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379 22 22.1. A, Simplified geological map with the location of the sedimentary basins that have provided dinosaur remains (number in brackets corresponds to localities); modified from Martín-Chivelet (1996, fig. 2A). B, Main dinosaur outcrops from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian–Albian) of Spain: 1, Vega de Pas (Cantabria); 2, El Montsec (Lleida); 3, Soto de Cameros (La Rioja); 4, Enciso (La Rioja); 5, Igea (La Rioja); 6, Salas de los Infantes (Burgos); 7, Golmayo (Soria); 8, Villanueva de Huerva (Zaragoza); 9, Josa/Oliete (Teruel); 10, Utrillas (Teruel); 11, Galve (Teruel); 12, Castellote (Teruel); 13, Mirambel (Teruel); 14, Peñarroya de Tastavins (Teruel); 15, Cinctorres/Morella (Castell ón); 16, Vadillos/Masegosa (Cuenca); 17, Buenache de la Sierra/Uña (Cuenca); 18, Las Hoyas (Cuenca); 19, Alpuente/Titaguas (Valencia); 20, Almansa (Albacete); 21, Yecla (Murcia). Dinosaur Faunas from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian–Albian) of Spain Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola*, José Ignacio Ruiz-Omeñaca, José Ignacio Canudo, Fidel Torcida, and José Luis Sanz The dinosaur skeletal record from the Early Cretaceous of Spain indicates a diverse fauna, including the richest assemblage known from continental Europe for the Hauterivian–Aptian interval. The Spanish record consists of theropods (all tetanurans: spinosaurids, carcharodontosaurian allosauroids , ornithomimosaurs, and several kinds of maniraptorans, including dromaeosaurids and enantiornithine birds), sauropods (basal macronarians and titanosauriforms, such as brachiosaurids, “euhelopodids” and possible titanosaurians, as well as rebbachisaurid diplodocoids), thyreophorans (“polacanthid” ankylosaurs and stegosaurs), and ornithopods (basal iguanodontoids , dryosaurids, and “hypsilophodontid”-like basal euornithopods). Iguanodon and other closely related basal iguanodontians are the most abundant dinosaurs in number of specimens, whereas the maniraptoriform theropods are the most diversified in number of taxa. Ten genera and species have been erected to date from the Spanish material: among theropods, the carcharodontosaur Concavenator corcovatus, the ornithomimosaur Pelecanimimus polyodon (the only record of this clade known in Europe), and the enantiornithine birds Iberomesornis romerali, Concornis lacustris, and Eoalulavis hoyasi from Cuenca, plus Noguerornis gonzalezi from Lleida (the most diverse Early Cretaceous avian assemblage reported out of Asia); among sauropods, the macronarian Aragosaurus ischiaticus and Tastavinsaurus sanzi from Teruel, and the rebbachisaurid diplodocoid Demandasaurus darwini from Burgos; and finally, the iguanodontian ornithopod Delapparentia turolensis from Teruel. All these taxa occurred exclusively in the Iberian Peninsula. Additional new taxa, including a basal titanosauriform sauropod and a basal ornithopod, are yet to be named. The most significant dinosaur discoveries have been made in the last 25 years, indicating that the Spanish outcrops have a great fossiliferous potential. In 1872, Vilanova Piera published the discovery of bones of Iguanodon from the Early Cretaceous of Utrillas (Teruel), and one year later from the Early Cretaceous of Morella (Castellón). Vilanova Piera (1872, 1873) was the first to specifically mention the finding of dinosaur skeletal remains from Spain (but this is not the earliest discovery; see Pereda Suberbiola et al., 2010). A few years before, fossil bones were found near Morella; this material, now lost, may also belong to dinosaurs (Gasulla, 2005; Pérez-García et al., 2009b). The Vilanova collection, currently kept in the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales of Madrid, contains a few dinosaur remains, but none is referable to Iguanodon (Pereda Suberbiola and Ruiz-Omeñaca, 2005). Introduction Pereda-Suberbiola et al. 380 The study of dinosaurs in Spain was not highlighted during the nineteenth century, and the first significant discoveries were not made until the 1900s. Vidal (1902) reported the first Mesozoic avian remains (and their accidental destruction!) from a quarry of lithographic limestones in El Montsec, Lleida. Between 1918 and 1928, Royo Gómez published a series of papers on the dinosaur fauna from the Early Cretaceous (and probably also Late Jurassic) of eastern Spain, including material from Castellón, Teruel, and Valencia (Royo Gómez, 1926a, 1926b; see Sanz, 1996; Diéguez et al., 2004; Pérez-García et al., 2009a). In Burgos and Soria, Royo Gómez (1926c) reported the first dinosaur bones, but systematic excavations were not undertaken until recently (Fuentes-Vidarte et al., 2005; Torcida Fernández -Baldor, 2006). In Teruel, the first finds in the Galve area were made during the 1950s (Fernández-Galiano, 1958). Lapparent (1960) described the dinosaurs of Galve and noted the discovery of new Wealden remains in several localities of Teruel, Albacete, Cuenca, and Valencia (Lapparent, 1966; Lapparent et al., 1969). However, the majority of this material has never been described, and the stratigraphical context of the fossiliferous sites remains unknown. Some of them might in fact correspond to the Purbeck facies of...

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