiones mesozoicas, paleógenas y neógenas de las quebradas Santo Domingo y el Peñón (Precordillera Septentrional riojana). Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina 73, 301–318.
Melchor, R.N., de Valais, S. y Genise, J.F. 2002. Bird-like fossil footprints from the Late Triassic. Nature 417, 936–938.
Pérez Loinaze, V., Vera, E.I., Fiorelli, L.E. y Desojo, J.B. 2018. Palaeobotany and palynology of coprolites from the Late Triassic Chañares Formation of Argentina: implications for vegetation provinces and the diet of dicynodonts. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 502: 31–51.
Rodríguez Brizuela, R. y Tauber, A.A. 2006. Estratigrafía y mamíferos fósiles de la Formación Toro Negro (Neógeno), Departamento Vinchina, noroeste de la provincia de La Rioja, Argentina. Ameghiniana 43(2): 257–272.
Tauber, A.A. 2005. Mamíferos fósiles y edad de la Formación Salicas (Mioceno tardío) de la sierra de Velasco, La Rioja, Argentina. Ameghiniana 42(2): 443–460.
Tauber, A.A. 2007. Primer yacimiento de huevos de dinosaurios (Cretácico Superior) de la provincia de La Rioja, Argentina. Ameghiniana, 44(1): 11–28.
Vizán, H., Geuna, S., .Melchor, R. Bellosi, E.S., Lagorio, S.L., Vásquez, C., Japas, M.S., Ré, G. y Do Campo, M. 2013. Geological setting and paleomagnetism of the Eocene red beds of Laguna Brava Formation (Quebrada Santo Domingo, northwestern Argentina). Tectonophysics 583, 105–123.
Arcucci, A.B., Marsicano, C.A. y Coria, R.A. 2005. Una nueva localidad fosilífera en el Cretácico de la Precordillera de La Rioja. Ameghiniana 42, 60R.
Basilici, G., Hechenleitner, E.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Dal Bó, P.F. y Mountney, N.P. 2017. Preservation of titanosaur egg clutches in Upper Cretaceous cumulative palaeosols (Los Llanos Formation, La Rioja, Argentina). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 482, 83–102.
Benedetto, J.L. 2019. El continente de Gondwana a través del tiempo. Capítulo 7: El Sistema Triásico y el inicio de la ruptura de Pangea. Academia Nacional de Ciencias: 317–345.
Benton, M.J., Tverdokhlebov, V.P. y Surkov, M.V. 2004. Ecosystem remodeling among vertebrates at the Permian–Triassic boundary in Russia. Nature 432: 97–100.
Bodenbender, G. 1911. Constitución geológica de la parte meridional de La Rioja y regiones limítrofes, República Argentina. Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Córdoba 19: 5–221.
Coughlin, T.J. 2001. Linked orogen-oblique fault zones in the Central Argentine Andes: the basis of a new model for Andean orogenesis and metallogenesis. Tesis Doctoral (University Queensland, Australia).
Desojo, J.B., Fiorelli, L.E., Ezcurra, M.E., Martinelli, A.G., Ramezani, J., Da Rosa, A.A.S., von Baczko, M.B., Trotteyn, M.J., Montefeltro, F.C., Ezpeleta, M. y Langer, M.C. 2020. The Late Triassic Ischigualasto Formation at Cerro Las Lajas (La Rioja, Argentina): fossil tetrapods, high-resolution chronostratigraphy, and faunal correlations. Scientific Reports 10: 12782.
Ezcurra, M.D., Fiorelli, L.E., Martinelli, A.G., Rocher, S., von Baczko, B., Ezpeleta, M., Taborda, J.R.A., Hechenleitner, E.M., Trotteyn, M.J. y Desojo, J.B. 2017. Deep faunistic turnovers preceded the rise of dinosaurs in southwestern Pangaea. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1: 1477–1483.
Ezcurra, M.D., Nesbitt, S., Fiorelli, L.E. y Desojo, J.B. 2020. New specimen sheds light on the anatomy and taxonomy of the early Late Triassic dinosauriforms from the Chañares Formation, NW Argentina. The Anatomical Record 33(5): 1393–1438.
Gorla, D.E. 2008. CRILAR 1998 – 2008: Historia de su primera década. Ed. CRILAR, Anillaco, La Rioja: 92 p.
Fiorelli, L.E., Ezcurra, M.D., Hechenleitner, E.M., Argañaraz, E., Taborda, J.R.A., Trotteyn, M.J., Von Baczko, M.B. y Desojo, J.B. 2013b. The oldest known communal latrines provide evidence of gregarism in Triassic megaherbivores. Scientific Reports 3: 3348.
Fiorelli, L.E., Grellet-Tinner, G., Alasino, P.H. y Argañaraz, E. 2012. The geology and paleoecology of the newly discovered Cretaceous neosauropod hydrothermal nesting site in Sanagasta (Los Llanos Formation), La Rioja, northwest Argentina. Cretaceous Research 35: 94–117.
Fiorelli, L.E., Grellet-Tinner, G., Argañaraz, E. y Salgado, L. 2013a. Tafonomía del sitio de nidificación de neosaurópodos de Sanagasta (La Rioja, Argentina): ejemplo de preservación excepcional en un paleoambiente hidrotermal del Cretácico Inferior. Ameghiniana 50: 389–406.
Fiorelli, L.E., Leardi, J.M., Hechenleitner, E.M., Pol, D., Basilici, G. y Grellet-Tinner, G. 2016. A new Late Cretaceous crocodyliform from the western margin of Gondwana (La Rioja Province, Argentina). Cretaceous Research 60: 194–209.
