Salt glands in Maledictosuchus riclaensis (Metriorhynchidae, Thalattosuchia) from the Callovian of the Iberian Peninsula

Maledictosuchus riclaensis is a Callovian metriorhynchid from the Iberian Peninsula. Metriorhynchids are marine crocodylomorphs that evolved numerous adaptations to a pelagic life-style. As well as morphological adaptations, they evolved hypertrophied salt glands, which imply a high degree of specialization. These glands were described in two metriorhynchid species. The salt glands control the ionic concentration balance in the organism. As they are soft tissue, they hardly fossilize. In the last years, computerized tomography has achieved great importance in palaeontological research, since it allows the visualization and study of the internal bone structures and the 3D digitalization in a non-invasive way and without putting the specimen at risk. The holotype of Maledictosuchus riclaensis consists on a very well preserved skull and three vertebrae. A computerized tomography of the skull shows the presence of hypertrophied salt glands in this taxonMaledictosuchus riclaensis es un metriorrínquido del Calloviense de la Península Ibérica. Los metriorrinquidos son un grupo de crocodilomorfos marinos que desarrollaron numerosas adaptaciones al medio marino pelágico. Además de adaptaciones morfológicas, desarrollaron glándulas de la sal hipertrofiadas, lo cual implica un alto grado de especialización. Estas glándulas se han descrito en dos especies de metriorrínquidos. Las glándulas de la sal se encargan de controlar el balance de la concentración de sales en el organismo. Al tratarse de tejidos blandos su preservación es muy poco frecuente. La tomografía computarizada ha alcanzado en los últimos años gran importancia en la investigación paleontológica, ya que permite la visualización y estudio de las estructuras internas de los huesos y su digitalización en 3D, de una forma no invasiva y sin poner en riesgo al ejemplar. El holotipo de Maledictosuchus riclaensis consiste en un cráneo muy bien preservado y tres vértebras. Una tomografía computarizada del cráneo reveló la presencia de glándulas de la sal hipertrofiadas en este taxó

PALEOECOLOGÍA Y SEDIMENTOLOGÍA DE UN YACIMIENTO DE LA SECUENCIA SUPERIOR DE LA FORMACIÓN BLESA (SUB-CUENCA DE OLIETE, BARREMIENSE, CRETÁCICO INFERIOR) EN ESTERCUEL (TERUEL)

La Formación Blesa presente en el Barremiense de la subcuenca de Oliete, que se encuentra en la parte oriental de la Cuenca del Maestrazgo (Teruel), se ha descrito como una formación geológica de espesor variable a lo largo de la subcuenca y que está formada por tres secuencias sedimentarias en las que se observa sedimentación de diferentes facies en distintos ambientes, tanto continental como con influencia marina (Aurell et al., 2018).En ella se ha estudiado el yacimiento Barranco del Hocino 3 realizándose un perfil estratigráfico y un estudio micropaleontológico en el que se han caracterizado taxones de dinosaurios, de crocodilomorfos y de peces del barremiense. <br /

Testing the usefulness of the surface collecting method in a vertebrate microfossil site from the barremian of Spain (Los Menires, Mirambel formation)

Surface collecting is the first and sometimes the only type of sampling carried out in many fossiliferous localities, including vertebrate microfossil assemblages. Nevertheless, it is rare to test how representative these surface-collected samples are of the palaeobiocoenosis. A first approach to the palaeontological analysis of Los Menires, a Barremian vertebrate microfossil assemblage, is here performed while testing the usefulness of the surface collection method. New fossil material obtained by surface collection is described, and the resulting data are compared with those obtained by screen-washing. The fossil assemblage of Los Menires is dominated by parautochthonous remains of freshwater aquatic and semiaquatic organisms—i.e., charophytes, ostracods, bivalves, gastropods, testudinatans, crocodylomorphs, lissamphibians, and osteichthyans—although parautochthonous remains of terrestrial vertebrates—i.e., dinosaurs, lacertilians, and mammaliforms—are also present. The accumulation of vertebrate hard parts in Los Menires took place in a low-energy, shallow-water, depositional environment within the alluvial-lacustrine system represented by the Mirambel Formation. Sampling test results indicate that surface collection is effective in recognizing the main fossil groups present in an assemblage. Yet, it is not suitable for capturing delicate and tiny fossils nor for recognizing the abundance of eggshells. In contrast, it can generate an overrepresentation of other hard components such as coprolites or ornithopod teeth

