The Cretaceous (Cenomanian) continental record of the Laje do Coringa flagstone (Alcântara Formation), northeastern South America

•A summary of the Cretaceous flora and fauna of Alcântara Formation, Brazil.•Evidence of the existence of a trans-oceanic Gondwanan fauna until the Cenomanian.•Forested areas surrounded by dry environment in Brazilian northeastern coast.

The fossil taxa of the Cenomanian continental flora and fauna of São Luís Basin are observed primarily in the bone bed of the Laje do Coringa, Alcântara Formation. Many of the disarticulated fish and tetrapod skeletal and dental elements are remarkably similar to the chronocorrelate fauna of Northern Africa. In this study, we present a summary of the continental flora and fauna of the Laje do Coringa bone-bed. The record emphasizes the existence of a trans-oceanic typical fauna, at least until the early Cenomanian, which may be interpreted as minor evolutionary changes after a major vicariant event or as a result of a land bridge across the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, thereby allowing interchanges between South America and Africa. The paleoenvironmental conditions in the northern Maranhão State coast during that time were inferred as forested humid areas surrounded by an arid to semi-arid landscape.

Graphical abstractVertebrate and vegetal fossil taxa of the mid-Cretaceous collected in the bone bed Laje do Coringa, northeastern Brazil, exhibiting remarkable similarity with the chronocorrelate fauna of Kem Kem, northern Africa. The record emphasizes the existence of a trans-oceanic typical Gondwanan fauna at least until the Early Cenomanian. Paleoenvironmental conditions were inferred as forested humid areas surrounded by arid to semi-arid landscape.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide