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From the Upper Cretaceous of Valencia, Spain

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From the Upper Cretaceous of Valencia, Spain ORYCTOS,VoI.1 : l2I - 126,Octobre 1998 FIRSTDATA ON THE HADROSAURIDDINOSAURS (ORNITHISCHIA, DINOSAURH) FROMTHE UPPERCRETACEOUS OF VALENCIA,SPAIN. 12, Julio COMPANY Angel GALOBART 3 and Rodrigo GAETE 3 ' Colegio Universitario C.E.U. San Pablo. Avenida seminario s/n,46113 Moncada, Valencia, Espafla. 'Universidad de Valencia. Departamentode Geologîa,46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Espafla. 3 Institut de Paleontologia "M. Crusafont". Escola Industrial 23,08201, Sabadell,Espafla. Abstract : Recently,remains of dinosaursassigned to the family Hadrosauridaehave beenrecovered from the Upper Cretaceouslocality of La Solana, Spain. The material presentedhere consists of a lower jaw and severalfragmen- tary isolated teeth. Diagnostic featuresof bonesplace the hadrosaursfrom Spain closer to the hadrosauriddinosaurs from southernFrance than to Tblmatosaurustranssylvanicus from the Maastrichtian of Romania. Keywords.- Upper Cretaceous,hadrosauridae, dentary, La Solana locality, Spain. Premièresdonnées sur lesdinosaures hadrosauridés (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) du Crétacésupérieur de Valence,Espagne. Résumé : Des restesde dinosauresdu Crétacé supérieurde Valence (Espagne)sont rapportésà la famille des Hadrosauridae.Le matériel comprend un fragment de dentaire et plusieurs dents isolées.les caracterfstiquesde ces os les rapprochentde ceux du Maastrichtien du sud-ouestde la Francel ils sont clairement différents de ceux de Telmatosaurustranssylvanicus de Roumanie. (traduit par la rédaction) Mots clés.- Crétacé supérieu4 dinosaureshadrosauridés, dentaire, La Solana, Espagne. INTRODUCTION Other specimens are referred to Hadrosauridae indet. (Laurent, 1996; Le Læuff et al. 1993; Different localities in Europe have provided Wellnhofer, 1994; Mulder et al., 1997) remains of hadrosaurid dinosaurs (fig. 1) (Le Læuff et al., 1993). At present, some of these specimens have been assigned to three different genera: GEOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGIC SETTING Telmatosattrus, Orthomerus and Pararhabdodon, although several authors consider a possible synony- The vertebrate locality of La Solana is located my between Telmatosaurus and Orthomerus (Paris near the village of Carlet, in Tous County, about 40 & Taquet, 1973; Brinkmann, 1984; Mulder 1984). km. to the SW of Valencia, Spain (fig. 1). The most complete specimens belong to The outcrop is placed in the southeasternmargin Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus from the Hateg of the Iberian Chain and comprises the uppermost Region in Romania (Nopcsa, 1900, 1903; member of the continental sediments of the Weishampel et al., 199I, 1993). Orthomerus dolloi, Limestones and Marls of the Sierra Perenchiza from the Maastrichtian of Belgium (Buffetaut et al., Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian : Gutiérrez et 1985; Brinkmann, 1988), and Pararhabdodon iso- al., 1984). In the area studied, these beds are folded nensis (Casanovas et al., 1993, 1997; Laurent, in a syncline with nearly continuous exposuresalong 1996), from the Tremp Basin (Spain) and southern a E-W trend. Bones were collected from continental France, ate two other hadrosaurid dinosaurs,but they beds arranged in a sequence of fine-grained sand- are actually known only by scarce cranial and post- stones, silty marls and dark clays. This unit is over- cranial elements. lain by fluvial Paleogenedeposits. 12I ORYCTOS.Vol. 1. 1998 \*.lJï:i". Fig.l - Geographic distribution of hadrosaur material. A: location map of Europe showing the main Late Cretaceousdinosaur localities where remains of hadrosaurs have been collected. 