Paleontologists have unearthed the skeletal remains of a previously unknown species of rock-backed dinosaur at the Lo Hueco fossil site in Cuenca, Spain.
Cuncasaura Pintikiniestra It lived in Europe during the Cretaceous period, about 75 million years ago.
This ancient creature SaltasauridaeA superfamily that belongs to the titanosaur dinosaur clade. Lithotropia.
“Titanosaurs were a successful group of sauropod dinosaurs that underwent an important diversification event during the Early Cretaceous, establishing several different lineages, including the lithosaurs,” said Dr Pedro Mocho from the University of Lisbon and his colleagues.
“The Lithostrotians dominated the Late Cretaceous sauropod fauna and were represented by two major groups, Saltasauroidea and Colossals, which included the smallest to the largest terrestrial animals.”
“They survived until the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, after which they became extinct, like all other non-avian dinosaurs.”
Paleontologists found a jointed, partially articulated skeleton. Cuncasaura Pintikiniestra At the Lo Hueco ruins Villalba de la Sierra Formation In Cuenca, Spain.
“Cuncasaura Pintikiniestra “This fossil stands out as one of the most complete sauropod skeletons ever found in Europe, including cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, parts of the pelvic girdle and limb elements,” the researchers said.
“The unique morphology of the caudal vertebrae in particular provides new insights into a historically poorly understood group of non-avian dinosaurs from the Iberian Peninsula.”
This discovery reveals for the first time the existence of at least two distinct saltasauroid lineages in the Iberian region.
“One of these groups is Relaisaurinae“They are relatively well known from the Iberian Peninsula and are characterised by small to medium-sized species that have evolved in island ecosystems,” Dr Mocho said.
“In other words, Late Cretaceous Europe was a huge archipelago made up of several islands.”
“but, Cuncasaura Pintikiniestra It is a medium to large-sized species that belongs to a separate group of sauropods and lived on the Iberian Peninsula about 73 million years ago.”
“This suggests that this lineage arrived on the Iberian Peninsula much later than other dinosaur groups.”
“we Cuncasaura Pintikiniestra “As a representative of the opisthocoelicaudine family Saltasauridae inhabiting the Northern Hemisphere (Laurasia),” the researchers said.
“On the other hand, most of the Late Cretaceous sauropods of southwestern Europe Roecotitan Panda FilandiPreviously discovered at Lo Hueco, the dinosaur belongs to the Relaisaurinae, a group of sauropods thought to have lived only in continental Europe.”
“Our study suggests that Roeco is the only place where both groups are known to coexist, and we propose a new group of titanosaurs, called Roecosauridae, that contains representatives of both lineages.”
“Roeucosaurus may have originated on the southern continent (Gondwana) before spreading around the world.”
of Survey results Published in a journal Communication Biology.
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P. Mocho others2024. Spanish saltasauroid titanosaur reveals Late Cretaceous Europe as a melting pot of endemic and introduced sauropods. Communication Violet 7, 1016; doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06653-0
Source: www.sci.news
