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| Riojavenatrix lacustris Isasmendi, Cuesta, Díaz-Martínez, Company, Sáez-Benito, Viera, Torices & Pereda-Suberbiola, 2024 Reconstruction by Adrián Blázquez Riola twitter.com/AdriSuchoBlaink |
Abstract
A new member of Spinosauridae from the Enciso Group (uppermost Barremian–lower Aptian) from Igea (La Rioja, Spain) is here erected on the basis of axial, pelvic girdle, and hindlimb elements that exhibit a unique combination of characters. Riojavenatrix lacustris gen. et sp. nov. is one of the latest Iberian and European spinosaurid taxa. It retains a triangular pubic boot, like the megalosaurids, and a medial condyle of the femur that shows a transitional stage between the anteroposteriorly oriented long axis of non-spinosaurid theropods and the posteromedially oriented long axis of Spinosauridae. The spinosaurid record of Iberia ranges from the late Hauterivian–early Barremian to the latest Barremian–early Aptian so far, and both the oldest and the most recent evidence comes from the Cameros Basin, where spinosaurid remains are especially abundant in the Barremian deposits. A review of the spinosaurid record has allowed us to dismiss the presence of the genus Baryonyx from Iberia; hence, only Camarillasaurus, Iberospinus, Protathlitis, Riojavenatrix gen. nov., and Vallibonavenatrix are considered to be present in the Early Cretaceous of Iberia. According to this study, Riojavenatrix is one of the youngest baryonychines in the fossil record.
Baryonychinae, dinosaur, Early Cretaceous, Europe, Iberian Peninsula, Megalosauroidea, Spinosauridae, Theropoda
Riojavenatrix lacustris gen. et sp. nov
Erik Isasmendi, Elena Cuesta, Ignacio Díaz-Martínez, Julio Company, Patxi Sáez-Benito, Luis I Viera, Angelica Torices and Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola. 2024. Increasing the Theropod Record of Europe: A New basal spinosaurid from the Enciso Group of the Cameros Basin (La Rioja, Spain). Evolutionary Implications and Palaeobiodiversity. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society., zlad193. DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad193
