Dinosaurios de Morella en Berlín

Durante los días 20 a 24 de Julio se celebró en el Museum für Naturkunde de la ciudad alemana de Berlín el 7th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists, reunión en la que se presentó un trabajo sobre restos postcraneales de un terópodo espinosaurido procedente de la Cantera del Mas de La Parreta en Morella (Castellón).

Resumen:

Gasulla, J.M.; Ortega, F.; Sanz, JL.; Escaso, F.; Pérez-García, A. (2009): A spinosaurid cervical vertebra from the Morella Formation (lower Aptian) of Morella, Spain. Abstract Volume 7th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists (Daniela Schwarz-Wings, Oliver Wings, Franziska Sattler Eds.), 31.

"The Arcillas de Morella Formation (lower Aptian, Northwestern of the Iberian Peninsula) has yielded a rich vertebrate fossil record. Dinosaurs are one of the best-represented groups, in particular remains of the ornithopod Iguanodon and sauropod titanosauriforms, probably closely related to Brachiosaurus. In addition, ornithopods, such as hypsilophodontids and a probable iguanodontid close to Mantellisaurus; a thyreophoran, such as Polacanthus; and different representatives of theropods, such as spinosaurids, allosauroids and dromaeosaurids, are represented.
A cervical vertebra from the Mas de la Parreta quarry (Morella) belonging to a large theropod, is assigned to a Spinosauridae Baryonychinae. The vertebra is similar to the eighth cervical one of the Lower Cretaceous spinosaurid Baryonyx walkeri. As in Baryonyx, the Morella cervical vertebra presents the diapophyses in the anterior half of the neural arch, just above the parapophyses and the pleurocoels, large zygapophyses and epipophyses, low and laterally compressed neurapophyses slightly backwards directed, and lacks a lamina connecting diapophyses and zygapophyses. Nevertheless, the Morella specimen just differs from the Baryonyx holotype in the development of the epipophyses, more forwards projected in Baryonyx, and more backwards directed in the Morella specimen.
The presence in the Morella Formation of a new close relative to other Baryonychinae, such as the European Baryonyx or the African Suchomimus, has been previously recognized, mainly, due to the presence of similar teeth. However, these teeth show differences with those of both genera."