Revision and new data of the ammonite family Pseudotissotiidae in the Iberian Trough, Spain

The ammonites assigned to the family Pseudotissotiidae of the Wiedmann (Tübingen,Germany) and Goy, Carretero and Meléndez (Madrid, Spain) collections obtained from the Iberian Trough have been revised. New, mainly lower Turonian, specimens of the species Pseudotissotia sp., Choffaticeras (Choffaticeras) quaasi (Peron, 1904), C. (C.) pavillieri (Pervinquière, 1907), C. (C.) segne (Solger, 1903), C. (C.) sinaiticum (Douvillé, 1928), C. (Leoniceras) luciae (Pervinquiére, 1907), C. (L.) barjonai (Choffat, 1898), Wrightoceras llarenai (Karrenberg, 1935), W. munieri (Pervinquière, 1907), W. submunieri Wiedmann, 1975b, and Donenriquoceras forbesiceratiforme Wiedmann, 1960, have been also presented. In addition, we designate and refigure the lectotype of Pseudotissotia (Leoniceras) alaouitense Basse, 1937, and refigure the lectotype of P. barjonai Choffat, 1898. Studies on the morphologies and the geographical and temporal distributions of all of these species have led to the identification of several phylogenetic relationships between them, and to distinguish four main phases in the evolution of the family, characterized by the successive dominance of Choffaticeras (Choffaticeras), Choffaticeras (Leoniceras), Donenriquoceras and Wrightoceras with Donenriquoceras

The ammonite genera Fagesia and Neoptychites (family Vascoceratidae) in the Iberian Trough, Spain

The ammonites assigned to the genera Fagesia Pervinquière, and Neoptychites Kossmat, of the Wiedmann (Tübingen, Germany) and Goy, Carretero and Meléndez (Madrid, Spain) collections obtained from the Iberian Trough have been revised. New mainly lower Turonian specimens of the species Fagesia catinus (Mantell), F. tevesthensis (Peron), F. rudra (Stoliczka), F. superstes (Kossmat), F. pachydiscoides Spath, and Neoptychites cephalotus (Courtiller) have also been presented. In addition we have described one new species: F. mortzestus. Studies of the morphologies and the geographical and stratigraphical distributions of all these species have led to the identification of several phylogenetic relationships between them, and to distinguishing one main phase in the evolution of the family Vascoceratidae Douvillé, characterised by the dominance of Fagesia with Neoptychites

Revision of the terminology applied to the post-Triassic nautiloids and ammonoids in Spanish

Tras revisar la terminología aplicada a los nautiloideos y ammonoideos postriásicos en español se han identificado más de 350 vocablos, que han sido analizados y presentados en orden alfabético con sus respectivas etimologías, definiciones, comentarios y equivalentes en inglés. Como resultado de este trabajo, se ha creado un glosario, fundamentalmente práctico, al que pueden recurrir distintos especialistas para redactar de una forma más precisa y ordenada las descripciones sobre los citados cefalópodos o interpretar con mayor facilidad los trabajos de otros autores en lengua tanto española como inglesa.After the revision of the terminology applied to the post-Triassic nautiloids and ammonoids in Spanish more than 350 words have been identified, which have been analysed and presented in alphabetical order with their respective etymologies, definitions, comments and English equivalents. As result of this work, a glossary, fundamentally practical, has been created as a tool for different specialists to write more precise and methodically the descriptions of these cephalopods or to interpret more easily the works of other authors in Spanish or in English languages.Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEMadrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Dirección General de InvestigaciónMinisterio de Educación y CienciaFondo Social Europeopu

Didáctica e possibilidades de divulgação do sítio paleontológico do Cretácico da Figueira da Foz (Portugal)

