Middle to Late Jurassic archosaurs from Chubut Province, Argentinean Patagonia and Jurassic archosaur radiations in the Southern Hemisphere

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The Jurassic is an important period for our understanding of vertebrate evolution and biodiversity, since it saw the first major radiations of many important clades, including crocodilian, pterosaurian and dinosaurian archosaurs. It has been suggested that the initial break-up of the supercontinent of Pangea during this period was an important factor in Jurassic vertebrate evolution. However, our knowledge of the changes of especially terrestrial vertebrate faunas during this time is actually based on comparatively few localities, which are almost exclusively found in the Northern Hemisphere. Chubut province, Argentina, has yielded the only terrestrial Jurassic archosaur faunas known from South America. Furthermore, archosaurs are found here in two different formations, which span the time period during which the separation of Gondwana took place, making this area a potential key area for our understanding of changes in archosaurian faunas from the Middle to the Late Jurassic in the Southern Hemisphere. The objective of the current proposal is thus to improve our knowledge of Jurassic archosaur evolution by carrying out intensive fieldwork in both of these formations and by detailed studies of the resulting material.