Konservat-­‐Lagerstätten in the Upper Cretaceous of the Apulian Platform: preliminary report

An  extraordinarily  preserved  and  almost  complete  specimen  of  an  aquatic  lizard  (Squamata,  Pythonomorpha), showing preservation of soft tissues (mineralized scales and muscles), was recently  donated  to  the  Museum  of  Paleontology  of  the  “Sapienza”  University  of  Rome.  Unfortunately, the only information about the locality of provenance is based on an oral statement,  and  addresses  a  small  outcrop  of  limestone  close  to  the  town  of  Nardò  (Lecce,  Southern Italy). Considering the importance of the discovery, a preliminary study focused on the analysis of the embedding sediments was carried out to identify the lithostratigraphic unit of provenance and the age of the specimen. The  investigation  led  to  the  examination  of  a  well-­‐known  collection  of  vertebrate  fossils  housed at the Natural History Museum of Verona, excavated a few decades ago from some localities  in  the  Salento  Peninsula  (Apulian  Platform  Domain),  and  dating  back  to  the  Upper  Cretaceous. The exceptional conditions of preservation of this material and of the new specimen at  the  University  of  Rome,  suggests  that  a  new  study  of  the  Upper  Cretaceous  deposits  of  the  Apulian Platform cropping out in the Salento peninsula is needed. It would be particularly important  to  improve  the  stratigraphic  resolution  and  refine  the  palaeobiogeographical  reconstructions proposed to date. Material  referable  to  crinoids  and  other  echinoderms  is  also  well  known  from  the  same  deposits, but the material is poorly studied. The high concentration of very well preserved fossils (primarily fishes and echinoderms) in densely laminated mudstones was detected during a  preliminary  field  survey,  with  the  recognition  of  at  least  two  Upper  Cretaceous  fossiliferous  horizons, very rich both in terms of vertebrate and invertebrate remains. With  regard  to  the  Palaeomediterranean  domain,  a  palaeogeographical  gap  in  the  fossil  record is evident for the group of lizards to which the new specimen in Rome belongs: the Pythonomorpha.  Several  Late  Cretaceous  basal  pythonomorphs  from  both  the  Dalmatian  and  North African realms are abundantly described in the literature, and the presumed gap in the central area of the Palaeomediterraneum – occupied by the Apulian Platform – is most likely due to the lack of studies rather than the true lack of data. The  new  multidisciplinary  research  project  aims  to  understand  the  dispersal  routes  for  basal pythonomorph lizards and associated fossil remains in the Mediterranean area, with possible major implications in both stratigraphic, palaeobiogeographical and geodynamic fields.