Identification of several turtle taxa in the Vallesian (late Miocene) of Arévalo (Ávila, Duero Basin, Spain)

In this paper we identified the presence of two taxa of turtles so far not mentioned in the known paleontological area of Arévalo (Ávila). This region was known from the first half of the twentieth century by its findings in fossil turtles. Some specimens of giant tortoises were identified there. However, no other taxon of turtles has been, until now, described in Arévalo. The association of the three taxa recognized here is very common in the Cenozoic continental deposits of the Iberian PeninsulaEn este trabajo se da a conocer por primera vez la presencia de dos taxones de tortugas hasta ahora no reconocidos en los yacimientos miocenos de Arevalo (Ávila). Esta región ya era conocida desde la primera mitad del siglo XX por su registro de tortugas fósiles debido al hallazgo de restos de tortugas gigantes. Sin embargo, ningún otro taxón de quelonio había sido allí descrito. La asociación de estos tres taxones es muy habitual en los yacimientos del Cenozoico continental de la Península Ibéric

Rediscovery of one of the first dinosaur remains from the Spanish Record

The information of one of the dinosaur fossils collected by Juan Vilanova y Piera at the end of the XIX century in Mora de Rubielos is updated. MNCN 80000 is an pedal phalanx of an Iguanodontoidea dinosaur found between 1873 and 1893, recently rediscovered at the MNCN of Madri

Juan Vilanova y Piera (1821-1893) and the first turtle found in the Spanish Mesozoic

MNCN 59511 is a natural inner cast of the caparace of a Pancryptodiran turtle from the Lower Cretaceous of Morella (Castellón), whose discovery was attributed to José Royo y Gómez. However, information available at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid) shows that the fossil was actually collected in the second half of the nineteenth century by Juan Vilanova y Piera, constituting the first known discovery of a turtle in the Spanish Mesozoi

cf. Lirainosaurus sp. (Dinosauria: Titanosauria) in the Upper Cretaceous of Sacedón (Guadalajara)

A fragment of a distal caudal vertebra that is assigned to a sauropod titanosaur is described. The fossil comes from an outcrop of the Villalba de la Sierra Formation in Sacedón (Guadalajara), which is considered to the Lower Campanian-Upper Maastrichtian in age. The characters combination available on the specimen is discussed, and it is classified as cf. Lirainosaurus sp. due to it shares some of the autapomorphies of this taxo

First Triassic tetrapod (Sauropterygia, Nothosauridae) from Castilla y León: evidence of an unknown taxon for the Spanish record

Several vertebrae of a sauropterygian specimen have been recovered in Fuencaliente de Medinaceli (Soria Province, Castilla y León, Spain). The remains come from Middle–Upper Triassic Muschelkalk Facies. This finding represents the first documented evidence of a Triassic tetrapod in Castilla y León. The vertebrae belong to Nothosaurus, a sauropterygian genus found in Europe, Middle East, North of Africa and China. This genus is poorly-known in the Iberian record. The new remains constitute the first evidence of the species Nothosaurus giganteus, or a related taxon, in the Iberian Peninsula. This study reveals the occurrence of at least two species of the sauropterygian Nothosaurus in the Spanish record.Varias vértebras de un ejemplar de sauropterigio han sido encontradas en Fuencaliente de Medinaceli (Provincia de Soria, Castilla y León, España). Los restos provienen de niveles del Triásico Medio tardío (Ladiniense superior) de la parte superior de las Facies Muschelkalk. Estos elementos representan la primera evidencia documentada de un tetrápodo triásico en Castila y León. Las vértebras pertenecen a Nothosaurus, un género de sauropterigio encontrado en Europa, Oriente Próximo, el norte de África y China. Este género es mal conocido en el registro ibérico. Los nuevos restos constituyen la primera evidencia de la especie Nothosaurus giganteus, o de un taxón emparentado, en la Península Ibérica, siendo atribuidos a Nothosaurus cf. giganteus. Este estudio revela la presencia de, al menos, dos especies diferentes de Nothosaurus en el registro ibérico

Analysis of the rear leg rotation movement during the fencing lunge

The most relevant aulhois of fencing agree on the extension of the rear leg's knee from the on guard position, which is the ona thai provides ihe real speed to the lunge, and the extension of the arm only serves to drive the points towards the target. All the authors coincide thai it is important to keep the whole sole of the rear Foot supported on the Boor, keeping the same direction and without sliding it during the movernent, being the only one support that assures a really fast and balanced lunge, allowing the return to the on guard position or to continue towards ahead. Nevertheless, in a competition it may be observed that there are just a few fencers that keep the position of the feet in 90° angle during the lunge, as proposed in the fencing books. From this situation, we try to know if the rotation movement of the rear leg improve the speed of the Mass Centre and the weapon

THE OCCURRENCE OF EOCENOCHELUS (TESTUDINES, PLEURODIRA) FROM SARDINIA SUPPORTS PALAEOGEOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PROXIMITY OF THE ISLAND TO CONTINENTAL WESTERN EUROPE DURING THE EOCENE

In this paper, we describe pleurodire turtle material from the island of Sardinia, Italy, originating from two Eocene localities of the Cixerri Formation. The more complete among the two specimens bears strong resemblance with the continental Western European Eocenochelus eremberti and is tentatively referred to the same species, while the second, less complete specimen is only provisionally referred to the genus Eocenochelus. The new Sardinian turtles add to the so far scarcely documented fossil record of pleurodires in Italy, while it ranks as among the very few Paleogene vertebrates known from the island. The identification of the widespread Eocene Western European genus Eocenochelus in the fossil record of Sardinia supports recent palaeogeographic reconstructions of the island, according to which the Sardinia-Corsica Massif was located rather close to mainland Europe and was subjected to a significant, counterclockwise rotation during the Paleogene

A comparison of hole-filling methods in 3D

This paper presents a review of the most relevant current techniques that deal with hole-filling in 3D models. Contrary to earlier reports, which approach mesh repairing in a sparse and global manner, the objective of this review is twofold. First, a specific and comprehensive review of hole-filling techniques (as a relevant part in the field of mesh repairing) is carried out. We present a brief summary of each technique with attention paid to its algorithmic essence, main contributions and limitations. Second, a solid comparison between 34 methods is established. To do this, we define 19 possible meaningful features and properties that can be found in a generic hole-filling process. Then, we use these features to assess the virtues and deficiencies of the method and to build comparative tables. The purpose of this review is to make a comparative hole-filling state-of-the-art available to researchers, showing pros and cons in a common framework.• Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad: Proyecto DPI2013-43344-R (I+D+i) • Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha: Proyecto PEII-2014-017-PpeerReviewe

Historic and systematic review of the first discovery of basal tetanurans (Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Morella (Castellón)

Historic and systematic aspects of a partial left femur determined as belonging to an undetermined tetanuran theropod are discussed. Probably, the fossil was collected in the ending of the XIX century in the Lower Cretaceous sediments of the Morella Formation, near to the town of Morella (Castellón). The original specimen was destroyed by a fire in 1932, but some casts and documents are still housed in the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madri