A dusty hillside close to the village of Riodeva in Spain’s Teruel province has yielded a fossil prize that’s turning heads in dinosaur analysis circles. It’s the best-preserved stegosaur cranium ever present in Europe.
Found on the Están de Colón quarry, the partial skull belongs to Dacentrurus armatus. The species was first named 150 years in the past, however was beforehand recognized principally from scattered bones and armor plates.
The brand new specimen, paired with a whole bunch of further skeletal components from the identical web site, is permitting paleontologists to redraw the evolutionary map of stegosaurs worldwide.
Full and fragile fossil discover
Discovering any dinosaur cranium intact is uncommon; the skinny bones are inclined to disintegrate lengthy earlier than they will fossilize.
Stegosaurs pose an additional problem as a result of their small heads typically separate from the physique throughout burial. Researchers excavated the Riodeva cranium from the Villar del Arzobispo Formation and dated it to about 150 million years in the past. It preserves essential elements of the snout, higher jaw, and braincase.
Sergio Sánchez Fenollosa is the lead writer of the examine and a paleontologist on the Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis.
“The detailed examine of this distinctive fossil has allowed us to disclose beforehand unknown elements of the anatomy of Dacentrurus armatus, the quintessential European stegosaur,” he mentioned.
“Dinosaurian skulls are not often preserved because of the excessive fragility of their bones. This discovery is vital to understanding how stegosaurian skulls advanced.”
The cranium was not alone. Excavations at Están de Colón have produced greater than 200 bones, representing not less than two people – one a juvenile.
Such mixed-age materials is “a very uncommon mixture in such a dinosaurs,” Sánchez Fenollosa famous. It presents researchers a snapshot of progress levels inside the identical species, one thing seldom out there for plated dinosaurs.
Stegosaur cranium redraws the household tree
Utilizing new cranium information, scientists analyzed 30 stegosaur species throughout 115 traits to map their evolutionary relationships. Their conclusions upend a number of longstanding assumptions.
Chief amongst them is the proposal of a brand-new clade, Neostegosauria. This group gathers moderate-to-large plated dinosaurs that roamed Africa and Europe within the Center and Late Jurassic, North America within the Late Jurassic, and Asia into the Early Cretaceous.
By anchoring this group on well-preserved cranium materials reasonably than fragmentary limb bones or armor plates, the researchers argue they will extra securely hint how sure hallmark options advanced.
These embrace traits like plated backs and spiked tails, which appeared in parallel lineages.
A twin acquire for paleontology
The mixture of a spectacular fossil and a sweeping evolutionary re-evaluation offers the examine uncommon weight.
“This twin achievement – each the examine of an distinctive fossil and the proposal of a brand new evolutionary speculation – positions this analysis as a worldwide reference in stegosaurian research,” defined co-author Alberto Cobos, the managing director of Fundación Dinópolis.
Cobos added that the quarry nonetheless holds “quite a few related fossils, together with extra postcranial components from the identical grownup specimen and, notably, juvenile people.”
Every new discover provides to the province’s rising popularity as Spain’s premier dinosaur searching floor.
The facility of 1 cranium
Stegosaur skulls are small and fragile, but full of important clues concerning the group’s evolutionary historical past. The braincase reveals sensory priorities; jaw form hints at food regimen; tooth sign how a species processed vegetation.
With Riodeva’s specimen, scientists can take a look at whether or not European stegosaurs had totally different feeding methods from their better-known North American cousin. Early observations counsel a narrower beak and otherwise set cheek tooth, doubtlessly indicating variation in plant selection between the 2 continents’ ecosystems.
The cranium additionally exhibits attachment factors for neck muscle groups that supported the animal’s iconic plates and spines.
Understanding these connections may illuminate how Dacentrurus displayed or defended itself – key questions in debates over whether or not plates had been primarily for thermoregulation, intimidation, or species recognition.
Why this stegosaur cranium is essential
Teruel’s dinosaur riches stretch past stegosaurs. The identical rock layers have delivered sauropod giants, ornithopods, and historic crocodile kin, portray a vivid image of an Iberian ecosystem teeming with life on the shut of the Jurassic.
By putting Dacentrurus firmly inside that mosaic, the brand new examine helps palaeontologists align European fossil websites with these in Portugal, Tanzania, and the American West.
Simply as essential, the invention underscores the worth of meticulous regional fieldwork. Whereas high-profile websites in North America and East Africa have lengthy dominated dinosaur lore, provinces like Teruel show that groundbreaking specimens nonetheless lie in much less well-known outcrops.
“These discoveries proceed to exponentially improve the paleontological heritage of the province of Teruel, making it one of many iconic areas for understanding the evolution of life on Earth,” Cobos mentioned.
Extra fossils, extra questions
The Riodeva staff plans additional CT scanning and digital reconstruction of the Stegosaur cranium, which can permit 3-D printing and digital sharing with researchers worldwide.
As new bones depart the rock, they are going to take a look at the Neostegosauria speculation in opposition to further information.
In the meantime, museumgoers and dinosaur fanatics can stay up for seeing the restored cranium on show at Dinópolis.
A century-and-a-half-old European dinosaur lastly will get to indicate its face – and maybe change the plated dinosaur story for good.
The examine is printed within the journal Vertebrate Zoology.
Picture Credit score: Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis
—–
Like what you learn? Subscribe to our newsletter for participating articles, unique content material, and the newest updates.
Verify us out on EarthSnap, a free app delivered to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.
—–