Fiorelli, L.E., Rocher, S., Martinelli, A.G., Ezcurra, M.D., Hechenleitner, E.M. y Ezpeleta, M. 2018. Tetrapod burrows from the Middle−Upper Triassic Chañares Formation (La Rioja, Argentina) and its palaeoecological implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 496: 85–102.
Grellet-Tinner, G. y Fiorelli, L.E. 2010. A new Argentinean nesting site showing neosauropod dinosaur reproduction in a Cretaceous hydrothermal environment. Nature Communications 1: 32.
Grellet-Tinner, G., Fiorelli, L.E. y Salvador, R.B. 2012. Water vapor conductance of the Lower Cretaceous dinosaurian eggs from Sanagasta, La Rioja, Argentina –paleobiological and paleoecological implications for South American faveoloolithid and megaloolithid eggs. Palaios 27: 35–47.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Grellet-Tinner, G., Leúzinger, L., Basilici, G., Taborda, J.R.A., De la Vega, D.R. y Bustamante, A.C. 2016b. A new Upper Cretaceous titanosaur nesting site from La Rioja (NW Argentina), with implications for titanosaur nesting strategies. Palaeontology 59(3): 433–446.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Larrovere, M.A., Grellet-Tinner, G. y Carignano, A.P. 2014. Comment on "Dynamic topography in South America" by Federico M. Dávila & Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 50: 93–94.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Martinelli, A.G. y Grellet-Tinner, G. 2018b. Titanosaur dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of La Rioja province, NW Argentina. Cretaceous Research 85, 42–59.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Grellet-Tinner, G. y Fiorelli, L.E. 2015. What do giant titanosaur dinosaurs and modern Australasian megapodes have in common? PeerJ 3: e1341.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Grellet-Tinner, G., Foley, M., Fiorelli, L.E. y Thompson, M.B. 2016a. Micro-CT scan reveals an unexpected high-volume and interconnected pore network in a Cretaceous Sanagasta dinosaur eggshell. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 20160008.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Leuzinger, L., Martinelli, A.G., Rocher, S., Fiorelli, L.E., Taborda, J.A.R. y Salgado, L. 2020. Two Late Cretaceous sauropods reveal titanosaurian dispersal across South America. Communications Biology 3: 622.
Hechenleitner, E.M., Taborda, J.R.A., Fiorelli, L.E., Grellet-Tinner, G. y Nuñez-Campero, S.R. 2018a. Biomechanical evidence suggests extensive eggshell thinning during incubation in the Sanagasta titanosaur dinosaurs. PeerJ 6: e4971.
Hünicken, M.A., Tauber, A.A. y Leguizamón, R.R. 2001. Hallazgo de huevos y nidos de dinosaurios, asociados a restos de vegetales silicificados: asignación al Cretácico de las secuencias portadoras aflorantes en Sanagasta, provincia de La Rioja. 17º Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados (Esquel), Ameghiniana Suplemento Resúmenes: 38: 10R.
Leuzinger, L., Bernasconi, S.M., Fiorelli, L.E., Hechenleitner, E.M. y Alasino, P.H. 2017. Preliminary clumped isotope data from Late Cretaceous titanosaur (sauropoda) eggshells: preservation of the original isotopic signal and implications for palaeoecological and palaeobiological interpretations. VI Symposium on Dinosaur Eggs and Babies, Caparica, Portugal. Abstract book: 29.
Limarino, C.O., Ciccioli, P.L., Krapovickas, V. y Benedito, L.D. 2016. Estratigrafía de las sucesiones mesozoicas, paleógenas y neógenas de las quebradas Santo Domingo y el Peñón (Precordillera Septentrional riojana). Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina 73, 301–318.
Melchor, R.N., de Valais, S. y Genise, J.F. 2002. Bird-like fossil footprints from the Late Triassic. Nature 417, 936–938.
Pérez Loinaze, V., Vera, E.I., Fiorelli, L.E. y Desojo, J.B. 2018. Palaeobotany and palynology of coprolites from the Late Triassic Chañares Formation of Argentina: implications for vegetation provinces and the diet of dicynodonts. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 502: 31–51.
Rodríguez Brizuela, R. y Tauber, A.A. 2006. Estratigrafía y mamíferos fósiles de la Formación Toro Negro (Neógeno), Departamento Vinchina, noroeste de la provincia de La Rioja, Argentina. Ameghiniana 43(2): 257–272.
Tauber, A.A. 2005. Mamíferos fósiles y edad de la Formación Salicas (Mioceno tardío) de la sierra de Velasco, La Rioja, Argentina. Ameghiniana 42(2): 443–460.
Tauber, A.A. 2007. Primer yacimiento de huevos de dinosaurios (Cretácico Superior) de la provincia de La Rioja, Argentina. Ameghiniana, 44(1): 11–28.
Vizán, H., Geuna, S., .Melchor, R. Bellosi, E.S., Lagorio, S.L., Vásquez, C., Japas, M.S., Ré, G. y Do Campo, M. 2013. Geological setting and paleomagnetism of the Eocene red beds of Laguna Brava Formation (Quebrada Santo Domingo, northwestern Argentina). Tectonophysics 583, 105–123.
Additional Files
Published
2022-05-13
Issue
Section
Thematic Volume
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Lucas Ernesto Fiorelli, Esteban Martín Hechenleitner, Ivana Amelotti
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a CC Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
