By Stephen Beech via SWNS
A new species of long-necked dinosaur that lived 75 million years ago has been discovered in Spain.
Evidence was found among more than 12,000 fossils collected from 2007 onwards during works to install the Madrid-Levante high-speed train (AVE) tracks.
Analysis of the huge collection has identified several new species and increased the understanding of the ecosystems of the region during the Late Cretaceous period.
Portuguese paleontologist Doctor Pedro Mocho, who led the research, said that the new species of sauropod dinosaur that lived in Cuenca, Spain, 75 million years ago has been named Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra.
He explained that the name is made up of several geographic and cultural references close to the Lo Hueco site.
“Qunka” refers to the oldest etymology of the toponym from the Cuenca and Fuentes area, “Saura” alludes to the feminine of the Latin saurus (lizard), but also pays homage to the painter Antonio Saura.
“Pintiquiniestra” refers to the giant “Queen Pintiquiniestra” – a character from a novel mentioned in ‘Don Quixote by Cervantes.
Dr. Mocho, of the University of Lisbon in Portugal, said: “The study of this specimen allowed us to identify for the first time the presence of two distinct lineages of saltasauroids in the same fossil locality.
“One of these groups, called Lirainosaurinae, is relatively known in the Iberian region and is characterized by small and medium-sized species, which evolved in an island ecosystem.
“In other words, Europe was a huge archipelago made up of several islands during the Late Cretaceous.
“However, Qunkasaura belongs to another group of sauropods, represented in the Iberian Peninsula by medium-large species 73 million years ago.
“This suggests to us that this lineage arrived in the Iberian Peninsula much later than other groups of dinosaurs.”
He says one of the most relevant features of the Lo Hueco fossil record is the abundance of large partial skeletons of sauropod dinosaurs, which are rare in the rest of Europe.
Dr. Mocho said: “Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra stands out for being one of the most complete sauropod skeletons found in Europe, including cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, part of the pelvic girdle and elements of the limbs.
“Their unique morphology, especially in the tail vertebrae, offers new insights into the non-avian dinosaurs of the Iberian Peninsula, a historically poorly understood group.”
The study, published in the journal Communications Biology, identifies Qunkasaura as a representative of the opisthocoelicaudine saltasaurids, a group present in the northern hemisphere.
Most Late Cretaceous sauropods from southwestern Europe, including Lohuecotitan pandafilandi – previously described from Lo Hueco, belong to the group Lirainosaurinae, apparently exclusive to the European continent.
The new study suggests that Lo Hueco is the only place where both groups are known to coexist, and proposes a new group of titanosaurs called Lohuecosauria, which includes representatives of both lineages.
Dr. Mocho says Lohuecosaurs may have originated on the southern continents before dispersing globally.
He added: “Fortunately, the Lo Hueco deposit also preserves several skeletons of sauropod dinosaurs to be determined, which may correspond to new species and which will help us understand how these animals evolved.”
Part of the skeleton of Qunkasaura is already on display in the Paleontological Museum of Castilla-La Mancha in Cuenca.
