Skip to main content
Log in

New data on sauropod palaeobiodiversity at the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition of Spain (Burgos)

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Iberian Geology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present paper studies a humerus (MDS-VPCR, 214) recovered from the site of Valdepalazuelos-Tenadas del Carrascal (Burgos, Spain). Geologically, it is located at the base of the Rupelo Formation (Cameros Basin), which is Tithonian-Berriasian in age. This formation is interpreted as shallow lacustrine/palustrine deposits with low-gradient margins and periodic changes in the water level. MDS-VPCR, 214 is gracile and straight, and has a larger mediolateral expansion at its proximal end than at the distal end. The deltopectoral crest is well expanded anteroposteriorly and extends towards the midline of the shaft. The distal articular head has radial and ulnar condyles similar in degree of development and there is a narrow groove between them. The distal articular surface is not divided between the ulnar and radial condyles; this surface extends towards the anterior and posterior surfaces of the humerus. MDS-VPCR, 214 shows significant morphological differences with respect to the humeri of the Iberian sauropods of the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition such as the turiasaurians Losillasaurus, Zby and Turiasaurus, the basal macronarians Lourinhasaurus and Aragosaurus, and the titanosauriforms Lusotitan, Galvesaurus.A phylogenetic analysis of MDS-VPCR, 214 relates it to Titanosauriformes probably a basal brachiosaurid related with the english genus of Kimmeridgian Duriatitan. Therefore MDS-VPCR, 214 is assigned provisionally to aff. Duriatitan.

Resumen

Se estudia un húmero (MDS-VPCR, 214) recuperado en el yacimiento Valdepalazuelos-Tenadas del Carrascal (Burgos, Spain). Geológicamente se sitúa en la base de la Formación Rupelo (Cuenca de Cameros) de edad Titoniense – Berriasiense. Esta formación se interpreta como depósitos lacustres-palustres con márgenes de bajo gradiente y cambios periódicos en el nivel del agua. MDS-VPCR, 214 es grácil y recto, presentando una mayor expansión mediolateral en el extremo proximal respecto al distal. La cresta deltopectoral está bien expandida anteroposteriormente y se extiende hacia la línea media de la diáfisis. La cabeza articular distal presenta en la superficie anterior los cóndilos radial y ulnar, de desarrollo semejante, y que dejan entre ellos un estrecho surco. La superficie articular distal no está dividida entre los cóndilos ulnar y radial; esta superficie se extiende hacia las superficies anterior y posterior del húmero. MDS-VPCR, 214 presenta diferencias morfológicas significativas con los húmeros de los saurópodos ibéricos del tránsito Jurásico – Cretácico como son los turiasaurianos Losillasaurus, Zby y Turiasaurus, los macronarios basales Lourinhasaurus y Aragosaurus y los Titanosauriformes Lusotitan y Galvesaurus. Un análisis filogenético del MDS-VPCR, 214 lo relaciona con Titanosauriformes, probablemente un braquiosáurido basal afín a Duriatitan, un género inglés del Kimmeridgiense. Por esta razón, MDS-VPCR, 214 se asigna provisionalmente a aff. Duriatitan.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alonso-Zarza, A. M. (2003). Palaeoenvironmental significance of palustrine carbonates and calcretes in the geological record. Earth-Science Reviews, 60(3–4), 261–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antunes, M. T., & Mateus, O. (2003). Dinosaurs of Portugal. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2(1), 77–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1631-0683(03)00003-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arribas, J., Alonso, A., Mas, R., Tortosa, A., Rodas, M., & Barrenechea, J. F. (2003). Sandstone petrography of continental depositional sequences of an intraplate rift basin: western Cameros basin (north Spain). Journal of Sedimentary Research, 73(2), 309–327.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aurell, M., Badenas, B., Canudo, J. I., Castanera, D., García Penas, A., & Gasca, J. M. (2019). Kimmeridgian-Berriasian stratigraphy and sedimentary evolution of the central Iberian Rift System (NE Spain). Cretaceous Research, 103, 104153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aurell, M., Bádenas, B., Gasca, J. M., Canudo, J. I., Liesa, C., & Soria, A. R. (2016). Stratigraphy and evolution of the Galve sub-basin (Spain) in the middle Tithonian-early Barremian: implications for the setting and age of some dinosaur fossil sites. Cretaceous Research, 65, 138–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barco, J. L. (2009). Sistemática e implicaciones filogenéticas y paleobiogeográficas del saurópodo Galvesaurus herreroi (Formación Villar del Arzobispo, Galve, España). PhD thesis, Universidad de Zaragoza, pp. 1–389.