The Paleolithic in Cartoons: The Prehistoric World of Fiction

The Palaeolithic period has been always surrounded by a «fiction universe», often transmited to the society by Cinema. The way it has been, and is being, transmited by cartoon to the children is the main focus of this paper. We classify the cartoons about prehistory and we integrate them into the current studies about historic or prehistoric films. We also have analized the most relevant and recent cartoon centred on the Palaeolithic period (Ice Age films and the Croods). The data obtained allow us to reflect about the role that Prehistory has on the cinema, showing a complex relationship between films and science. To conclude, it can be said that Cinema has created its own Stone Age, with dinosaurs and cavemen, but only sometimes by keeping the scientific research in mind.El presente artículo es una indagación en el universo de ficción que en torno al paleolítico se ha transmitido a través de los dibujos animados. Se integran los dibujos animados de prehistoria dentro de las investigaciones presentes sobre cine histórico o prehistórico y se lleva a cabo una clasificación previa de los mismos. Por último, se analizan las películas de dibujos (la saga Ice Age y Los Croods) más relevantes para el periodo paleolítico. Todo ello nos permite reflexionar acerca del papel de la prehistoria en el mundo de las imágenes cinematográficas y concluir que la relación entre ciencia y cine es más compleja de lo que parece. En conclusión se puede decir que el cine ha inventado su propia Edad de Piedra poblada de dinosaurios y Hombres de las cavernas no sin tener en cuenta a veces las investigaciones científicas

Latest Cretaceous palaeogeographic evolution of northeast Iberia: Insights from the Campanian continental Montalbán subbasin (Spain)

This work characterizes for the first time the 500–700 m-thick uppermost Cretaceous continental sedimentary succession of the Allueva Fm recorded in the northeastern margin of the Iberian basin, in the Montalbán subbasin (Maestrazgo domain, Spain). The middle-upper Campanian age of this unit constrained here by new paleomagnetic and biostratigraphic data involves major revision of previous stratigraphic and palaeogeographic interpretations. The uplift of the northern marginal areas of the Montalbán subbasin onwards from the middle Campanian supplied the coarse terrigenous-clastic sediments common in the alluvial Allueva Fm. Moreover, a sharp increase of the sedimentation rates (from 4 to 19 cm/ky) from the lower to the middle-upper part of the Allueva Fm has been related to further increase of the tectonic activity during the middle part of the late Campanian. Also relevant are the new discovered vertebrate sites mostly found in the marginal areas of a large lacustrine-palustrine carbonate system developed during the latest Campanian. Vertebrate sites include a fossil assemblage with abundance of titanosaur sauropod dinosaurs as well as the presence of ornithopod dinosaurs and crocodylomorphs. A review of the dinosaur fossil sites recorded in other Iberian subbasins shows a similar fossil assembage occurrence during the late Campanian–earliest Maastrichtian timespan, previous to the faunal turnover that took place in the Ibero-Armorican landmass around the onset of the late Maastrichtian. The stratigraphic, sedimentological and paleontological characterization of the successions recorded during the initial stages of development of the Montalbán subbasin have major implication to understand the latest Cretaceous palaeogeographic evolution of northeast Iberia. Comparative review to other latest Cretaceous continental successions deposited in other domains of the Iberian basin indicates a south to north migration of newly developed subsident subbasins: during the Campanian (South Iberian domain), during the middle-late Campanian (northern Maestrazgo domain), and during the Maastrichtian (central Castillian domain)

El Paleolítico en los dibujos animados: el universo de ficción prehistórica

The Palaeolithic period has been always surrounded by a «fiction universe», often transmited to the society by Cinema. The way it has been, and is being, transmited by cartoon to the children is the main focus of this paper. We classify the cartoons about prehistory and we integrate them into the current studies about historic or prehistoric films. We also have analized the most relevant and recent cartoon centred on the Palaeolithic period (Ice Age films and the Croods). The data obtained allow us to reflect about the role that Prehistory has on the cinema, showing a complex relationship between films and science. To conclude, it can be said that Cinema has created its own Stone Age, with dinosaurs and cavemen, but only sometimes by keeping the scientific research in mind.El presente artículo es una indagación en el universo de ficción que en torno al paleolítico se ha transmitido a través de los dibujos animados. Se integran los dibujos animados de prehistoria dentro de las investigaciones presentes sobre cine histórico o prehistórico y se lleva a cabo una clasificación previa de los mismos. Por último, se analizan las películas de dibujos (la saga Ice Age y Los Croods) más relevantes para el periodo paleolítico. Todo ello nos permite reflexionar acerca del papel de la prehistoria en el mundo de las imágenes cinematográficas y concluir que la relación entre ciencia y cine es más compleja de lo que parece. En conclusión se puede decir que el cine ha inventado su propia Edad de Piedra poblada de dinosaurios y Hombres de las cavernas no sin tener en cuenta a veces las investigaciones científicas

Testing the Usefulness of the Surface Collecting Method in a Vertebrate Microfossil Site from the Barremian of Spain (Los Menires, Mirambel Formation)

