A review of Mawsonia from the Ilhas Group, Marfim Formation (? Late Hauterivian), Recôncavo Basin

Abstract

The Mawsoniidae family includes six genera Chinlea, Diplurus, Trachymetopon, Parnaibaia, Mawsonia and Axelrodichthys with an almost worldwide occurrence ranging from the Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. The genus Mawsonia is widely registered from the Western Gondwana (South America and Africa) and is currently found in layers of continental origin and in association with fresh water ostracods or with a peculiar continental vertebrate fauna. Here we redescribe some nearly complete skeletons of M. gigas. Mawsoniids are extremely common in the Western Gondwana and, yet various specimens from different basins are referred to M. gigas, this type species is still one of the most poorly known species of this family. The redescription of the specimens from Recôncavo Basin confirms its classification as M. gigas, based mainly on the postcranial skeleton.

Keywords

• postcranium
• mawsoniidae
• actinistia
• gondwana
• lower cretaceous