S'escanejen les icnites fòssils de dinosaures més espectaculars

Investigadors de l'Institut Català de Paleontologia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona i Generalitat de Catalunya) i de la Universitat de Manchester recorren la Península Ibèrica per escanejar i documentar les icnites fòssils de dinosaures més espectaculars.Investigadores del Institut Català de Paleontologia (UAB y Generalitat de Catalunya) y de la Universidad de Manchester recorren la Península Ibérica para escanear y documentar las icnitas fósiles de dinosaurios más espectaculares.Researchers at the Catalan Institute of Palaeontology (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Catalan Government) and the University of Manchester have travelled around Spain and Portugal to scan and document the best preserved dinosaur trace fossils

Els jaciments paleontològics del Cretaci Superior Continental dels Pirineus: noves espècies de dinosaures i vertebrats de l’illa iberoarmoricana

Just abans de l’extinció dels dinosaures, Europa era un conjunt d’illes connectades de forma intermitent amb els continents asiàtic, americà i africà. Entre aquestes illes s’hi trobava l’anomenada Iberoarmoricana, els sediments de la qual es troben avui en dia a banda i banda del Pirineu. Al vessant sud s’hi ha fet excepcionals descobriments de restes de dinosaures i altres vertebrats que han permès la descripció d’un mínim de deu noves espècies desconegudes en altres jaciments europeus.Justo antes de la extinción de los dinosaurios, Europa estaba constituida por un conjunto de islas conectadas de forma intermitente con los continentes asiático, americano y africano. Una de estas islas es la llamada Iberoarmórica, cuyos sedimentos se encuentran hoy en día a ambos lados del Pirineo. En su vertiente sur se han llevado a cabo excepcionales descubrimientos de restos de dinosaurio y de otros vertebrados, que han permitido la descripción de un mínimo de diez nuevas especies desconocidas en otros yacimientos europeos.Just before the extinction of the dinosaurs, Europe was a set of islands intermittently connected to the Asian, American, and African continents. Among these islands was the so-called Iberoarmoricana, whose sediments are now found on both sides of the Pyrenees. On the southern slope, exceptional discoveries of dinosaurs and other vertebrates has allowed the description of, at least, ten new species unknown in other European sites

A gigantic bizarre marine turtle (Testudines : Chelonioidea) from the Middle Campanian (Late Cretaceous) of South-western Europe

Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya i 'Xarxes paleocològiques dels jaciments de dinosaures del Cretaci català' ('Paleoecological networks of the dinosaur quarries of the Catalan Cretaceous') CLT/903/2018/67, funded by the Departament de Cultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya.Altres ajuts: project VIGEOCULT (PLEC2021-00793) funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR.Marine turtles were common in the subtropical Upper Cretaceous epi-continental seas that once washed the coasts of the ancient European archipelago. But unlike its contemporaneous faunas from North America, in Europe no taxon surpassed the 1.5 m shell-length. Here, the remains of a new large marine turtle, Leviathanochelys aenigmatica gen. et sp. nov., from the Middle Campanian of the Southern Pyrenees are described. Anatomical and histological evidence concur in identifying the specimen as a basal chelonioid. The new taxon autapomorphically differs from other marine turtles by possessing an additional process on the anteromedial side of the pelvis, and an acetabulum directed strongly ventrally. Based on the pelvis size, it is likely that Leviathanochelys was as large as Archelon, thus becoming one of the largest marine turtles found to ever exist. The large body size of the new taxon could have evolved as a response to the unique habitat conditions of the European Cretaceous archipelago seas. The presence of the accessory pubic process further suggests the occurrence of an additional insertion point of the Musculus rectus abdominis, which together with the paleohistologic evidences support the hypothesis that the new taxon had an open marine pelagic lifestyle

Dinosaures dels Pirineus, una proposta de divulgació paleontològica al territori

El projecte Dinosaures dels Pirineus té com a objectiu divulgar l'extraordinari registre fòssil dels dinosaures que van viure al que actualment és el nostre país fa entre dos-cents cinquanta i seixanta-sis milions d'anys. Es tracta d'una xarxa de museus i centres d'interpretació distribuïts pel territori que expliquen de forma coordinada diversos aspectes d'aquest món ja extingit basant-se en el coneixement científic que han proporcionat més de cent vint anys d'excavacions paleontològiques al Pirineu català. Una bona mostra de l'interès que desperta aquesta temàtica entre el gran públic és el documental L'últim gegant d'Europa, produït per TV3, Batabat i l'Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, que va merèixer el Premi de Divulgació de la Societat Catalana de Biologia l'any 201

Deu anys d'excavacions paleontològiques als jaciments de dinosaures de Coll de Nargó (Alt Urgell)