ABSTRACT: The sedimentary exposures and the palaeontological site of Figueira da Foz (Portugal) are located near the coastal town of the same name, in front of the Mondego river estuary, where a set of mid Cenomanian to lower Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) marine beds of the West Portuguese Carbonate Platform are recorded by the Costa d’Arnes Formation. The 65 meters thick of the stratigraphic succession holds several fossiliferous units with diverse ammonite species and other abundant benthic invertebrates with Tethyan affinities, quite accessible for outreach activities. This context allows to combine indoor and out-of school learning strategies along with diverse didactic methodologies, aiming to reach a meaningful learning by carrying out didactic activities at the site and other contemporary outcrops such as Tamajón (Spain). These initiatives will incentive positive Geoconservation attitudes towards Natural Heritage, by means of outreach and Geotouristic events at the Figueira da Foz site, and related museums and interpretation centres.RESUMO: Os afloramentos e o sítio paleontológico da Figueira da Foz (Portugal) localizam-se junto da cidade com o mesmo nome, em frente ao estuário do rio Mondego. Correspondem a uma sucessão de estratos marinhos do Cenomaniano médio a Turoniano inferior (Cretácico Superior) da Plataforma Carbonatada Ocidental Portuguesa, pertencente à Formação de Costa d’Arnes. Os 65 metros de espessura da sucessão estratigráfica contêm várias unidades fossilíferas com amonites e abundantes invertebrados bentónicos com afinidades tetisianas, bastante acessíveis para actividades de divulgação. Este contexto permite combinar estratégias de aprendizagem dentro e fora da escola, e diversas metodologias didácticas, para se alcançar uma aprendizagem significativa através da realização de actividades didácticas no geossítio e em outros afloramentos contemporâneos, como em Tamajón (Espanha). Estas iniciativas poderão motivar atitudes positivas de Geoconservação do Património Natural, se incluídas em eventos geoturísticos e de divulgação no geossítio da Figueira da Foz, em museus e em centros de interpretação.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Asociación de cefalópodos y secuencias deposicionales en el Cenomaniense superior y Turoniense inferior de la Península Ibérica (España y Portugal)

The comparison and correlation of the biostratigraphic successions identified in the upper Cenomanian and lower Turonian of the Iberian Trough (IT, Spain) and the Western Portuguese Carbonate Platform (WPCP, Portugal) allows differentiating nine cephalopod assemblages (1 to 9), with notably different taxa, and two (3rd order) depositional sequences (A and B). Some of these main intervals can be divided in minor ones, such as assemblage 4 (in 41 and 42) and sequence B (in B1 and B2). Assemblages 1 to 3 are related with sequence A, and assemblage 4 to 9 with sequence B (specifically, 4 to 6 with B1, and 7 to 9 with B2). The analysis and interpretation of these biostratigraphic data allows us to infer certain palaeoecologic turnovers that happened in the studied basins, both with external origin or due to local tectonic and palaeogeographical changes. Though partially altered by hypoxic phenomena (especially the sequence B1, assemblage 4) and local tectonics (mainly in the WPCP), in each of these cycles there were events of extinction of the cephalopods from shallow environments and survival of those from pelagic or deep environments, of settling of new environments, and of adaptation to them caused, successively, by intervals of low, ascending and high sea-level.La comparación y correlación de las sucesiones bioestratigráficas identificadas en el Cenomaniense superior y Turoniense inferior del Surco Ibérico (IT, España) y la Plataforma Carbonatada Occidental Portuguesa (WPCP, Portugal) permiten diferenciar nueve asociaciones de cefalópodos (1 a 9), con taxones notablemente diferentes, y dos secuencias deposicionales principales (3er orden) (A y B). Algunos de estos intervalos principales pueden dividirse en secundarios, como la Asociación 4 (en 41 and 42) y la Secuencia B (en B1 y B2). Las asociaciones 1 a 3 pueden se pueden relacionar con la secuencia A, y la asociación 4 a 9 con la secuencia la B (concretamente, 4 a 6 con B1, y 7 a 9 con B2). El análisis y la interpretación de estos datos bioestratigráficos permiten deducir ciertos cambios paleoecológicos sucedidos en las cuencas estudiadas, tanto de origen externo como debidos a la tectónica local ó a cambios paleogeográficos. Aunque parcialmente alterados por fenómenos de hipoxia (especialmente la secuencia B1, asociación 4) y de tectónica local (principalmente en el WPCP), en cada uno de estos ciclos se produjeron fenómenos de extinción de los cefalópodos de medios someros y de supervivencia de los de ambientes pelágicos ó profundos, de colonización de nuevos espacios, y de adaptación a los mismos provocados, sucesivamente, por intervalos de nivel de mar bajo, ascendente y alto

