Dinosaurios saurópodos del Jurásico Superior de Portugal en el XVI Annual Meeting de la EAVP

Los dinosaurios saurópodos del Jurásico Superior Portugués han estado presentes en el reciente XVI Annual Meeting de la European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists (EAVP) que ha tenido lugar en la ciudad de Lisboa. La comunicación titulada "Late Jurassic sauropods of Portugal: where are we now?" conducida por Pedro Mocho se incorporaba en el simposio "Sauropod dinosaurs: new insights into their biology, ecology, and evolution". En la presentación oral se pudo hablar un poco del estado de conocimiento actual sobre este grupo de dinosaurios procedentes del Jurásico Superior de Portugal, en particular, del registro fósil de la cuenca lusitánica.

El resumen de la comunicación es el siguiente:

The Late Jurassic sauropods of Portugal have been focus of several recent studies centred on the review and description of known and unpublished specimens, including many new occurrences found in the Turcifal (e.g. Torres Vedras) and Bombarral (e.g. Lourinhã). The application of an extensive dataset of morphological characters is improving the phylogenetic positions and testing the validity of the Portuguese taxa. The Late Jurassic sauropod fauna of Portugal comprises turiasaurs, diplodocines and macronarians. The present analysis concludes: (1) Zby atlanticus needs a new diagnosis and is a member of Turiasauria closely related with Turiasaurus; (2) two diplodocines are identified - a possible member of the genus Diplodocus found in Praia de Valmitão; and Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis, with an uncertain position within Diplodocinae and exhibiting apomorphies absent in Supersaurus; (3) Lourinhasaurus is a member of Camarasauridae sharing several features with Camarasaurus (future analyses might include Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis within Camarasaurus genus); (4) Lusotitan is recovered as a member of Brachiosauridae and (5) a new specimen found in Praia de Valmitão might represent a more derived titanosauriform than Brachiosauridae, and the oldest occurrence of Somphospodyli in the fossil record. The present analysis supports a closer relationship between Portuguese and North-American sauropods than with Gondwanan forms. This can be explained by a more recent common evolutionary history with the North American territory. The Iberian sauropod fauna also seems to present a wide niche partition for sauropods that might explain the presence of a high taxonomic diversity in this territory, especially for Macronaria clade.