Cretaceous Dinosaurs From the Northeast of Spain (Aragon: Teruel and Huesca Provinces)

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Here are several dinosaur papers, written in Spanish (that is, Castillan) that 
not many people
have had a chance to read, I'm sure. Some are merely specimen reports of 
various groups, and no
new taxa are named; however, they are important.

   Canudo, J.I; Cuenca-Bescós, G.; & Ruiz-Omeñaca, J.I. 1997. Dinosaurios 
dromeosaúridos
(Saurischia: Theropodo) en el Barremiense Superior (Cretácio Inferior) de 
Castellote, Teruel.
_Geogaceta_ 22: 39-42. [in Spanish]

  Describes several small theropod teeth, broken at the base, from the region 
of Villipón, near
Castellote, Teruel Province, in northeastern Spain. Located within the Artoles 
Formation (Upper
Barremian, Lower Cretaceous), there are a total of thirty small (1 to 2.2mm 
FABL and roughly .5 to
1mm high). Specimens are housed in the MPZ, Museo Paleontológico, at the 
University of Zaragoza,
Spain; they are MPZ 96/65--96/70, 96/80--96/99, and 96/107--96/110.

  The teeth are all quite recurved and triangular, and the posterior serrations 
are a good deal
larger than that of the anterior serrations, averaging 1.25 times larger. The 
denticles are
oriented towards the apex of the crown, and are roughly rectangular in lateral 
view with large
interdenticular ampullae, but lack transgressive grooves across the crown 
surface. Teeth indicate
abrassion and extensive wear on the anterior carinae, and some on the posterior 
carinae. Compared
to several different theropods, including *Richardoestesia,* *Troodon,* and the 
dromaeosaurids
*Deinonychus,* *Saurornitholestes,* *Velociraptor,* and *Dromaeosaurus,* as 
well and Rauhut and
Werner's Sudanese dromaeosaurid teeth, they were found to be most similar to 
dromaeosaurids, and
especially to velociraptorines.

  The stratigraphy is comprised on several formations, from the Mirambel 
Formation, overlying the
Jurassic by a discontinuity, and composed of sandstones, with the overlying 
Artoles (interleaved
limestones and sandstones, with calcium carbonate structures and cemented 
sandstone), and the
Utrillas Formation (mudstones and sandstone lenses), all with discontinuities 
between them, and
all essentially marine in nature. The level in which the teeth were found also 
possesses both
chondrostean and osteichthyan fish, amphibians, lizards, theropod, ornithopod, 
and sauropod
dinosaurs, turtles, marine reptiles, crocodiles, pterosaurs, and mammals. The 
fauna appears to
relate to other Early Cretaceous levels including the Cloverly and Wessex 
Formations, but is
earlier.

-------

  Ruiz-Omeñaca, J.I.; Canudo, J.I.; and Cuenca-Bescós. 1997. Primera evidenca 
de un área de
alimentación de dinosaurios herbívoros en el Cretácico Inferior de España 
(Teruel). _Monografias
de la Academia de Ciencias, Exactas Físicas Químicas y Naturales de Zaragoza_ 
10: 48pp. [in
Spanish]

  Okay, this one is bigger than the last. It describes predominantly 
dinosaurian teeth remains,
but also includes charophytes (Atopocharoidae and Clavatoroidae), molluscks 
(Viviparidae indet.),
gastropods (Basomatophora indet.), ostracodes (Cyprideidae), and vertebrates 
like 6 portions of
the eggshells of a cheloniian (Chelonii indet.), and the teeth of three 
crocodylians, referred to
Goniopholidae indet., Atoposauridae indet., and Bernissartidae indet. [sic: 
should be
Bernissartiidae].

  All remains were recovered from La Cantalera, in the Cubeta de Oliete, in 
northern Teruel
Provice, Spain. The fossils are located in the Margas y Calizas de Blesa 
Formation, which is
divided into three members: the Josa, Cabezo Gordo, and Morenillo Members; the 
fossils are located
in the Cabezo Gordo, which is lower Barremian, near the base but not at it. The 
level was
essentially shallow and marshy, but no further geologic context is given.