Moluscos del yacimiento paleontológico de "Lo Hueco" (Cretácico Superior, Cuenca, España): Implicaciones paleoambientales y secuenciales

In the exceptional site of "Lo Hueco" (Cuenca, Spain) more than 8500 macroremains of plants, invertebrates and vertebrates, including titanosaur sauropod dinosaurs, have been collected in a succession of Upper Cretaceous "Garumn" facies. This work describes the molluscs found together, interpreting their palaeoenvironmental and sequential meaning. The sample is comparatively scarce due to the urgency of the excavation, and to constraints of the preservational scenario, seemingly not ideal for the fossilization of carbonated remains. Thus, the absence of well preserved shells has motivated the use of open nomenclature. Bivalves are recorded by unarticulated marly mudstone moulds of Margaritifera sp., Anodonta sp., ?Corbicula sp. and Pisidium sp., and most gastropods by gypsum moulds of Faunus sp. This association indicates a typical freshwater palaeofauna, where the presence of Melanopsidae gastropods can suggest the sporadic influence of moderately brackish-water episodes. These data confirm previous palaeoenvironmental interpretations proposed for the site. Additionally, the presence of the terrestrial gastropod Palaeocyclophorus sp. in underlying beds with high proportion of vegetal terrestrial organic matter, and situated over an important erosive discordance, has allowed to locate the beginning of the depositional sequence of "Lo Hueco".En el excepcional yacimiento paleontológico de "Lo Hueco" (Cuenca, España) se han obtenido más de 8500 macrorrestos de plantas, invertebrados y vertebrados, incluyendo dinosaurios saurópodos titanosaurios, en una sección del Cretácico Superior en facies "Garumn". El presente trabajo describe los moluscos recogidos, interpretando su significado paleoambiental y secuencial. La muestra obtenida resulta relativamente reducida debido a la urgencia de la excavación, y a que las condiciones diagenéticas posiblemente no han favorecido la preservación de restos carbonatados. En consecuencia, la ausencia de conchas bien preservadas ha obligado a la utilización de nomenclatura abierta. Los bivalvos identificados se encuentran representados por moldes margosos desarticulados de Margaritifera sp., Anodonta sp., ?Corbicula sp. y Pisidium sp., y la mayoría de los gasterópodos por moldes de yeso de Faunus sp. Esta asociación corresponde a una típica paleofauna de agua dulce, en la que la presencia de gasterópodos melanópsidos parece sugerir la influencia esporádica de episodios de agua salobre. Estos datos confirman las interpretaciones paleoambientales previas propuestas para el yacimiento. Adicionalmente, la presencia del gasterópodo terrestre Palaeocyclophorus sp. en niveles infrayacentes con una elevada proporción de materia orgánica vegetal, situados sobre una importante discordancia erosiva, ha permitido localizar el inicio de la secuencia deposicional correspondiente a "Lo Hueco"

The biota of the Upper Cretaceous site of Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spain)

The Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) fossil site of Lo Hueco was recently discovered close to the village of Fuentes (Cuenca, Spain) during the cutting of a little hill for installation of the railway of the Madrid-Levante high-speed train. To date, it has yielded a rich collection of well-preserved Cretaceous macrofossils, including plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates. The recovered fossil assemblage is mainly composed of plants, molluscs (bivalves and gastropods), actinopterygians and teleosteans fishes, amphibians, panpleurodiran (bothremydids) and pancryptodiran turtles, squamate lizards, eusuchian crocodyliforms, rhabdodontid ornithopods, theropods (mainly dromaeosaurids), and titanosaur sauropods. This assemblage was deposited in a near-coast continental muddy floodplain crossed by distri-butary sandy channels, exposed intermittently to brackish or marine and freshwater flooding as well as to partial or total desiccation events

Dinosaur tracks from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Parede (Cascais, Portugal): new contributions for the sauropod palaeobiology of the Iberian Peninsula

A recently discovered Early Cretaceous (early late Albian) dinosaur tracksite at Parede beach (Cascais, Portugal) reveals evidence of dinoturbation and at least two sauropod trackways. One of these trackways can be classified as narrow-gauge, which represents unique evidence in the Albian of the Iberian Peninsula and provides for the improvement of knowledge of this kind of trackway and its probable trackmaker, in an age when the sauropod record is scarce. These dinosaur tracks are preserved on the upper surface of a marly limestone bed that belongs to the Galé Formation (Água Doce Member, middle to lower upper Albian). The study of thin-sections of the beds C22/24 and C26 in the Parede section has revealed a microfacies composed of foraminifers, radiolarians, ostracods, corals, bivalves, gastropods, and echinoids in a mainly wackestone texture with biomicritic matrix. These assemblages match with the lithofacies, marine molluscs, echinids, and ichnofossils sampled from the section and indicate a shallow marine, inner shelf palaeoenvironment with a shallowing-upward trend. The biofacies and the sequence analysis are compatible with the early late Albian age attributed to the tracksite. These tracks and the moderate dinoturbation index indicate sauropod activity in this palaeoenvironment. Titanosaurs can be dismissed as possible trackmakers on the basis of the narrow-gauge trackway, and probably by the kidney-shaped manus morphology and the pes-dominated configuration of the trackway. Narrow-gauge sauropod trackways have been positively associated with coastal palaeoenvironments, and the Parede tracksite supports this interpretation. In addition, this tracksite adds new data about the presence of sauropod pes-dominated trackways in cohesive substrates. As the Portuguese Cretaceous sauropod osteological remains are very scarce, the Parede tracksite yields new and relevant evidence of these dinosaurs. Furthermore, the Parede tracksite is the youngest evidence of sauropods in the Portuguese record and some of the rare evidence of sauropods in Europe during the Albian. This discovery enhances the palaeobiological data for the Early Cretaceous Sauropoda of the Iberian Peninsula, where the osteological remains of these dinosaurs are relatively scarce in this region of southwestern Europe. Therefore, this occurrence is also of overall interest due to its impact on Cretaceous Sauropoda palaeobiogeography.El reciente descubrimiento de huellas de dinosaurios del Cretácico Inferior (inicio del Albiense tardío) en la playa de Parede (Cascais, Portugal) ha revelado evidencias de dinoturbación y al menos dos rastros de saurópodos. Uno de ellos puede clasificarse como estrecho y representa la única evidencia de este tipo de rastros en el Albiense de la Península Ibérica. Estos nuevos datos permiten mejorar el conocimiento tanto de este tipo de rastros como de su posible productor, en una edad en la que el registro de saurópodos es escaso. Las huellas de dinosaurios se localizan en un nivel de caliza margosa perteneciente a la Formación Galé (Miembro Água Doce, Albiense medio-base del superior). El estudio de láminas delgadas de los niveles C22/24 y C26 de la sección estratigráfica de Parede ha mostrado ricas biomicrofacies compuestas por foraminíferos, radiolarios, ostrácodos, corales, bivalvos, gasterópodos y equinoideos, mayoritariamente en textura “wackestone” con matriz biomicrítica. Estas asociaciones coinciden con las litofacies, los moluscos marinos, los equínidos y los icnofósiles obtenidos en la sección, y corresponden a un paleoambiente marino somero de plataforma interna con tendencia somerizante hacia techo. Las biofacies y el análisis secuencial resultan compatibles con la edad del inicio del Albiense tardío atribuida al yacimiento. Estas huellas y el moderado índice de dinoturbación son indicadores de la actividad de saurópodos en este paleoambiente. En base a la estrechez del rastro, probablemente a la morfología arriñonada/semicircular de la mano y al hecho que se trata de un rastro “pes-dominated”, pueden descartarse a los titanosaurios como posibles productores. Los rastros estrechos han sido relacionados con paleoambientes costeros, y el yacimiento de Parede sustenta esta interpretación. Además, este yacimiento proporciona nuevos datos sobre la presencia de rastros de tipo “pes-dominated” en substratos cohesivos. Los restos osteológicos de saurópodos cretácicos portugueses son muy escasos, aportando el yacimiento de Parede una nueva y relevante evidencia de estos dinosaurios. Asimismo, el yacimiento de Parede constituye el hallazgo más moderno de saurópodos en el registro portugués, y una de las pocas evidencias de saurópodos en Europa durante el Albiense. Este descubrimiento incrementa los datos paleobiogeográficos de Sauropoda en el Cretácico Inferior en la Península Ibérica, en un período de tiempo en el que los restos de estos dinosaurios son escasos en esta región del Suroeste de Europa. Por tanto, este hallazgo muestra un elevado interés debido a su trascendencia para la paleobiogeografía de Sauropoda en el Cretácico