Altres ajuts: Els treballs de camp s'han pogut dur a terme gràcies a les subvencions del Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya, els projectes de recerca del Ministeri d'Innovació i Ciència i de l'Institut d'Estudis Ilerdenc

A potential record of a procolophonid parareptile from the Triassic of the Iberian Peninsula

Cranial and postcranial remains from the Middle Triassic of the Northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula are reported and tentatively assigned to Procolophonidae. The finding is the first occurrence of a procolophonid parareptile in the Iberian Peninsula, representing the southernmost record of the group in Europe. The fossilbearing locality is dated as Anisian (Middle Triassic) and includes three tooth-bearing bones, two cranial bone fragments and one interclavicle. The mandible described herein includes nine teeth. No cusps or complete crowns are preserved, but sections of the teeth are available. The three anterior teeth progressively decrease in size from front to back, whereas the teeth from the fourth to the eighth position present the opposite trend. The last tooth (the ninth) is clearly reduced in comparison to the previous ones. A close relationship with Anomoiodon-Kapes is suggested, however, more material is required in order to assess the exact taxonomical determination of the Iberian remains. This finding is expected to shed some light on the geographical distribution of procolophonines

Reconstruint l'estil de vida d'una tortuga extingida

Els investigadors Josep Marmi, Bernat Vila i Àngel Galobart, de l'Institut Català de Paleontologia (ICP-UAB), han aportat noves dades sobre el possible estil de vida de les tortugues del gènere Solemys, que es van extingir a finals del Mesozoic, fa 65 milions d'anys. L'estudi ha estat publicat a la revista "Cretaceous Research" i suggereix que aquestes tortugues podien haver viscut en ambients aquàtics propers al mar.Los investigadores Josep Marmi, Bernat Vila y Àngel Galobart, del Institut Català de Paleontologia (ICP-UAB), han aportado nuevos datos sobre el posible estilo de vida de las tortugas del género Solemys, que se extinguieron a finales del Mesozoico, hace 65 millones de años. El estudio ha sido publicado en la revista "Cretaceous Research" y sugiere que estas tortugas podían haber vivido en ambientes acuáticos próximos al mar

The Early Cretaceous coastal lake Konservat-Lagerstätte of La Pedrera de Meià (Southern Pyrenees)

A state of the art of the Barremian Konservat-Lagerstätte of la Pedrera de Meià site (Southern Pyrenees) is compiled here including the acquisition of new geological data. The relevance of this site, together with the nearby la Cabroa site, is due to its paleobiotic richness and the fact that 113 holotypes and paratypes of flora and fauna have already been defined. Since its discovery at the end of the 19th century and its exploitation as a lithographic limestone quarry, the site has been the object of paleontological interest by national and foreign research teams that are summarized here (including the catalogue of 223 publications). A survey of the existing type specimens in collections all over Europe is also provided, being France and Germany, the countries where more fossils are hosted other than Spain. The geological frame of this site is also reviewed, by revisiting unpublished geological mappings (mainly that of Krusat, 1966) and integrating it in a comprehensive map that includes 4 revisited outcrops of lithographic limestone which could be potential paleontological sites. The available stratigraphic sections did allow the precise location of paleontological data and findings and environmental proxies. The stratigraphic sections obtained have a thickness of about 50m and contain a minimum of 40.000 limestone layers, being an approximation of the years represented in the la Pedrera de Meià site, and the time expanded of the lake during the Barremian

A new capitosaur from the Middle Triassic of Spain and the relationships within the Capitosauria

Ajuts: this research was supported by Synthesys (European Union−funded Integrated Activities) grant DE−TAF−5309 to JF.Capitosaurs were the largest and homogeneous group of Triassic temnospondyl amphibians with cosmopolitan distribution. However, their interrelationships are debated. The first capitosaur cranial remains found in the Iberian Peninsula were assigned to Parotosuchus; herein, a re−description of this material, together with information on other remains recovered from the same site, enables us to classify them as a new genus: Calmasuchus acri gen. et sp. nov. (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the early−to−middle Anisian (early Middle Triassic). This capitosaur had a combination of plesiomorphic and non−plesiomorphic characters, such as posterolaterally directed tabular horns, paired anterior palatal vacuities, and unique morphology of the lower jaw. By cladistic analysis, we propose a new phylogeny for the monophyletic capitosaurs. In the analysis, Capitosauria is supported by seven synapomorphies. Wetlugasaurus is the most basal member of the clade. The score of the Russian taxon Vladlenosaurus alexeyevi resulted in a clade including Odenwaldia and the latter taxa. The Madagascarian Edingerella is the sister taxon of Watsonisuchus. Finally, Calmasuchus acri, the new taxon described here, appears as a more derived form than Parotosuchus. The new genus is the sister taxon of the Cyclotosaurus-Tatrasuchus and Eryosuchus-Mastodonsaurus clades