  Dinosaurian material is extentensive, though entirely comprised of teeth. 
There are also
coprolites. The authors incorrectly cite Bakker and Galton's 1974 paper for 
Dinosauria.

  There are two teeth referred to the Camarasauridae, one complete crown (MPZ 
97/464, figured) and
one partial (MPZ 97/465). The first crown is 25mm in height, and the height of 
the "spatulate"
(pg. 15) portion is 15.5mm, labiolingual width is 7.4mm, and the mesiodistal 
length is 11.4mm at
the maximum dimension, and 10.4mm at the base. The second tooth is only 20mm 
high, but incomplete,
and other measurements indicate it was smaller overall (labiolingual length was 
6.6mm). The crown
is classically camarasaurid, and no further referrence can be made. Similar 
teeth were found
elsewhere in Spain, including the Hauterivian--Barremian Castellar Formation in 
Teruel, the
formation which produced *Aragosaurus ischiaticus,* and the Camarillas 
Formation, also in Teruel
of the same level (see Sanz et al., 1987, _Estudios geologicos_ (the 
Galve--Tremp volume): 45-64;
Ruiz-Omeñaca et al., 1996, _Mas de las Matas_ 15: 59-103).

  The theropod teeth (there are four) are divided into two types, A and B: type 
A comprises three
teeth, which are broken save for one, MPZ 97/466, which is 28mm, including the 
root. The crowns
are complete for two teeth, including 97/466, and 97/467, which is 19mm long, 
but lacks portions
of the anterior carina; the last tooth is 8.8mm long and includes a complete 
distal carina, but is
overall much smaller than the other two. Both carinae are well denticulated, 
mesial and distal
measurements being 250:226-270 for the first, 215-270 on the distal carina on 
the second, and an
incomplete posterior carina on the third. There are roughly more distal than 
mesial carinae, the
ratio being 4 : 3.7-4.4 per mm for the first, 5.6-5.9:3.7-4.65 for the second. 
The teeth are
comparative to those of the carnosaurs and to dromaeosaurids and troodontids, 
so are referred to
the Theropoda and indeterminate. Type B includes one tooth, MPZ 97/468, which 
is the basal half of
a crown lacking any portion of the root. Significantly, the crown is striated 
longitudinally by
large flexures of the enamel, and these are not as deep and file-like as in 
*Euronychodon* or
*Paronychodon* teeth. The crowns were compared to goniopholid teeth, but have 
distinctly
theropodan denticles, and are ziphodont and not conodont in form, so are 
compared to spinosaurids.
They appear to resemble *Baryonyx* teeth quite well, but were not compared to 
*Suchomimus* as that
latter taxon was named the following year. They differ in essentially having 
much larger
denticles, unlike spinosaurids, and less finer surface flexures, as in 
spinosaurines. While the
tooth may likely be spinosauroid in nature (they are not comparable to 
*Torvosaurus* teeth, and I
have not seen *Eustreptospondylus* teeth to compare) it seems prudent of the 
authors to refer it
to Theropoda indet. (Note: as of publication of this paper, another was in 
press titled Torcida,
Fuentes, Izqueirdo, Montero, & Urién, Dientes de Dinosaurios Terópodos (cf. 
*Baryonyx*) en el
Weald de Burgos (España). _Stvdia [not a typo] Geologica Salmanticensia_ 33(4): 
59-65.)

  Several ornithopod teeth are known, two of which are referred to Ornithopoda 
indet. (MPZ 97/477,
and 97/478).  I'll get to the others later. These teeth are small, 17.5 and 
13mm respectively
(incomplete, the crowns are broken at the base, and are heavily worn), with a 
labiolingual width
of 8.3 and 7.2, and a mesiodistal length of 14.8 and 8.8mm (the second is 
incomplete). The crowns
appear to be dentary teeth, with a lingual median keel and a wear facet on the 
labial side. The
crowns, however, were compared only to iguanodont and hypsilophodont crowns, 
yet appear to be very
similar to crowns of ceratopsians, including the shape of the wear facet, and 
the lack of
denticulations on the mesiodistally arranged carinae (they were not involved in 
mastication,
unlike the apparatus in ceratopsians).

