Cretaceous sauropod diversity and taxonomic succession in South America

The South American sauropod dinosaurs fossil record is one of the world's most relevant for their abundance (51 taxa) and biogeographical implications. Their historical biogeography was influenced by the continental fragmentation of Gondwana. The scenery of biogeographic and stratigraphic distributions can provide new insight into the causes of the evolution of the sauropods in South America. One of the most important events of the sauropods evolution is the progressive replacement of Diplodocimorpha by the Titanosauriformes during the early Late Cretaceous. The fluctuation of the sea levels is frequently related to the diversity of sauropods, but it is necessary to take into account the geological context in each continent. During the Maastrichthian, a global sea level drop has been described; in contrast, in South America there was a significant rise in sea level (named 'Atlantic transgression') which is confirmed by sedimentary sequences and the fossil record of marine vertebrates. This process occurred during the Maastrichtian, when the hadrosaurs arrived from North America. The titanosaurs were amazingly diverse during the Late Cretaceous, both in size and morphology, but they declined prior to their final extinction in the Cretaceous/Paleocene boundary (65.5Yrs).Fil: de Jesus Faria, Caio Cesar. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Universidade Federal de Uberlandia; BrasilFil: Gonzalez Riga, Bernardo Javier. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: dos Anjos Candeiro, Carlos Roberto. Universidade Federal de Uberlandia; BrasilFil: da Silva Marinho, Thiago. Universidade Federal do Triangulo Mineiro. Instituto de Ciencias Exatas, Naturais e Educaçao; Brasil. Centro de Pesquisas Paleontologicas; BrasilFil: Ortiz David, Leonardo Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Medeiros Simbras, Felipe. Petroleo Brasileiro S. A.; BrasilFil: Barboza Castanho, Roberto. Universidade Federal de Uberlandia; BrasilFil: Pereira Muniz, Fellipe. Universidade Federal de Uberlandia; BrasilFil: Gomes da Costa Pereira, Paulo Victor Luiz. Universidade Federal de Uberlandia; Brasi