Surface collecting is the first and sometimes the only type of sampling carried out in many fossiliferous localities, including vertebrate microfossil assemblages. Nevertheless, it is rare to test how representative these surface-collected samples are of the palaeobiocoenosis. A first approach to the palaeontological analysis of Los Menires, a Barremian vertebrate microfossil assemblage, is here performed while testing the usefulness of the surface collection method. New fossil material obtained by surface collection is described, and the resulting data are compared with those obtained by screen-washing. The fossil assemblage of Los Menires is dominated by parautochthonous remains of freshwater aquatic and semiaquatic organisms&mdash;i.e., charophytes, ostracods, bivalves, gastropods, testudinatans, crocodylomorphs, lissamphibians, and osteichthyans&mdash;although parautochthonous remains of terrestrial vertebrates&mdash;i.e., dinosaurs, lacertilians, and mammaliforms&mdash;are also present. The accumulation of vertebrate hard parts in Los Menires took place in a low-energy, shallow-water, depositional environment within the alluvial-lacustrine system represented by the Mirambel Formation. Sampling test results indicate that surface collection is effective in recognizing the main fossil groups present in an assemblage. Yet, it is not suitable for capturing delicate and tiny fossils nor for recognizing the abundance of eggshells. In contrast, it can generate an overrepresentation of other hard components such as coprolites or ornithopod teeth

The First Metriorhynchid Crocodylomorph from the Middle Jurassic of Spain, with Implications for Evolution of the Subclade Rhacheosaurini

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Marine deposits from the Callovian of Europe have yielded numerous species of metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs. While common in English and French Formations, metriorhynchids are poorly known from the Iberian Peninsula. Twenty years ago an incomplete, but beautifully preserved, skull was discovered from the Middle Callovian of Spain. It is currently the oldest and best preserved metriorhynchid specimen from the Iberian Peninsula. Until now it has never been properly described and its taxonomic affinities remained obscure.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>Here we present a comprehensive description for this specimen and in doing so we refer it to a new genus and species: <em>Maledictosuchus riclaensis</em>. This species is diagnosed by numerous autapomorphies, including: heterodont dentition; tightly interlocking occlusion; lachrymal anterior process excludes the jugal from the preorbital fenestra; orbits longer than supratemporal fenestrae; palatine has two non-midline and one midline anterior processes. Our phylogenetic analysis finds <em>Maledictosuchus riclaensis</em> to be the basal-most known member of Rhacheosaurini (the subclade of increasingly mesopelagic piscivores that includes <em>Cricosaurus</em> and <em>Rhacheosaurus</em>).</p> <h3>Conclusions/Significance</h3><p>Our description of <em>Maledictosuchus riclaensis</em> shows that the craniodental morphologies that underpinned the success of Rhacheosaurini in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, as a result of increasing marine specialization to adaptations for feeding on fast small-bodied prey (i.e. divided and retracted external nares; reorientation of the lateral processes of the frontal; elongate, tubular rostrum; procumbent and non-carinated dentition; high overall tooth count; and dorsolaterally inclined paroccipital processes), first appeared during the Middle Jurassic. Rhacheosaurins were curiously rare in the Middle Jurassic, as only one specimen of <em>Maledictosuchus riclaensis</em> is known (with no representatives discovered from the well-sampled Oxford Clay Formation of England). As such, the feeding/marine adaptations of Rhacheosaurini did not confer an immediate selective advantage upon the group, and it took until the Late Jurassic for this subclade to dominate in Western Europe.</p> </div

Left posterolateral region of <i>Maledictosuchus riclaensis</i> gen. et sp. nov. holotype MPZ 2001/130a.

<p>A, detailed photograph of the posterolateral region; B, interpretative drawing of the posterolateral region. Scale bar = 3 cm. Dotted pattern represents broken regions. Anatomical abbreviations: bt, basioccipital basal tubera; cq, cranioquadrate canal; ef, Eustachian foramen; eo, exoccipital; fm, foramen magnum; ic, foramen for the internal carotid artery; oc, occipital condyle; oca, otic canal; pa, parietal; pop, paroccipital process; qu, quadrate; so, supraoccipital; sqs, squamosal flat surface; stf, supratemporal fenestra.</p

Dentary of <i>Maledictosuchus riclaensis</i> gen. et sp. nov. holotype MPZ 2001/130a.

<p>Scale bar = 5 cm. A–B, dorsal view photograph and interpretative drawing; C, lateral view. Stripped pattern represents rebuilt mastic surfaces and teeth; grey colored circles represent empty alveoli (teeth are not preserved); circles with broken line represent reception pits. Anatomical abbreviations: al, alveolus; den, dentary; rp, reception pits; sp, splenial.</p