  Eleven teeth are referred to the Hypsilophodontidae as indeterminate; they 
range from MPZ
97/491--97/501. They are divided according to the jaws thusly, based on 
*Hypsilophodon*: right
maxillary teeth, MPZ 97/491 and 97/494; left maxillary teeth, MPZ 
97/492--97/493, 97/497--97/500;
and dentary, MPZ 97/495--97/496, and 97/501. Teeth vary in height between 
12.4--12mm (n=3),
10.3--9mm (n=2), 7.2--5.3mm (n=6). The largest teeth are anterior maxillary and 
posterior dentary.
There are often more than one keel on the teeth, all of them distal to the 
median keel, which is
dominant in all crowns, and the number varies between 2--4, with one crown only 
having just the
median keel. Only *Hypsilophodon* was compared among the "hypsilophodonts," and 
it is beyond the
scope of this post to make a detailed comparison of the crowns. There are a 
variety of
hypsilophodontid teeth known from Spain, all from Teruel Province, but the 
localities span the
Hauterivian to the Aptian.

  Several teeth have been identified as iguanodontid, including 12 teeth or 
portions of teeth,
referred to the Iguanodontidae as indeterminate. There are three complete teeth 
(MPZ
97/473--97/475), five incomplete teeth (MPZ 97/476, 97/485--97/486, 97/488, and 
97/490) and four
fragments of crowns (MPZ 97/487, 97/489, 97/502--97/503). The complete crowns 
range from
19.6--22.6mm in total height, about half as long as tall, and just less than 
half as long wide.
Many of the other crowns (nearly all, n=7) are much smaller (<50%) than the 
three complete crowns,
whereas the remaining partial tooth is taller (22.5mm) and incomplete, whereas 
other dimensions
(labiolingual, mesiodistal) are smaller. The teeth are divided according to 
possition and bone of
the jaws: right maxillary, MPZ 97/476; unknown position in the dentary, MPZ 
97/503; right dentary,
MPZ 97/474, 97/485--97/486; left dentary, MPZ 97/473, 97/475, 97/487--97/490, 
and 97/502; the
other teeth are indeterminate. The crowns have a large wear facet that 
exemplifies the large
secondary mesial keel, as in iguanodonts, with several tertiary ridges or 
flexures between them,
and have an overall pentagonal aspect to the facet, compared to triangular or 
rectangular in the
"hypsilophodont" teeth. The more complex, non-geometric shape of the facet in 
the last four teeth
expemplify them as well.

  Four teeth are referred to *Iguanodon sp.*, MPZ 97/469--97/472. These teeth 
are large, with two
complete teeth measuring 42.5 and 20mm, the other two not as complete, but 
measuring 25--32.3mm.
They are separated thusly: right dentary, MPZ 97/469; left dentary, MPZ 
97/470--97/471; and right
maxillary, MPZ 97/472. The morphology is distinctive of iguanodonts, and the 
complexity of the
secondary and tertiary ridges is comparative to *Iguanodon,* but also to 
*Ouranosaurus.*
Therefore, I question the specific referral to *Iguanodon*, though I have not 
mounted an extensive
research of the types as yet. The wear facets are trapezoidal, and not very 
angled relative to
crown length, and the root is not particularly curved or offset from the crown.

  Vertebrate coprolites (n=14) are also known, and for anyone who'd like to 
hear more about them,
I can research the article more completely.

