A new study led by Portugal paleontologist Pedro Mocho from the Dom Luis Institute (CIÊNCIAS) of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon describes a new sauropod dinosaur, Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra, that lived 75 million years ago in Cuenca, Spain. Thus revealing the diversity of dinosaurs in Europe during the Late Cretaceous
Pedro Mocho and his team have discovered a new sauropod species, Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra, in Spain. The species was found in an important Upper Cretaceous fossil group, which helps to illustrate the diversity of the Late Cretaceous dinosaur fauna in Europe, revealing unique evolutionary features (lifeform reconstruction of Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra).
The species, named Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra, is found at the Lo Hueco fossil site, a huge deposit discovered in 2007 during the installation of the Madrid-Levante high-speed train (AVE) tracks. With more than 12,000 fossils collected here, it is one of the most important vertebrate fossil collections in Europe from the Upper Cretaceous.
With the support of the National Project and the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha Community Council, we have carried out ongoing research on these collections, which has led to a deeper understanding of the ecosystems of Late Cretaceous southwestern Europe and the scientific identification of some new species.
2007 年发掘 Qunkasaura 时 Lo Hueco 遗址的全貌。 资料来源:GBE-UNED
Through the study of this specimen, archaeologists discovered for the first time the existence of two different halosauridae at the same fossil site. One of these groups is called Lirainosaurinae, which is better known in the Iberian region and is characterized by small and medium-sized species that have evolved in the island ecosystem. In the Late Cretaceous, Europe was a huge archipelago of several islands.
However, Qunkasaura belongs to another group of long-legged dinosaurs, which are represented in the Iberian Peninsula as a medium-to-large species dating back 73 million years. Pedro Mocho, a paleontologist at CIÊNCIAS, explains: "This shows us that this strain arrived in the Iberian Peninsula much later than other dinosaur groups. "
Qunkasaura骨骼的三维重建图。 资料来源：GBE-UNED
One of the most important features of the Lo Hueco fossil record is the presence of a large number of large stegosaurus partial skeletons, which are rare in other parts of Europe. The Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra is one of the most complete long-legged dinosaur skeletons found in Europe, including the cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, part of the pelvic waist, and limbs.
Their unique morphology, especially the tail vertebrae, sheds new light on the non-avian dinosaurs of the Iberian Peninsula.
卡斯蒂利亚-拉曼恰古生物博物馆展出的 Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra 的骨骼残骸。 资料来源：GBE-UNED
The study, recently published in Communications Biology, identified Qunkasaura as a representative of the genus Opisthocoelicaudine, which occurs in the northern hemisphere (Lauracia). On the other hand, most of the Late Cretaceous sauropods of southwestern Europe, including the Lohuecotitan pandafilandi previously described in LoHueco, belong to the subfamily Elastosauridae, a class of sauropods unique to the European continent.
This study shows that Lo Hueco is currently the only place where two taxa are known to coexist, and proposes a new taxon, called Lohuecosauria, which includes representatives of both taxa. The dinosaurs of Lo Hueco probably originated in the southern continent (Gondwana) and then spread across the globe.
Qunkasaura 与晚白垩世一些最重要的长脚类动物的关系,以及 Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra 生命形式的重建。 资料来源:José Antonio Peñas Artero, GBE-UNED, FCUL
The name Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra is made up of several geographical and cultural allusions from the vicinity of the Lo Hueco site. "Qunka" refers to the oldest toponymic etymology of the Cuenca and Fuentes region, "Saura" refers to the feminine Latin saurus (lizard) and at the same time a tribute to the painter Antonio Saura, and "pintiquiniestra" refers to the giant "Queen Pintiquiniestra" mentioned in Cervantes' novel Don Quixote de la Mancha.
The restoration process of part of the remains of Cuencasor. Source: GBE-UNED
"Fortunately, the Lo Hueco deposit also preserves several sauropod bones that may correspond to new species, which will help us understand how these animals evolved," Mojo concluded. "
The study is part of a study of the dinosaur ecosystem in the central Iberian Peninsula. Some of the skeletons of Qunkasaura have been exhibited at the Museum of Paleontology in Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca (Spain).
编译自/ScitechDaily