New record of a sauropod in the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition of the Iberian Peninsular (Spain): palaeobiogeographical implications

Barco, José Luis; Castanera, Diego; Fernández-Baldor, Fidel Torcida

doi:10.1007/s12542-010-0057-x

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The eastern part is where the depocenter is located and where low-grade metamorphism occurred. It is probably for this reason that fossil bone sites are extremely rare in this area ( Canudo et al, 2010 ), although there are many footprint sites ( Castanera et al, 2014 ). In the western part of the basin (the “ Subcuenca Occidental de Cameros ”), vertebrate bone and track sites are abundant ( Torcida Fernández-Baldor, 2006 ).…”

Section: Location and Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Europatitan eastwoodi, a new sauropod from the lower Cretaceous of Iberia in the initial radiation of somphospondylans in Laurasia

Fernández-Baldor¹,

Huerta

Moreno‐Azanza

et al. 2017

PeerJ

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The sauropod of El Oterillo II is a specimen that was excavated from the Castrillo de la Reina Formation (Burgos, Spain), late Barremian–early Aptian, in the 2000s but initially remained undescribed. A tooth and elements of the axial skeleton, and the scapular and pelvic girdle, represent it. It is one of the most complete titanosauriform sauropods from the Early Cretaceous of Europe and presents an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the radiation of this clade in the Early Cretaceous and study the paleobiogeographical relationships of Iberia with Gondwana and with other parts of Laurasia. The late Barremian–early Aptian is the time interval in the Cretaceous with the greatest diversity of sauropod taxa described in Iberia: two titanosauriforms, Tastavinsaurus and Europatitan; and a rebbachisaurid, Demandasaurus. The new sauropod Europatitan eastwoodi n. gen. n. sp. presents a series of autapomorphic characters in the presacral vertebrae and scapula that distinguish it from the other sauropods of the Early Cretaceous of Iberia. Our phylogenetic study locates Europatitan as the basalmost member of the Somphospondyli, clearly differentiated from other clades such as Brachiosauridae and Titanosauria, and distantly related to the contemporaneous Tastavinsaurus. Europatitan could be a representative of a Eurogondwanan fauna like Demandasaurus, the other sauropod described from the Castrillo de la Reina Formation. The presence of a sauropod fauna with marked Gondwananan affinities in the Aptian of Iberia reinforces the idea of faunal exchanges between this continental masses during the Early Cretaceous. Further specimens and more detailed analysis are needed to elucidate if this Aptian fauna is caused by the presence of previously unnoticed Aptian land bridges, or it represents a relict fauna from an earlier dispersal event.

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Section: Location and Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Europatitan eastwoodi, a new sauropod from the lower Cretaceous of Iberia in the initial radiation of somphospondylans in Laurasia

Fernández-Baldor¹,

Huerta

Moreno‐Azanza

et al. 2017

PeerJ

Self Cite

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“…The great development of the puboischiatic symphysis allows it to be included in the clade Camarasauromorpha of Salgado, Coria & Calvo (1997) or in the clade Camarasaurus + Titanosauriformes of Wilson & Sereno (1998). These characters of the proximal part of the femur are diagnostic of Titanosauriformes and suggest that Aragosaurus should be included in this clade (Salgado, Coria & Calvo, 1997;Wilson & Carrano, 1999;Canudo et al 2010). The pubis and the ischium of Aragosaurus are of virtually the same length, which excludes it from Titanosauria (Salgado, Coria & Calvo 1997;Royo-Torres, Canudo & Ruiz-Omeñaca, 1999).…”

Section: On the Discoveries Of Aragosaurus And Its Systematic Positionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New information about the stratigraphic position and age of the sauropodAragosaurus ischiaticusfrom the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula

2011

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The sauropod Aragosaurus ischiaticus Sanz, Buscalioni, Casanovas & Santafé, 1987 was the first dinosaur to be described in Spain. The holotype was recovered from the site of Las Zabacheras (Galve, Teruel province). This site has traditionally been situated in the El Castellar Formation (in the lower part of the Wealden facies). Recently, it has been proposed that the remains of Aragosaurus stem from the Villar del Arzobispo Formation (late Tithonian-upper part of the early Berriasian), which would mean that the sauropod was almost 15 million years older than previously thought. Detailed field work has been carried out, making it possible to pinpoint the position of the low-angle unconformity between the Villar del Arzobispo Formation and the El Castellar Formation. This unconformity originated as a result of block tilting that occurred during the early stages of the Early Cretaceous rifting episode. The upper levels of the Jurassic sequence (i.e. the Villar del Arzobispo Formation) were exposed to erosion and karstification, leading to the formation of a discontinuous conglomeratic level. This level has been locally preserved at the bottom of the Wealden syn-rift sequence (i.e. the El Castellar Formation). The results of our detailed mapping demonstrate that the Aragosaurus holotype was found in the lower part of the El Castellar Formation. Moreover, our revision of the existing datings suggests that the El Castellar Formation as a whole is Valanginian?-early Barremian in age. Given that Aragosaurus was located in its lower part, it is probably Valanginian?-Hauterivian in age.