  • Barco, J. L., Canudo, J. I., Cuenca-Bescós, G., & Ruiz-Omeñaca, J. I. (2005). Un nuevo dinosaurio saurópodo Galvesaurus herreroi gen. nov., sp. nov. del tránsito Jurásico-Cretácico en Galve (Teruel, NE de España). Naturaleza Aragonesa, 15, 4–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, P. M., Benson, R. B. J., & Upchurch, P. (2010). Dinosaurs of Dorset: Part II, the sauropod dinosaurs (Saurischia, Sauropoda) with additional comments on the theropods. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 131, 113–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonaparte, J. F., González Riga, B., & Apesteguía, S. (2006). Ligabuesaurus leanzai gen. et sp. nov. (Dinosauria, Sauropoda), a new titanosaur from the Lohan Cura Formation (Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research, 27, 364–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borsuk-Bialynicka, M. (1977). A new camarasaurid sauropod Opisthocoelicaudia skarzynskii gen. n., sp. n. from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Palaeontologica Polonica, 37, 5–64.

  • Campos-Soto, S., Benito, M. I., Cobos, A., Caus, E., Quijada, I. E., Suarez–Gonzalez, P., Mas, R., Royo–Torres, R., & Alcalá, L. (2019). Revisiting the age and palaeoenvironments of the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous? dinosaur-bearing sedimentary record of eastern Spain: implications for Iberian palaeogeography. Journal of Ibeian Geology, 45, 471–510. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-019-00106-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canudo, J. I., Barco, J. L., Castanera, D., Fernández-Baldor, T. F (2010). New record of an enigmatic sauropod in the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition of the Iberian Peninsular (Spain). Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 84, 427–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canudo, J. I., Gasca, J. M., Moreno, M., & Aurell, M. (2012). New information about the stratigraphic position and age of the sauropod Aragosaurus ischiaticus from the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula. Geological Magazine, 149(2), 252–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canudo, J. I., Ruiz-Omeñaca, J. I., Barco, J. L., García-Ramos, J. C., & Piñuela, L. (2006). The discovery of a singular fauna: the sauropods from the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous of Spain. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26(3), 47A–47A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carballido, J., Sander, M., P (2014). Postcranial axial skeleton of Europasaurus holgeri (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Jurassic of Germany: implications for sauropod ontogeny and phylogenetic relationships of basal Macronaria. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 12(3), 335–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carballido, J. L., Pol, D., Otero, A., Cerda, I. A., Salgado, L., & Garrido, A. C. (2017). A new giant titanosaur sheds light on body mass evolution among sauropod dinosaurs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 284, 20171219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casanovas, M. L., Santafé, J. V., & Sanz, J. (2001). Losillasaurus giganteus, un nuevo saurópodo del tránsito Jurásico - Cretácico de la cuenca de “Los Serranos” (Valencia, España). Paleontologia i Evolució, 32–33, 99–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castanera, D., Pascual, C., Canudo, J. I., & Barco, J. L. (2018). Bringing together research, geoconservation and reaching a broad public in the form of a geotourism project: the Ichnite Route of Soria. Geoheritage, 10, 393–403.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clemente, P. (2010). Review of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous stratigraphy in Western Cameros basin, Northern Spain. Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España, 23(3–4), 101–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clemente, P., & Pérez Arlucea, M. (1993). Depositional architecture of the Cuerda del Pozo Formation, Lower Cretaceous of the extensional Cameros Basin, north-central Spain. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 63(3), 437–452.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dantas, P., Sanz, J. L., Silva, C. M., Ortega, F., Santos, V. F., & Cachão, M. (1998). Lourinhasaurus n. gen. novo dinossáurio saurópode do Jurássico superior (Kimmeridgiano superior - Titoniano inferior) de Portugal. Actas do V Congresso de Geologia, 84, 91–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Emic, M. D. (2012). The early evolution of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaurs. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 166, 624–671.

