RE:Dinosaur News

[Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia <fabdalla@tin.it>]

I am surprised by the new concerning the rebbachisaurid from Spain. 

<<Rebbachisaurus found in Spain--the first specimen from 
Europe and the oldest known. The partial skeleton includes 
caudal and dorsal vertebrae and ribs, plus parts of the 
anterior part of the body previously not known.>>

My mother tongue is Italian, but I can read quite easily Spanish and I
humbly make the following comments.

First of all, they have found a "rebbachisaurid", not Rebbachisaurus.

Second, I have published in 1998 the description of a peculiar dorsal
vertebra that I attributed to a new taxon (Histriasaurus boscarollii). I
considered that taxon close to Rebbachisaurus. The paper can be downloaded
as PDF file (see http://www.fante.speleo.it). Histriasaurus is reported
also in Glut - Supplement 2 -(2002) at pp. 352-354.
That vertebra comes from the upper Hauterivian-lower Barremian, that means
around 127 million years ago according to Gradstein et al. (1995). Thus, it
is as old or oldest than the purported Spanish rebbachisaurid. The finding
place is the Istrian Peninsula (Croatia, Europe), which during early
Cretaceous times was in the Tethyan Ocean between Europe and Africa, but
possibly in connection with the latter.
I might be wrong in my statement of a close relationship of Histriasaurus
and Rebbachisaurus, but in any case I published it in a scientific journal
(in English) and it shouldn't be ignored. 

Might the Spanish members of this list inform "el colectivo
arqueologico-paleontologico de Salas de los Infantes" and in particular
Fidel Torcida (director del museo paleontologico de Salas de los Infantes y
miembro del colectivo arqueologico)about the existence of Histriasaurus(or,
at least, give me the e-mail of Fidel Torcida)?

Thank you very much.

I think that the Spanish discovery is very important and I fear that they
could not appeciated the whole paleogeographic implication of such a specimen.

Cheers
Fabio
---------------------------
Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia, PhD
Museo Paleontologico Cittadino
Via Valentinis 134
I-34074 Monfalcone
ITALY
http://www.fante.speleo.it