La Cantalera: an exceptional window onto the vertebrate biodiversity of the Hauterivian-Barremian transition in the Iberian Peninsula

[EN]La Cantalera is an accumulation site for fossil vertebrates consisting mainly of teeth and isolated postcranial remains. It has the greatest vertebrate biodiversity of any site from the Hauterivian-Barremian transition in the Iberian Peninsula. Up to now, 31 vertebrate taxa have been recognized:...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Canudo, José Ignacio, Gasca Pérez, José Manuel, Aurell, M., Badiola, A., Blain, H.-a., Cruzado-Caballero, Penélope, Gomez-Fernández, D., Moreno-Azanza, Miguel, Parrilla, J., Rabal-Garces, R., Ruiz-Omenaca, J. I.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2010
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/155547
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/155547
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Vertebrados
Biodiversidad
Cordillera Ibérica
Hauteriviense-Barremiense
Vertebrata
Biodiversity
Iberian Range
Hauterivian-Barremian,
Spain
Vertebrates
Paleontology
Geology
2506 Geología
2416 Paleontología
2416.05 Paleontología de Los Vertebrados
paleontología
geología
vertebrados
Descripción
Sumario:[EN]La Cantalera is an accumulation site for fossil vertebrates consisting mainly of teeth and isolated postcranial remains. It has the greatest vertebrate biodiversity of any site from the Hauterivian-Barremian transition in the Iberian Peninsula. Up to now, 31 vertebrate taxa have been recognized: an osteichthyan (Teleostei indet.), two amphibians (Albanerpetonidae indet. and Discoglos-sidae indet.), a chelonian (Pleurosternidae? indet.), a lizard (Paramacellodidae? indet.), four crocodylomorphs (cf. Theriosuchussp., Bernissartiidae indet., Goniopholididae indet., cf. Lisboasaurus sp.), two pterosaurs (Istiodactylidae? indet., Ornithocheiridae? indet.), four ornithopod dinosaurs (Iguanodontoidea indet., Hadrosauroidea? indet., “Hypsilophodontidae” indet., Rhabdodonti-dae? indet.), a thyreophoran (Polacanthidae indet.), a sauropod (Euhelopodidae indet.), eleven theropods (Carcharodontosauridae? indet., Baryonychinae indet., aff. Paronychodon sp., Maniraptora indet. 1-3, Dromaeosaurinae indet. 1-3, Velociraptorinae indet., Avialae? indet.) and three or four multituberculate mammals (Cantalera abadi, Eobaatar sp., Plagiaulacidae or Eobaataridae gen. et sp. indet., “Plagiaulacida” indet.). Nine ootaxa have also been distinguished at the site of La Cantalera. Oofamilies assigned to dinosaurs (Elongaloolithidae, Prismatoolithidae, cf. Spheroolithidae), to crocodiles (Krokolithidae) and eggshells of two oofamilies incertidae sedis are represented. This association is consistent with the record of bone and tooth remains from the site. La Cantalera was formed in a marshy environment where there was an intermittent body of water. The great majority of the vertebrate fossil remains lack evidence of transport, so the preserved association is a good representation of the vertebrate ecosystem in or around the marshy area of La Cantalera. The vertebrate association of La Cantalera displays certain differences with respect to those from lacustrine environments of the Hauterivian-Barremian transition of the Iberian Range. These differences include, for example, the absence of Chondrichthyes, the merely token presence of the osteichthyans, the scarcity of chelonians, the presence of exclusively multituberculate mammals, the lower diversity of sauropods and the greater diversity of theropods.