    Google Scholar 

  • González Riga, BJ., Ortiz David, L.D., Tomaselli, M.B., dos Anjos Candeiro, C.R., Coria, J.P., & Prámparo, M. (2015). Sauropod and theropod dinosaur tracks from the Upper Cretaceous of Mendoza (Argentina): Trackmakers and anatomical evidences. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 61, 134–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2014.11.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. D. (2004). Confusing dinosaurs with mammals: tetrapod phylogenetics and anatomical terminology in the world of homology. The Anatomical Record, 281, 1240–1246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. D. (2006). The axial skeleton of the dinosaur Suuwassea emilieae (Sauropoda: Flagellicaudata) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Montana, USA. Palaeontology, 49(5), 1091–1121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. D. (2007). The appendicular skeleton of Suuwassea emilieae (Sauropoda: Flagellicaudata) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Montana (USA). Geobios, 40, 501–522.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hock Hocknull, S. A., White, M. A., Tischler, T. R., Cook, A. G., Calleja, N. D., & Sloan, T. (2009). New mid-cretaceous (Latest Albian) dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia. Plos One, 4(7), e6190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huerta, P., & Armenteros, I. (2005). Calcrete and palustrine assemblages on a distal alluvial-floodplain: A response to local subsidence (Miocene of the Duero basin, Spain). Sedimentary Geology, 177(3–4), 253–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janensch, W. (1961). Die Gliedmaszen und Gliedmaszengürtel der Sauropoden der Tendaguru-schichten. Palaeontographica, 7(2), 178–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kullberg, J. C., Rocha, R. C., Soares, A. F., Rey, J., Terrinha, Callapez, & P., Martins, L., L. (2006). A Bacia Lusitaniana: estratigrafia, paleogeográfica e tectónica. In R. Dias, A. Araújo, P. Terrinha, & J. C. Kullberg (Eds.), Geologia de Portugal no contexto da Ibérica (pp. 317–368). Évora: Universidade de Évora.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannion, P. D., Allain, R., & Moine, O. (2017). The earliest known titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur and the evolution of Brachiosauridae. PeerJ, 5, e3217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannion, P. D., & Calvo, J. O. (2011). Anatomy of the basal titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) Andesaurus delgadoi from the mid-Cretaceous (Albian–early Cenomanian) Río Limay Formation, Neuquén Province, Argentina: implications titanosaur systematics. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 163, 155–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannion, P. D., Upchurch, P., Barnes, R. N., & Mateus, O. (2013). Osteology of the Late Jurassic Portuguese sauropod dinosaur Lusotitan atalaiensis (Macronaria) and the evolutionary history of basal titanosauriformes. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 168, 98–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martín-Closas, C., Millán, A., A (1998). Estratigrafía y bioestratigrafía (Charophyta) del Cretácico inferior en el sector occidental de la Cuenca de Cameros (Cordillera Ibérica). Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España, 11(3–4), 253–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mas, R., Arribas, M. E., Gonzalez–Acebron, L., Quijada, I. M., Campos–Soto, S., Suarez–Gonzalez, P., Sacristan–Horcajada, S., Arribas, J., Benito, M. I., Perez–Garrido, C., & Alonso, A. (2019). Coastal wetlands as markers of transgression in proximal extensional systems (Berriasian, W Cameros Basin, Spain). Journal of Iberian Geology, 45, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-018-0086-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mateus, O., Jacobs, L. L., Schulp, A., Polcyn, M. J., Tavares, T. S., & Buta Neto, A. (2011). Angolatitan adamastor, a new sauropod dinosaur and the first record from Angola. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 83(1), 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mateus, O., Mannion, P. D., & Uchurch, P. (2014). Zby atlanticus, a new turiasaurian sauropod (Dinosauria, Eusauropoda) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 43(3), 618–634.

