Late Jurassic dinosaurs from Asturias, Spain: Implications for the diversity and biogeography of European Late Jurassic dinosaur faunas
Final Report Abstract
A partial ornithopod skeleton from the Kimmeridgian Lastres Formation of Asturias, northern Spain, was fully prepared and studied in the framework of this project. Current results indicate that this specimen represents the oldest representative of the rhabdodontids within the Rhabdodontomorpha, and thus indicates the establishment of this possibly strictly European lineage of ornithopods already by the Late Jurassic. However, more phylogenetic data from the postcranial anatomy of ornithopods is needed to firmly establish the systematic position of this specimen. In general, the dinosaur fauna from the Kimmeridgian of Asturias is noteworthy for the abundance of ornithischians, especially stegosaurs, which include another representative of a clade that has so far only been recorded in Europe, the dacentrurines. As far as can be said from the relatively sparse material, the sauropod fauna seems to be dominated by a further predominantly European clade, the turiasaurs, and in the theropod fauna, the presence of the derived maniraptoran clades Therizinosauroidea and Troodontidae is noteworthy.
Publications
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The largest European theropod dinosaurs: remains of a gigantic megalosaurid and giant theropod tracks from the Kimmeridgian of Asturias, Spain. PeerJ, 6, e4963.
Rauhut, Oliver W.M.; Piñuela, Laura; Castanera, Diego; García-Ramos, José-Carlos & Sánchez, Cela Irene