------

  Canudo, J.I.; Lopez Martínez, N.; & Ruiz-Omeñaca, J.I. 2001. Los dinosaurios 
del Maastrichtiense
Superior (Cretácio Superior) del Pirineo de Huesca (España) p. 319-328 in 
_Actas de las I Jornada
Internacionales Sobre Paleontología de Dinosaurios y su Entorno_ (Salas de los 
Infantes (Burgos,
España), Septiembre de 1999).

  Described dinosaur material from the Maastrichtian sites of Huensca Province, 
northeastern
Spain, in the Pyrenees, at the Arén locality, near Arén and Serraduy. Of the 
six fossiliferous
levels at the Arén site, only four contain dinosaurian fossils, including a 
partial hadrosaur
skull, and the teeth of two different kinds of theropod. A sauropod is also 
known, but described
elsewhere (it's the next ref, so no worries, folks).

  The levels are marine, and generally sandstone, though the higher levels are 
dominated by
limestone. Dating to the upper Maastrichtian is acheived through pollen and 
foraminifera, and
actually the levels go right through the K/T boundary (dinosaur levels are 
below it). The
dinosaur-bearing levels are dated to the *Abathomphalus mayaroensis* Biozone 
(Lopez-Martínez,
Canudo, Ardévol, Pereda Superbiola, Orue-Etxebarría, Ruiz-Omeñaca &  Murelaga, 
in press, New
dinosaur localities near the Cretaceous/Tertiary coundary (Arén, southcentral 
Pyrenees, Spain).
_Cretaceous Research_. Hopefully this has been published by now.)

 The first level (in the Arén Formation) contains the hadrosaur skull (MPZ 
99/667), which consists
of a dentary, maxilla, jugal (right), surangular, and fragments of what may be 
the sclerotic ring.
The dentary has positions for 33 teeth, in 3--4 rows; the teeth included ar 
lanceolate, and
subtriangular in section through the crown. There is a well defined, single 
median keel (primary
ridge); the occlusal surface of the crown is a symmetrical rhombus, with lower 
rowns in the rows
being more asymmetrical. More anterior teeth are larger than posterior teeth, 
and all bear
marginal denticulations (unlike the maxillary teeth). The maxilla is a 
prominent lateral shelf,
especially in the middle of the bone, and the anterior, premaxillary contact is 
high (there is no
information as to whether it bears a process dorsal to the rostral lobe). The 
jugal is very
distinctive and reminiscent of lambeosaurines, with a large orbit and much 
smaller, shorter
anteroposteriorly infratemporal fenestra; the rostral, maxillary ramus is much 
deeper than
rostrocaudally long, and there is a large dorsal orbital extension of the ramus 
that is apparently
diagnostic. The features of the skull (which will be described more completely 
in the above
reference) are indicative of the Euhadrosauridae (sic, Euhadrosauria), and are 
unique to other
Europan hadrosaurian cranial material, indicating the posibility of a new 
species (pg. 321).

  The second level (in the Arén Formation as well) contains numerous teeth, 
including those
referred to the Dromaeosauridae (e.g., MPZ 98/72) which lacks mesial serations, 
and has the
appearance of an elongated triangle, not terribly recurved. *Euronychodon sp.* 
(e.g., MPZ
98/76--98/77), and a non-serrate tooth referred to the Coelurosauria as 
indeterminate (MPZ 98/72),
but appears to be similar to euronychodont and paronychodont teeth, though it 
lacks surface
grooves and ridges, are also apparent. There are also numerus hadrosaur teeth, 
the morphology of
which are said to be distinct. They are divided into two morphologies, one 
rhomboidal on the
occlusal face, and the wear-facet is subtriangular, and the other with a 
subrectangular occlusal
face, and there is a very prominent median keel. The teeth are distinct from 
the those of the
first level, indicating the prescence of at least three hadrosaurids in the 
Arén Formation. Also
known from the level are osteichthyan fish, amphibians, three types of 
crocodile, lizards, and
theropod, hadrosaurian, and sauropod dinosaurs, and there are fragments of 
eggshell (ornithoid)
which are referred to theropods and birds, and another referred to the 
Megaloolithidae which are
possibly referrable to sauropods.