The geological travels of Juan Vilanova y Piera across Europe

Juan Vilanova y Piera, personaje poliédrico, fue uno de los principales protagonistas de la vida científica del siglo XIX, llevando a cabo infinidad de proyectos. Destacables son sus viajes geológicos por Europa, que no sólo le permitieron mantener estrechas colaboraciones con especialistas de distintas disciplinas, sino que le dieron la posibilidad de recopilar una importantísima colección de muestras litológicas, paleontológicas y arqueológicas, mayoritariamente destinadas al Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid, España). Vilanova visitó, entre otras, diversas regiones de Francia, Suiza, Italia, Austria, Alemania, Chequia y Hungría, recopilando abundante material de interés científico, lo que le resultará muy útil para sus posteriores investigaciones en España. Durante sus excursiones geológicas, en muchas ocasiones estuvo acompañado y asesorado por reconocidos científicos del lugar, gracias a las recomendaciones de personajes ilustres, como Mariano de la Paz Graells, manteniendo con éste una intensa correspondencia. En el campo de la geología en general y la paleontología en particular es de subrayar su estrecho trato con Alcide d’Orbigny, Claude-Émile Bayle, Jules Thurmann y Amanz Gressly, entre otros y, como resultado, la obtención y difusión de datos paleontológicos de gran interés que abrieron el debate científico sobre el darwinismo en España.Juan Vilanova y Piera was a multifaceted person, and one of the main protagonists of the scientific life in the 19th century. At that time, he carried out numerous projects in different disciplines. Especially remarkable are his geological trips across Europe that not only allowed him to maintain close partnerships with scientists from different disciplines, but also gave him the possibility to collect an extremely important collection of lithological, paleontological and archaeological samples, mainly intended for the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid, Spain). Vilanova visited, among others, different regions of France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic and Hungary, collecting abundant material of scientific interest, which was very useful for his later research in Spain. During his geological excursions, on many times he was accompanied and advised by renowned local scientists, thanks to the recommendations of famous people, such as Mariano de la Paz Graells, keeping with him an intense correspondence during his stay outside Spain. In the field of the geology in general and the paleontology in particular it must be emphasized his close personal contact with Alcide d'Orbigny, Claude-Emile Bayle, Jules Thurmann and Amanz Gressly, among others and, as a result, the obtaining of the collection and the dissemination of paleontological data of great interest to open the scientific discussion about Darwinism in Spain.Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)pu