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntosh, J. S. 1990. Sauropoda. The Dinosauria, D. B. Weishampel, P. D. Dodson, H. Osmolska (eds.), University of California Press, Berkeley. D. B. Weishampel & P. Dodson, H. Osmólska. University of California Press, 345–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mocho, P., Royo-Torres, R., Malafaia, E., Escaso, F., & Ortega, F. (2016a). Systematic review of Late Jurassic sauropods from the Museu Geológico collections (Lisboa, Portugal). Journal of Iberian Geology, 42(2), 227–250. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_JIGE.2016.v42.n2.52177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mocho, P., Royo-Torres, R., Malafaia, E., Escaso, F., & Ortega, F. (2017). Sauropod tooth morphotypes from the Upper Jurassic of the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal). Papers in Palaeontology, 3(2), 259–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mocho, P., Royo-Torres, R., & Ortega, F. (2014). Phylogenetic reassessment of Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis, a basal Macronaria (Sauropoda) from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 170(4), 875–916.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mocho, P., Royo-Torres, R., & Ortega, F. (2016b). New data of the Portuguese brachiosaurid Lusotitan atalaiensis (Sobral Formation, Upper Jurassic). Historical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2016.1247447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mocho, P., Royo-Torres, R., & Ortega, F. (2019). A new macronarian sauropod from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 39, e1578782.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naish, D., & Martill, D. M. (2007). Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: basal Dinosauria and Saurischia. Journal of the Geological Society, 164(3), 493–510. https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492006-032.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osborn, H. F., & Mook, C. C. (1921). Camarasaurus, Amphicoelias and other sauropods of Cope. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History New Series, 3, 247–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom, J. H., & McIntosh, J. S. (1966). Marsh’s dinosaurs. The collections from Como Bluff (Yale University Press. 1–388). New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otero, A. (2010). The appendicular skeleton of Neuquensaurus, a Late Cretaceous saltasaurine sauropod from Patagonia, Argentina. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 55(3), 399–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otero, A. (2018). Forelimb musculature and osteological correlates in Sauropodomorpha (Dinosauria, Saurischia). Plos One, 13(7), e0198988.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Pueyo, M., Moreno-Azanza, M., Barco, J. L., & Canudo, J. I. (2019). New contributions to the phylogenetic position of the sauropod Galvesaurus herreroi from the Tithonian (Jurassic) of Spain (Teruel). Boletín Geológico y Minero, 130(3), 375–392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt, N. H. (1986). Sedimentology and tectonics of the western Cameros basin. Province of Burgos, Northern Spain. PhD Thesis, University of Oxford, pp. 1–125.

  • Platt, N. H. (1989). Lacustrine Carbonates and Pedogenesis - Sedimentology and Origin of Palustrine Deposits from the Early Cretaceous Rupelo Formation, W Cameros Basin, N Spain. Sedimentology, 36(4), 665–684.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royo-Torres, R., Cobos, A., & Alcalá, L. (2006). A giant european dinosaur and a new sauropod clade. Science, 314, 1925–1927.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royo-Torres, R., Cobos, A., Luque, L., Aberasturi, A., Espílez, E., & Fierro, I. (2009). High european sauropod dinosaur diversity during Jurassic-Cretaceous transition in Riodeva (Teruel, Spain). Palaeontology, 5(2), 1009–1027.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royo-Torres, R., Upchurch, P., Mannion, P., Mas, R., Cobos, A., & Gasco, F. (2014). The anatomy, phylogenetic relationships, and stratigraphic position of the Tithonian–Berriasian Spanish sauropod dinosaur Aragosaurus ischiaticus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 171(3), 623–655.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royo-Torres, R., Fuentes, C., Meijide, M., Meijide-Fuentes, F., & Meijide-Fuentes, M. (2017). A new Brachiosauridae Sauropod dinosaur from the lower Cretaceous of Europe (Soria Province, Spain). Cretaceous Research, 80, 38–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2017.08.012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sacristán-Horcajada, S., Mas, R., & Arribas, M. E. (2015). Early Syn-Rift Evolution In the West Cameros Basin (Upper Jurassic, NW Iberian Range), Spain. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 85(7), 794–819.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanz, J. L., Buscalioni, A. D., Casanovas, M. L., & Santafé, J. V. (1987). Dinosaurios del Cretácico Inferior de Galve (Teruel, España). Estudios geológicos, volumen extraordinario Galve - Tremp, pp. 45–64.

