Poster presentado en el 75th Annual Meeting de la SVP en Dallas (Estados Unidos)
En el Congreso de la Society of Vertebrate Paleontology celebrado en Dallas este año, hemos presentado un poster que pone al día las faunas de terópodos del Cretácico Superior (Campaniense superior-Maastrichtiense superior) de la Península Ibérica. En este periodo de tiempo los restos de estos dinosaurios carnívoros son escasos y bastante fragmentarios por lo que el estudio taxonómico debe hacerse en base a los dientes. Los yacimientos considerados en el estudio han sido los de la Cuenca Sur-Pirenaica, Laño incluido, Lo Hueco (Cuenca), Quintanilla del Coco (Burgos), Chera (Valencia), Armuña (Segovia) y los yacimientos portugueses de Taveiro, Aveiro y Viso.
Asistentes al 3rd Annual Meeting de la CSVP en Kelowna (Canadá)
La diversidad de terópodos que reflejan estos yacimientos es mayor de lo que se conocía hasta ahora con nueve taxones de estos dinosaurios presentes. La evolución de esa diversidad durante el final del Cretácico también arroja conclusiones muy interesantes. No se observa una disminución dramática en la diversidad de estos dinosaurios al final del Maastrichtiense, lo que nos lleva a concluir que su extinción fue muy rápida en términos geológicos. Parte de estos resultados se presentaron también en Mayo en el tercer congreso de la Canadian Society of Vertebrate Paleontology celebrado en Kelowna, Canadá.
El resumen del trabajo presentado en el 75th Annual Meeting de la SVP es el siguiente:
Europe was an archipelago of islands at the end of the Cretaceous. Its continental Upper Cretaceous fossil record has been identified from several countries. Among them, the Iberian Peninsula record is one of the most informative. It can give us relevant information of the diversity and evolution of European dinosaur faunas at the end of the Cretaceous. The Iberian theropod record, however, is particularly scarce. Complete or partial theropod skeletons are rare and postcranial material is not abundant either, so our main knowledge comes from isolated teeth.
The Spanish sites of Laño (Condado de Treviño) and Lo Hueco (Cuenca) are identified as the richest and most diverse sites for theropod remains in all of Europe. Nearly three hundred teeth have been recovered from these two sites. Other outcrops, such as those from the South Pyrenees Basin (Lleida and Huesca), Quintanilla del Coco (Burgos), Chera (Valencia), Armuña (Segovia) and the Portuguese sites of Taveiro, Aveiro, and Viso, provided some remains, which also improve the information on the diversity and evolution of the theropod faunas at the end of the Iberian Cretaceous.
In the late Campanian, some sites from the South Pyrenees Basin (Vicari 4, Suterranya, and Figuerola 2) show the presence of four theropod taxa: Coelurosauria indet., Richardoestesia-like, cf. Richardoestesia sp. and an indeterminate form of large size. In the late Campanian and the early Maastrichtian interval, we find the highest diversity. In the sites of Montrebei (Lleida), Laño, Lo Hueco, Quintanilla del Coco, Chera and Armuña, seven theropod taxa are identified: Coelurosauria indet., cf. Richardoestesia sp., cf. Dromeosauridae indet., cf. Velociraptorinae indet., cf. Pyroraptor olympius, Ornithomimosauria indet. and Theropoda indet. In the late Maastrichtian record, from the sites of Blasi 1, 2B and 3 (Huesca), and from the Portuguese sites of Aveiro, Taveiro, and Viso, six theropod taxa are recognized: Coelurosauria indet., cf. Paronychodon, cf. Richardoestesia sp., cf. Dromeosauridae indet., cf. Troodontidae and Theropoda indet.
The strict stratigraphic control of these sites allows us to evaluate the evolution and the diversity of these faunas. We observe an increase of the diversity from the late Campanian to the early Maastrichtian, followed by a small decrease in the late Maastrichtian. As occurs in other European dinosaurian groups, the results suggest that in the Iberian Peninsula the non-avian theropod extinction was quick in geological terms.
-----
Referencias:
- Torices, A.; Canudo, J.I.; Company, J.; Currie, P.J.; Ortega, F.; Pereda-Suberbiola, X; Pérez-García, A. 2015. The Theropod Record From The Upper Cretaceous Of The Iberian Peninsula. Canadian Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 3rd Annual Meeting. Kelowna, Canadá. "Program and Abstract". 39
- Torices, A., Canudo, J., Company, J., Currie, P. J., Ortega, F., Pereda-Suberbiola, X., Pérez-García, A. 2015. The Upper Cretaceous theropod record of the Iberian Peninsula. Abstracts of papers of the 75th Anuual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: 225.
