Updating titanosaurian diversity (Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Spainthe fossil sites of Laño and Chera
- Díez-Díaz, Verónica 1
- Pereda Suberbiola, Xabier 2
- Company, Julio 3
- 1 Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science
- 2 Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
- 3 Departamento de Inginería de Terreno, Universdiad Politécnica de Valencia
ISSN: 2255-0550
Argitalpen urtea: 2015
Alea: 30
Zenbakia: 2
Orrialdeak: 293-306
Mota: Artikulua
Beste argitalpen batzuk: Spanish journal of palaeontology
Laburpena
Three titanosaurian sauropods are well-known from the Campanian-Maastrichtian of the Ibero-Armorican Island (southwestern Europe): Lirainosaurus astibiae from Spain, and Ampelosaurus atacis and Atsinganosaurus velauciensis from France. However, a higher titanosaurian diversity has been suggested for this island, a hypothesis that has gained traction in recent years as a result of new discoveries in fossil sites from Spain and southern France. An estimation of the titanosaurian diversity in the late Campanian-early Maastrichtian of the Iberian Peninsula is made here on the basis of the available information from the three fossil sites that have yielded the best preserved fossil remains: Laño (Condado de Treviño), Chera (Valencia), and Lo Hueco (Cuenca). The results confirm the hypothesis of a higher titanosaurian diversity in the Iberian Peninsula: from one to, at least, three taxa. Moreover, we also suggest the presence of two different titanosaurian morphotypes in the site of Chera, with one of them representing Lirainosaurus