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“…Units overlying the unconformity correspond to those of the Tera Group to the E, and those of the Tierra de Lara Group to the W, which are assigned to the Tithonian-Early Berriasian and to the Kimmeridgian?-Berriasian, respectively, and were deposited in alluvial and lacustrine-palustrine systems with minor or no marine influence (Tischer 1966;Platt 1989;Gómez-Fernández and Meléndez 1994;Martín-Closas and Alonso-Millán 1998;Salas et al 2001;Schudack and Schudack 2009;Mas et al 2004Mas et al , 2011. In the Tera Group, very scattered bones of dinosaurs (Canudo et al 2010), and scarce dinosaur tracks (i.e. Moratalla and Hernán 2010; Pascual-Arribas and Hernández-Medrano 2016; Hernández-Medrano et al 2017) have been described.…”

Section: The Kimmeridgian-tithonian Sedimentary Record Of the Camerosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These fossils have a very close phylogenetic relationship with those of the DSR in Eastern Spain. An example of this is the presence in Asturias of bones of the stegosaurid Dacentrurus (Ortega et al 2006), cranial fossils of Turiasauria (Canudo et al 2010;Royo-Torres et al 2012) and tracks of the ichnogenus Deltapodus, among others (i.e. Lockley et al 2008).…”

Section: The Kimmeridgian-tithonian Sedimentary Record Of the Asturiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the age and palaeoenvironments of the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous? dinosaur-bearing sedimentary record of eastern Spain: implications for Iberian palaeogeography

Campos-Soto

Benito

Cobos³

et al. 2019

J Iber Geol

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An integrated stratigraphic, palaeontological, palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographical study of the traditionally considered Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous dinosaur-bearing sedimentary record (DSR) of eastern Spain is accomplished for the first time. Several areas where dinosaur fossils are abundant (western Maestrazgo and South-Iberian basins) have been studied in detail. In all the areas, the DSR comprises a carbonate-dominated lower part (CLP), and an essentially siliciclastic upper part (SUP). Deposition occurred in a shallow-very shallow marine carbonate platform, laterally connected towards the N and W to coastal and alluvial environments. The overall upwards evolution is regressive with a transgresive episode at the uppermost part. The DSR includes deposits previously assigned, depending on the studied area, from the Kimmeridgian to the Barremian (locally even to the Aptian-Albian). However, ages obtained in this work from larger benthic foraminifera (LBF), demonstrate a Kimmeridgian-Tithonian age (locally Kimmeridgian-Early Berriasian?) for the DSR. These findings have important implications regarding the age of dinosaur fossils of these deposits, traditionally assigned to the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition, or even to the Early Cretaceous, erroneously, and have necessitated a deep litho-and chronostratigraphic revision of the units previously established in the studied areas: new data indicate that the DSR is correlatable with deposits of the Villar del Arzobispo Fm and that the usage of the Aldea de Cortés and El Collado Fms, traditionally assigned to the Early Cretaceous, should be avoided. New data also reveal that the DSR should be correlated with other Kimmeridgian-Tithonian dinosaur-bearing deposits of Iberia, such as those of the Cameros Basin, Asturias and Portugal, and have encouraged a revision of the Iberian palaeogeography at that time. In fact, ages obtained from LBF agree with data provided by the systematics of dinosaurs, since dinosaur faunas of eastern Spain are similar to those of the other Late Jurassic Iberian areas, especially to those of the Lusitanian Basin. Keywords Kimmeridgian-Tithonian • Larger benthic foraminifera • Shallow marine • Coastal wetland system • Verterbrates Resumen En este trabajo se realiza por primera vez un estudio multidisciplinar (estratigráfico, paleontológico, paleoambiental y paleogeográfico) del registro sedimentario del este de España que contiene abundantes fósiles de dinosaurio (DSR) y que tradicionalmente se ha asignado al Jurásico Superior-Cretácico Inferior. En concreto se han estudiado en detalle varias áreas de la Cuenca Suribérica y del oeste de la Cuenca del Maestrazgo en las que los fósiles de dinosaurio son más abundantes. En todas las áreas que se han estudiado, el DSR está formado por una parte inferior (CLP), esencialmente carbonática, y por una parte superior (SUP), esencialmente siliciclástica, que se depositaron en una plataforma carbonática somera o muy Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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New record of a sauropod in the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition of the Iberian Peninsular (Spain): palaeobiogeographical implications

Cited by 14 publications

References 20 publications

Europatitan eastwoodi, a new sauropod from the lower Cretaceous of Iberia in the initial radiation of somphospondylans in Laurasia

Europatitan eastwoodi, a new sauropod from the lower Cretaceous of Iberia in the initial radiation of somphospondylans in Laurasia

New information about the stratigraphic position and age of the sauropodAragosaurus ischiaticusfrom the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula

Revisiting the age and palaeoenvironments of the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous? dinosaur-bearing sedimentary record of eastern Spain: implications for Iberian palaeogeography

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