Un nuevo ejemplar del sauropterigio Paludidraco multidentatus en las XLI Jornadas de la SEP

Miembros del Grupo de Biología Evolutiva de la UNED han presentado durante las XL Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología (SEP) el trabajo titulado “The second relatively complete skeleton of the sauropterygian Paludidraco multidentatus (Upper Triassic of Spain): insights into intraspecific postcranial variability”. En esta comunicación se han presentado nuevos resultados sobre la anatomía postcraneal de este sauropterigio español a partir de un nuevo ejemplar, anteriormente únicamente conocida en base a su holotipo, así como un primer estudio sobre la variabilidad intraespecífica del taxón. A continuación, os dejamos el resumen perteneciente a este trabajo:

Sauropterygia was a diverse and successful clade of aquatic reptiles with a fossil record ranging from the Lower Triassic (Olenekian) to the uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian). The group comprises the basal Placodontiformes, and the derived eosauropterygians, including Pachypleurosauroidea, Nothosauria, Simosauridae, and Pistosauroidea (Plesiosauria included). The availability of several complete or nearly complete skeletons has allowed the study of intraspecific postcranial variability (including ontogenetic, individual, and sexual variation) in representatives of almost every clade, especially for the pachypleurosaurs. However, this variability has remained almost unexplored in Simosauridae, mostly due to the lack of relatively complete and well-articulated individuals. In this regard, intraspecific postcranial variability in Simosauridae was so far only addressed for few vertebral and humeral elements of Simosaurus gaillardoti, from the Ladinian (Middle Triassic) of France and Germany. In recent years, knowledge on simosaurid postcranial anatomy has considerably increased, mostly since the description of Paludidraco multidentatus, from the Carnian (Late Triassic) of Spain. The P. multidentatus postcranial anatomy was only studied based on the relatively complete postcranium of its holotype, despite several unpublished postcranial skeletons were found, including that of the paratype. The P. multidentatus paratype postcranium consists of a relatively complete and partially articulated skeleton preserving part of the cervical, the almost complete dorsal and sacral, and part of the caudal regions; as well as elements of the pectoral and pelvic girdles; the forelimbs and hindlimbs; and the gastralia. The paratype postcranium, which was unpublished until recently, has been studied in detail, new data being provided on the P. multidentatus postcranial anatomy. Here we discuss, for the first time, postcranial intraspecific variability of this bizarre Spanish taxon.

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Más información:

• Referencia: Cabezuelo-Hernández, A., de Miguel Chaves, C., Ortega, F., Pérez-García, A. (2026) The second relatively complete skeleton of the sauropterygian Paludidraco multidentatus (Upper Triassic of Spain): insights into intraspecific postcranial variability. In Narváez, I., Martínez-Pérez, C., Rodríguez-Tovar, F. J., Ortega, F. (Eds.), Libro de Resúmenes de las XLI Jornadas SEP. Palaeontological publications, 10, 181.