  • Schudack, U., & Schudack, M. (2009). Ostracod biostratigraphy in the Lower Cretaceous of the Iberian chain (eastern Spain). Journal of Iberian Geology, 35(2), 141–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, M. P. (2009). A re-evaluation of Brachiosaurus altithorax Riggs 1903 (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) and its generic separation from Giraffatitan brancai (Janensch 1914). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 29(3), 787–806.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tidwell, V., Carpenter, K., & Brooks, W. (1999). New sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah, USA. Oryctos, 2(21), 21–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torcida Fernández-Baldor, F., Díaz-Martínez, I., Huerta, P., Contreras-Izquierdo, R., Montero, I., Huerta, L. A. M. D. (2012). Estudio previo del yacimiento de icnitas de dinosaurios de Las Sereas (Cuenca de Cameros, Jurásico Superior-Cretácico Inferior). Actas de V Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontología de Dinosaurios y su Entorno, pp. 197–204.

  • Upchurch, P., Mannion, P. D., & Taylor, M. P. (2015). The anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of “Pelorosaurus” becklesii (Neosauropoda, Macronaria) from the Early Cretaceous of England. Plos One, 10(6), e0125819.

    Google Scholar 

  • Upchurch, P., Tomida, Y., & Barrett, P. M. (2004). A new specimen of Apatosaurus ajax (Sauropoda: Diplodocidae) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Wyoming, USA. National Science Museum of Tokyo Monographs, 26, 1–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitlock, J. A. (2011). A phylogenetic analysis of Diplodocoidea (Saurischia: Sauropoda). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 161(4), 872–915.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. A. (2002). Sauropod dinosaur phylogeny: critique and cladistic analysis. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 136(2), 215–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. A., & Upchurch, P. (2003). A revision of Titanosaurus Lydekker (Dinosauria-Sauropoda), the first dinosaur genus with “gondwanan” distribution. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 1(3), 125–160.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The excavations at the site of Valdepalazuelos-Tenadas del Carrascal were financed by the Diputación de Burgos, with the collaboration of the Council of Torrelara and Fundación para el estudio de los Dinosaurios en Castilla y León. Special gratitude goes to the owners of the private land where the site is located, who made it possible to carry out all the work at the site, as well as for the Council of Quintanalara and the Asociación para el desarrollo de Tierra de Lara. The people who took part in the excavation did so voluntarily. Caterine Arias Riesgo, curator of the Museo de Dinosaurios de Salas de los Infantes, prepared and consolidated the humerus. The comments made by P. Mocho and an anonymous reviewer greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. This study was subsidized in part by Project CGL2017-85038-P of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad-ERDF, as well as by the Aragón Regional Government (“grupo de Referencia Aragosaurus: reconstrucciones paleoambientales y recursos geológicos”).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. Torcida Fernández-Baldor.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Torcida Fernández-Baldor, F., Canudo, J.I. & Huerta, P. New data on sauropod palaeobiodiversity at the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition of Spain (Burgos). J Iber Geol 46, 351–362 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-020-00145-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-020-00145-w

Keywords

Palabras Clave

Navigation