Research paper
Updating titanosaurian diversity (Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Spain: the fossil sites of Laño and Chera
VERÓNICA DÍEZ-DÍAZ
Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany. diezdiaz.veronica@gamil.com
Corresponding author
XABIER PEREDA SUBERBIOLA
Universidad del País Vasco/ Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnología, Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Apdo. 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain. xabier.pereda@ehu.eus
JULIO COMPANY
Departamento de ingeniería del Terreno, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain. julio.company@uv.es
ABSTRACT
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.
Keywords: Dinosauria, Sauropoda, Titanosauria, Campanian-Maastrichtian, Iberia.
How to cite: Díez Díaz, V., Pereda Suberbiola, X. & Company, J. 2015. Updating titanosaurian diversity (Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Spain: the fossil sites of Laño and Chera. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 30 (2), 293-306.
Received 23 March 2015, Accepted 09 September 2015, Published 31 December 2015
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.30.2.17258
