Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana Volumen 68, núm. 3, 2016, p. 571‒580 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2016v68n3a11

Primer registro de la Familia Albanerpetontidae (Lissamphibia) en la formación El Gallo (Campaniano, Cretácico Superior), Baja California, México

Paulo R. Romo de Vivar Martínez¹, Marisol Montellano Ballesteros², Dalia García Alcántara³

¹ Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Setor de Paleovertebrados, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500 Bloco J, Prédio 43127, Campus do Vale, CEP: 91509 900, Agronomia, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil.
² Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, México, CDMX, 04510, México.
³ Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, México, CDMX, 04510, México.

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Abstract

The extinct family Albanerpetontidae is the only family included within Allocaudata so far known to date. This family lies within the clade Lissamphibia along with Anura, Caudata and Gymnophiona, which spans from the Triassic period to the present.

This family includes the single North American genus, Albanerpeton, which is recorded from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian/earliest Albian) to the Pliocene epochs. Since 2004, paleontological expeditions have been performed in the El Gallo formation (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) in Baja California, Mexico. The results of such field work have resulted in the discovery of several new sites yielding microvertebrates. In one of the ROS51 site, fragments belonging to the family Albanerpetontidae were recovered, which includes remains of a dentary and a premaxilla with teeth. The morphological characters that allow their identification as belonging to the family are: pleurodont and non-pedicelate closely spaced robust teeth, closely spaced. This represents the first record of this family in Mexico, and being the southernmost occurrence and the first one collected on the Pacific coast of North America.

Keywords: Albanerpetontidae, Allocaudata, Baja California, Campanian, El Gallo formation.