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First record of stegosaur dinosaur tracks in the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian) of Europe (Oncala group, Soria, Spain)

Carlos Pascual, José Ignacio Canudo, Nieves Hernández, José Luis Barco, and Diego Castanera

Geodiversitas Jun 2012 : Vol. 34, Issue 2, pg(s) 297- 312https://doi.org/10.5252/g2012n2a4

Abstract & References

First record of stegosaur dinosaur tracks in the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian) of Europe (Oncala group, Soria, Spain)

and

Received: November 24, 2009; Accepted: January 17, 2011

[+] Author & Article Info

Author Affiliations

Carlos Pascual

IES, Margarita de Fuenmayor, c/ Moisés Calvo 37, E-42100 Ágreda, Soria (Spain) capascual-1@telefonica.net

José Ignacio Canudo

Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, c/ Pedro Cerbuna 12, E-50009 Zaragoza (Spain) jicanudo@unizar.es.

Nieves Hernández

c/ Jorge Vigón 37, E-26003 Logroño, La Rioja (Spain) mnhernandez@terra.es

José Luis Barco

Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, c/ Pedro Cerbuna 12, E-50009 Zaragoza (Spain) and Paleoymás, Polígono INBISA — Empresahum, c/ Retama, 17 Nave 24C, E-50720 Cartuja Baja, Zaragoza (Spain) jlbarco@paleoymas.com

Diego Castanera

Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, c/ Pedro Cerbuna 12, E-50009 Zaragoza (Spain) dcastanera@hotmail.es

Pascual C., Canudo J. I., Hernández N., Barco J. L. & Castanera D. 2012. — First record of stegosaur dinosaur tracks in the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian) of Europe (Oncala group, Soria, Spain). Geodiversitas 34 (2): 297–312.

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ABSTRACT

This paper describes for the first time a stegosaur track from the Cretaceous of Europe. It focuses on a cast that preserves pes-manus tracks recovered in the Huérteles Alloformation of the Berriasian of Soria (northern Spain). This track has been assigned to Deltapodus isp. on the basis of the pes morphology. Nonetheless, in the manus lacks the claw-shaped imprint of the pollex that characterizes Deltapodus brodricki Whyte & Romano, 1994, the type ichnospecies of the ichnogenus Deltapodus Whyte & Romano, 1994. The stegosaurs were abundant and diverse in the Late Jurassic of the Iberian Peninsula, as evidenced by their ichnological and osseous record. The presence of Deltapodus isp. provides further support for the view that the stegosaurs did not disappear in the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary crisis and kept going on the Iberian Peninsula for at least for the initial part of the Early Cretaceous.

RÉSUMÉ

Premier signalement de traces de stégosaure du Crétacé inférieur (Berriasien) d'Europe (groupe Oncala, Soria, Espagne).

Ce travail décrit pour la première fois une empreinte de stégosaure du Crétacé d'Europe. Il s'agit d'un moulage naturel qui conserve les ichnites de pieds et de mains, provenant de l'alloformation de Huérteles du Berriasien de Soria (nord de l'Espagne). Cette empreinte a été identifiée comme appartenant à Deltapodus sp., sur la base de la morphologie du pied. Cependant, dans la main, manque l'empreinte des griffes du pouce qui caractérise Deltapodus brodricki Whyte & Romano, 1995, l'espèce type de l'ichnogenre Deltapodus Whyte & Romano, 1995. Les stégosaures ont été très nombreux et variés durant le Jurassique supérieur sur la Péninsule Ibérique, tel que l'indique leur registre iconologique et osseux. La présence de Deltapodus isp. montre que les stégosaures n'ont pas complètement disparu lors de la crise de la limite Jurassique-Crétacé et qu'ils ont survécu pendant une partie du Crétacé inférieur dans la Péninsule Ibérique.

Keywords: Stegosauria, Deltapodus, Berriasian, Cameros Basin, Soria, Spain, Stegosauria, Deltapodus, Berriasien, bassin de Cameros, Soria, Espagne

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