No abstract

BackgroundRecent work on the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition of the Iberian Range (Spain) has opened a new window onto the interpretation of the trackmakers of some medium-sized tridactyl tracks. The ichnotaxon Therangospodus oncalensis has been described in the Huérteles Formation (Berriasian) and is one of the classical tracks from the area assigned to medium-sized theropods.Methodology/Principal FindingsA review of the type locality of Therangospodus oncalensis (Fuentesalvo tracksite) and other tracksites from the Huérteles Formation (Berriasian) has yielded new information on the morphology, gait and trackmaker identity of the aforementioned ichnospecies. The new data suggest that the trackmaker is an ornithopod rather than a theropod on the basis of the length/width ratio, the anterior triangle length-width ratio, the short steps, the round to quadrangular heel pad impression and the probable manus impressions. Conclusions/Significance T. oncalensis shows similarities with various tracks from the Berriasian of Europe assigned to Iguanodontipus. The ichnotaxonomical status of this ichnospecies is here considered as Iguanodontipus? oncalensis due to the current state of knowledge of the ichnotaxonomy of medium-sized ornithopod tracks. This reassessment of I? oncalensis also has two significant implications for the palaeoecology of the faunas during the deposition of the Huérteles Formation: 1- the high number and percentage of theropod tracks would be lower than previous papers have suggested. 2- the gregarious behaviour described in the type locality (Fuentesalvo) would be among ornithopods instead of theropods.

J., 2012: Ethological variations in gauge in sauropod trackways from the Berriasian of Spain. Lethaia, Vol. 45, Two sauropod trackways from the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) of the Cameros Basin (Spain) show important variations in trackway gauge, along the same trackway. These variations seem to be associated with different behaviours; on the one hand with a significant variation in the direction of travel (turning phenomena) and on the other hand with a decrease in speed, probably associated with the properties of the substrate. These variations in sauropod trackways provide the trackway gauge debate with new data, supporting the hypothesis that the walking style and substrate properties may in some cases determine this sauropod character. The study of turning sauropod trackways improves our knowledge of sauropod locomotion.

Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) materials are increasingly used in building construction for the design of multifunctional structures. These composite materials allow the integration of structural functions, building physics functions (mainly thermal insulation) and architectural functions (complex forms and color) in single large-scale building components. GFRP materials also allow the fabrication of translucent structural components with high degree of transparency when optically aligned resins and glass fibers are used, i.e. their refractive indices are identical. In this study the total light transmittance of hand lay-up GFRP laminates for building construction was investigated with a view to two architectural applications: translucent load-bearing structures and the encapsulation of photovoltaic (PV) cells into GFRP building skins of sandwich structures. Spectrophotometric experiments using an integrating sphere set-up were performed on unidirectional and cross-ply GFRP specimens in the range from 20% to 35% fiber volume fraction. Results were compared with the shortcircuit currents generated by amorphous silicon (a-Si) PV cells encapsulated in GFRP laminates exposed to artificial sunlight radiation. The total amount of fibers in the laminates was the major parameter influencing light transmittance, with fiber architecture having little effect. 83% of solar irradiance in the band of 300-800 nm reached the surface of a-Si PV cells encapsulated below structural GFRP laminates with a fiber reinforcement weight of 820 g/m 2 , demonstrating the feasibility of conceiving multifunctional GFRP structures.

More than a hundred sauropod tracksites, ranging in age from Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) to Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), are reported from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Sauropod trackway orientation patterns throughout an entire geographic area such as the Iberian Peninsula and over different time periods may provide new data about the palaeoecology and behavioural patterns of sauropods. The studied tracksites exhibit two main trackway orientation patterns, directional and random, indicating different behaviours in gregarious or solitary (milling) individuals. Gregarious behavioural patterns are mainly observed within Parabrontopodus/Breviparopus-like and Brontopodus-like ichnotypes of a single size class (either small or medium-sized), indicating age segregation. Among the gregarious sauropods the former ichnotype is linked with inland environments, while the latter is mainly linked with coastal environments. Solitary trackways are mainly of medium-sized to large individuals, are also linked with both inland (Parabrontopodus/Breviparopus-like) and coastal environments (Parabrontopodus/Breviparopus-like, Brontopodus-like), and belong to the above-mentioned ichnotypes as well as to Polyonyx-like ichnotypes. Thus, no obvious link between gregarious behaviour and the palaeoenvironmental setting can be inferred from the sauropod track record of the Iberian Peninsula. Nonetheless, sauropod trackways showing titanosauriform characters (Brontopoduslike) are more common in coastal environments, contrary to what might be expected given this group's apparent taxonomic preference for inland environments.Keywords: Sauropod trackways, palaeoecology, gregarious behaviour, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Iberian Peninsula Resumen El registro Ibérico (España y Portugal) de icnitas de saurópodos está representado por más de cien yacimientos cuya edad varía desde el Jurásico Medio (Batoniense) al Cretácico Superior (Maastrichtiense). El estudio de la orientación de los rastros, en un área determinada como la Península Ibérica y en diferentes edades, nos ha permitido obtener nuevos datos sobre el comportamiento de los saurópodos. Los rastros de los yacimientos estudiados presentan dos patrones de movimiento distintos, direccionales y aleatorios, que reflejan distintos comportamientos en individuos gregarios o solitarios (deambulantes). El patrón que indica comportamiento gregario se observa en los icnotipos "Parabrontopodus/Breviparopus-like" y "Brontopodus-like" en saurópodos del mismo tamaño (pequeño o medio), lo que indica segregación por edad. El primer icnotipo se ha conservado en sedimentos depositados en ambientes terrestres mientras que el segundo lo hace fundamentalmente en ambientes costeros. Los rastros solitarios son, en su mayoría, de saurópodos de tamaño medio o grande, conservados tanto en medios terrestres ("Parabrontopodus/Breviparopus-like"), como costeros ("Parabrontopodus/Breviparopus-like" y "Brontopodus-like") y pertenecen a los dos icnotipos mencionados anteriormente y a un tercero: "Polyonyx...

The diffuse light transmittance of hand lay-up glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates was investigated. Spectrophotometric experiments were performed on unidirectional and cross-ply glass fiber-reinforced polymer specimens with fiber volume fractions ranging from 0.20 to 0.45. Numerical ray-tracing analysis was used to investigate the experimentally observed wavelength dependency of the diffuse light transmittance. Refractive index mismatches between glass fibers and resin and the presence of air flaws in the laminates were the major parameters increasing light diffusion. Based on the experimental data, analytical models were developed to predict the translucency (haze) of glass fiber-reinforced polymer laminates as a function of the reinforcement weight and total light transmittance. The developed models demonstrate the feasibility of conceiving glass fiber-reinforced polymer skylights with a translucency of 0.90 and a total light transmittance of 0.50 for the daylighting of energy-efficient buildings. It is also shown that laminates with translucencies of lower than 0.30 satisfy minimum total transmittances of 0.83 as required for the encapsulation of photovoltaic cells.

This paper describes for the first time a stegosaur track from the Cretaceous of Europe. It focuses on a cast that preserves pes-manus tracks recovered in the Huérteles Alloformation of the Berriasian of Soria (northern Spain). This track has been assigned to Deltapodus isp. on the basis of the pes morphology. Nonetheless, in the manus lacks the claw-shaped imprint of the pollex that

No abstract