Sail-Backed Dinosaur Specimen Discovered in Valencian Community, Spain

Summary: Scientists in Madrid announce the discovery in 2013 and identification in 2015 of a sail-backed dinosaur specimen in central-east Spain’s Valencian Community.

life reconstruction of Morelladon beltrani, Early Cretaceous sail-backed dinosaur discovered in Morella, Comunitat Valenciana, southeastern Spain: Carlos de Miguel Chaves, CC BY 4.0, via EurekAlert!

Scientists in Madrid, Spain, announced the discovery of a sail-backed dinosaur specimen in an article published Dec. 16, 2015, by PLOS ONE, open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the California-based Public Library of Science.

The five co-researchers and co-writers based their taxonomy of the sail-backed dinosaur specimen, Morelladon beltrani (Victor Beltrán’s Morella-excavated tooth), upon an incomplete skeleton discovered in 2013. Collections at the Museo de la Valltorta in Tirig, Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain, contained the specimen’s neural spines, pelvic bones, rib fragments, teeth, tibia and vertebrae. The five scientists described eight distinct features, among which include lower vertebrae, pelvic ridge and neural spines, as warranting the specimen’s separate genus and species status.

The sail-like spines emerge as most intriguing.

Fernando Escaso, paleontologist with the Evolutionary Biology Group of Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, finds that such sail-like structures are not specific to Morelladon beltrani.

The fossil record gives sail-backed structures to Arizonasaurus (Arizona lizard), Dimetrodon (two teeth shapes), Edaphosaurus (pavement lizard) and Platyhystrix (flat porcupine) millions of years before dinosaurs. Morelladon’s contemporaries, Ouranosaurus (brave monitor lizard) 125 million to 112 million years ago and Spinosaurus (spine lizard) 112 million to 97 million years ago had sail-backs. Dr. Escaso indicates that sail-backs may have multi-tasked prehistoric communication, display (coquetry), fat storage (like modern-day bison and camels), heat release (like modern-day elephants) or intimidation.

Paul Sereno, paleontologist at the University of Chicago, judges display the predominant function.

Dr. Escaso knows that understanding the Mas de Sabaté specimen warrants further research: “We only have the bones. We don’t have fat, we don’t have tissue.”

But rocks within the Mas de la Parreta Quarry of Morella from the Barremian geologic timescale age let scientists date Morelladon to 125 million years ago. Skeletal remains make it possible paleo-artist Carlos de Miguel Chaves's reconstruction of Morelladon as a 2.5-meter- (8.20-foot-) high, 6-meter- (19.68-foot-) long styracosternan (spiked sternum) ornithopod (bird-footed). Scientists note that eco-system reconstructions suggest niches within lush river delta habitats with ambient temperatures between 40 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit (4.44 and 40 degrees Celsius).

Fossils offer as food cypress-like conifers and ferns and as predators Baryonyx (heavy-clawed).

Phylogenetics (evolutionary biology) prompt the co-authors identifying as relatives Iguanodon bernissartensis (Bernissart's iguana-tooth), Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis (Mantell's lizard in Atherfield) and Proa valdearinnoensis (Val de Ariño’s prow).

The four genera’s fossil records qualify styracosternans as abundant in the Arcillas de Morella (Morella clays) Formation, which includes Mas de Parreta and Mas de Sabaté. Central east Spain’s fossil-rich quarry reveals an eco-system where life cycles of diverse crocodilians, dinosaurs (meat- and plant-eating) and pterosaurs (flying reptiles) overlap and where styracosternans prevail.

Co-authors Fernando Escaso, Iván Narváez and Francisco Ortega of Universidad Autónoma, and José Miguel Gasulla and José Luis Sanz of Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia suggest Iberia as “a highly diverse Early Cretaceous medium-large bodied styracosternan assemblage worldwide.”

geographic location of Morelladon beltrani holotype specimen ~ A = Castellón province and Morella locality in Spain. B = schematic regional map of area of Morella locality indicating location of the Mas de la Parreta Quarry (black star). C = photography showing location of holotype site in CMP-MS area (dash line): José Miguel Gasulla et al, CC BY 4.0, via PLOS ONE

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Morelladon beltrani: Carlos de Miguel Chaves, CC BY 4.0, via EurekAlert! @ http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/105154.php?from=314190

fossil's geographic location: José Miguel Gasulla et al, CC BY 4.0, via PLOS ONE @ http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144167#pone-0144167-g001

For further information:

Botkin-Kowacki, Eva. 16 December 2015. “Bizarre New Dinosaur Species Sported a Mysterious ‘Sail’ on Its Back.” The Christian Science Monitor > Science.
Available @ http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/1216/Bizarre-new-dinosaur-species-sported-a-mysterious-sail-on-its-back

Dunham, Will. 17 December 2015. “Unusual ‘Sail-Backed’ Dinosaur Roamed Spain 125 Million Years Ago.” Reuters > Tech > Science.
Available @ http://in.reuters.com/article/us-science-dinosaur-idINKBN0TZ2UP20151216

EFE. 17 December 2015. “Researchers Discover New Sailed Back’ Dinosaur Species in Spain.” Fox News Latino > Lifestyle.
Available @ http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2015/12/17/researchers-find-new-dinosaur-species-in-eastern-spain/

Gasulla, José Migue; Escaso, Fernando; Narváez, Iván; Ortega, Francisco; Sanz, José Luis. 16 December 2015. “A New Sail-Backed Styracosternan (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Morella, Spain.” PLOS ONE 10(12): e0144167, pages 1-27. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone/0144167
Available @ http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144167#pone-0144167-g001

GeoBeats News. 17 December 2015. "Meet the New 'Sail-Backed' Dinosaur From Spain." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W1NJbJ-i14

Nature World News @NatureWorldNews. 17 December 2015. "New Dinosaur With 'Sail' On Its Back Roamed Spain 125 Million Years Ago." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NatureWorldNews/status/677556253627777025

“New Species of ‘Sail-Backed’ Dinosaur Found in Spain.” Phys.Org > Other Sciences > Archaeology & Fossils > Dec. 16, 2015.
Available @ http://phys.org/news/2015-12-species-sail-backed-dinosaur-spain.html

PLOS. 16 December 2015. “New Species of ‘Sail-Backed’ Dinosaur Found in Spain: New ‘Sail-Backed’ Styracosterna Dinosaur Has Tall Neural Spines on Vertebrae.” ScienceDaily > Science News.
Available @ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151216151607.htm

Reuters. 16 December 2015. “Sail-Backed Dinosaur Remains Found in Northeastern Spain.” Voice of America > News / Science & Technology.
Available @ http://www.voanews.com/content/sail-backed-dinosaur-remains-found-northeastern-spain/3106555.html

Stewart, Gabrielle. 17 December 2015. “A New Sail-Backed Dinosaur Was Found in Spain.” Utah People’s Post.
Available @ http://www.utahpeoplespost.com/2015/12/a-new-sail-backed-dinosaur-was-found-in-spain/

Tennant, Jon. 16 December 2015. “Thumbs up to New Sail-Backed Dinosaur!” PLOS Blogs > Dinosaurs > PLOS Paleo.
Available @ http://blogs.plos.org/paleocomm/2015/12/16/thumbs-up-to-new-sail-backed-dinosaur/