A new study led by Portuguese paleontologist Pedro Mocho, from the Instituto Dom Luiz of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (CIÊNCIAS), was published in the journal Communications Biologywhich announces a new species of sauropod dinosaur that lived in Cuenca, Spain, 75 million years ago: Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra.
The more than 12,000 fossils collected since 2007 during the Madrid-Levante High Speed Train (AVE) track installation work have revealed this deposit, giving rise to one of the most relevant Upper Cretaceous vertebrate fossil collections in Europe.
The collection was continuously studied thanks to national projects and the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, which made it possible to significantly increase the understanding of the ecosystems of southwestern Europe during the Upper Cretaceous and also to identify several new species for science.
The new species of sauropod dinosaur lived 75 million years ago
“The study of this specimen allowed us to identify for the first time the presence of two distinct lines of saltasauroids in the same fossil locality. One of these groups, named Lirainosaurinaeis relatively known in the Iberian region and is characterized by small and medium-sized species that have evolved in an island ecosystem”, explains Pedro Mocho, paleontologist at CIÊNCIAS.
“In other words, Europe was a huge archipelago made up of several islands during the Late Cretaceous. However, Qunkasaura belongs to another group of sauropods, represented in the Iberian Peninsula by medium-large species 73 million years ago. This suggests to us that this genus arrived in the Iberian Peninsula much later than other groups of dinosaurs.”
One of the most relevant features of the Lo Hueco fossils is the abundance of large partial skeletons of sauropod dinosaurs, which are rare in the rest of Europe.
Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra it is notable for being one of the most complete sauropod skeletons found in Europe, including cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, part of the pelvic girdle and limb elements.
One of the most complete sauropod skeletons found in Europe
Their unique morphology, particularly of the caudal vertebrae, provides new insights into the nonavian dinosaurs of the Iberian Peninsula, a historically poorly understood group.
The study, now published in the journal Communications Biologyidentify Qunkasaura as a representative of saltasauridelor opisthocoelicaudinea group present in the northern hemisphere (Laurasia).
On the other hand, most Late Cretaceous sauropods from southwestern Europe, incl Lohuecotitan pandafilandipreviously described from Lo Hueco, belong to the group Lirainosaurinaea group of sauropods apparently exclusive to the European continent.
This study suggests that Lo Hueco is the only place where the coexistence of both groups is known and proposes a new group of titanosaurs called Lohuecosauriawhich includes representatives of both lines. It is possible that Lohuecosaurii to have originated from the southern continents (Gondwana) before dispersing globally, he writes EurekAlert.
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Source: www.descopera.ro