  The third level (Arén Formation) contains crocodiles, turtles, two theropod 
teeth possibly
referrable to the dromaeosaurids (Velociraptorinae?), more teeth whose carinae 
are eroded and so
they are referred only to the Theropoda, and ornithopods. Up to 80 fragments of 
an ornithopod are
distributed over 70 square meters. There are eight disarticulated caudal 
vertebrae, nearby to 19
caudal vertebrae concentrated within 4 square meters. Portions of a maxilla, a 
tooth, two cervical
vertebrae, more than five distal caudals, portions of the ribs, an ilium, the 
sacrum, pubis, and
both femora, of an individual. Most of the material was unprepared at the time 
of publication. The
femur is especially similar to the hadrosaurs, and it is likely the material 
will prove to be
hadrosaurid in nature, and referable to one of the other species mentioned in 
the Arén Formation;
the specimen is that of a juvenile.

  The fourth level (in the Tremp Formation) includes the proximal 2/5 of a 
femur of a sauropod
referred to the Titanosauridae (next ref).

------

  Canudo, J.I.; Barco, J.L.; Royo-Torees, R.; & Ruiz-Omeñaca, J.I. 2001. Los 
saurópodos
(Dinosauria) del Tithónico (Jurásico Superior) y del Cretácico de Aragón. p. 
309-318 in _Actas de
las I Jornada Internacionales Sobre Paleontología de Dinosaurios y su Entorno_ 
(Salas de los
Infantes (Burgos, España), Septiembre de 1999).

  Sumarizes material of Sauropods from the Cretaceous of Spain, especially 
those from Aragon,
though. Material comes from the Galve locality of the Villar del Arzobispo 
Formation of Teruel,
and includes relatively complete cervical, dorsal, and cervical vertebrae, 
partial ribs and
chevrons, the scapula, portions of the intrascapulocoracoid elements, and two 
complete humeri. The
elements come from a single specimen.

  Material is summarized for *Aragosaurus*, as well: cervical and dorsal 
vertebrae, both proximal
and median caudal vertebrae, chevrons, the scapula, coracoids, the ischium and 
pubis, a humerus,
the ulna and radius, metacarpals, manal phalanges, the femur, tibia, and parts 
of the ankle.

  Barremian sauropod material comes from the Camarillas Formation, and there is 
also some abundant
ornithopod material, undescribed. The various remains are not summarized.

  The Aptian of Peñarroya de Tastavins has produced a single adult skeleton 
(identified from fused
neurocentral sutures and fused sacral centra), that includes three dorsal 
vertebrae and portions
of five more, the sacrum (five centra), where the contact with the ilia are 
broken, 25 caudals, 21
chevrons, all articulated, both ilia, pubes, and ischia, both femora, a tibia, 
tarsals, six
metatarsals (and therefore from both feet), eight pedal phalanges (four of 
which are unguals), and
portions of the ribs. The dorsals are opisthocoelous and have deep pleurocoels, 
with a divided
neural spine. Like titanosaurs, the femur inclines laterally. The caudals are 
not bridged over the
haemal canal, the caudals have a shallow ventral sulcus, the neural arches are 
on the anterior
half of the centra and are strongly procoelous, with dorsally to slightly 
anteriorly inclined
neural spines. Thus, the animal can be referred to the Titanosauria.

  Finally, the femur from the Tremp Formation of Huesca, is referred to the 
Titanosauridae, though
the canted femoral head is not in evidence, as it is in *Opisthocoelicaudia* 
and saltasaurines,
and it is possible that is does not pertain to the Titanosauridae, but rather a 
higher taxon of
titanosaur.

------

One last paper requires discussion from this group, but I will save it for the 
next post. This is
a monster, larger than the previous papers put together (90pp.) and will 
require a good deal of
time to compose: this post has already taken me 5 hours in total...


=====
Jaime A. Headden

  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhr-gen-ti-na
  Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Pampas!!!!

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