1: Hateg Basin (Transylvania, Romania );2: Bakhtchisarar (Crimea, Ucrania); 3: Localities of Le Jadet,Auzas, Tricouté and Lestaillats (Haute Garonne, France); 4: Mérigon (Ariège, France); 5: Le Bexen (Aude, France); 6: Maastricht area (Limburg, Belgium and Netherlands); 7: Els Nerets and Sant Romà d'Abella (Tremp Basin, Spain); 8: La Solana (Valencia, Spain); 9: BadAdelholzen (Bavaria, Germany). B: location of La Solana locality, near the village of Carlet, in the province ofValencia (Spain). Fig.1 - Distribution géographiquedes hadrosauridés.A: carte d'Europe montrant les principaux gisementsà hadrosauridésdu CréIacésupérieur. B: localisation du gisementde La Solana,près du village de Carlet, province deValencia(Espagne) A preliminary list of the findings includes plant 220I) and two fragmented maxillary teeth (MGUV microfossils and carbonaceousplant remains, fresh- 2232, MGUV 2233). These teeth vary considerably water gastropods, ostracods and bivalves, abundant in dimensions, so we believe that they belong to indi- fish scales, fragments of bones of chelonians and viduals of different size. small amphibians, crocodilian teeth, and fragmenta- ry remains of hadrosaurid dinosaurs. The fossil assemblage and the sedimentological features sug- DESCRIPTION gest a lacustrine or a swamp environment. Dentary. MGUV 2200 is a I82 mm long, left dentary which preserves several tooth families and MATERIAL part of the bony plate that originally covered them (fig. 2). This specimen is not complete, as the rostral The material collected consists of fragmentary end is not preserved. cranial and postcranial elements (an incomplete left The body of the dentary is rectangular, with the dentary, severalisolated teeth, fragmentary ribs, seve- dorsal margin almost straight and the ventral side ral fragmented vertebral centra, the proximal end of slightly convex. The coronoid process,highly develo- the left humerus and a fuagment of the right femoral ped, arises from the caudal end of the laterul surface shaft). The specimensdescribed here are a left denta- of the dentary. It extends outward and upward, per- ry (MGUV 2200), a single dentary tooth (MGUV pendicularly to the main body of the dentary. r22 COMPANY, GALOBART & GAETE - SPANISHHADROSAURIDS The lateral surface of the dentary is strongly The crown is lanceolate in lingual view and is convex in its posterior portion, where the base of the almost straight in mesiodistal view. The crown flanks coronoid process is formed, and concave in its ante- are flat, and the edges bear small marginal denticles rior part. It presents five small foramina that are not supported by ridges. This feature differs clearly directed backwards. from that of T. transsylvanicus (Weishampel et al., Over the medial dentary face, 18 complete or r99r, 1993). fragmentary teeth are preserved, affanged in 12 verti- MGUV 2232 and MGUV 2233 aretwo large, cal rows and partially covered by a thin bony plate hadrosaurmaxillary teeth.MGUV 2232 includesthe (tooth description below). About 17 dental alveoli are apexend of a crown and MGUY 2233 (fig. 4) is an present too, although the rostral ones are incomplete- almost completetooth with a well-preservedcrown ly preserved. Consequently, there are approximately (maximutrnwidth , II mm; length, 32 mm) and a bro- 29 tooth positions. The alveoli, about 3-5 mm wide, ken root. Teeth show no sign of wear. Both teeth are bend forwards and decrease in size rostrally. Along squareto subrhomboidalin cross section.In mesio- the medial side of the dentary, below the alveoli, a distal view, the crown of each individual tooth is row of foramina, partially preserved, opens through strongly curvedlingually. The crown is elongate and the bony plate. A large cavity, the mandibular fossa, only its buccal face is enameled.It presentsa high opens posteriorly in the caudal side of the dentary. longitudinal carina that is offset distally, and two This cavity extends forwards as an elliptical foramen shortsecondary ridges at the baseof the mesialregion within the dentary: the supra-Meckelian foramen. The of the crown. Between the median carina and the greater axis of this opening is oblique, while it is ver- marginalrims, the crown flanks arecurved. The mar- tical in klmatosaurus transsylvanicus (Le Læuff et gins of the crown are elevatedand display smooth al., 1993). On the other hand, the mandibular fossa papillations. continues downwards as a naffow groove, the Mecke- lian canal, that runs forwards through the ventral margin of the dentary. The angular and splenial, which form the floor of the Meckelian canal, are missing. Dentition MGUV 220I is an unworn small-sized hadrosaur dentary tooth (8 mm wide) that includes one-third of the apex end of a crown. It presentsthe samefeatures than those of the teeth preserved in MGUV 2200 (fig. 3). The crown is enameled only on the lingual face and is ornamented by a sharp median carina and by a faint secondary ridge, mesially placed. Fig.2 - Left dentary of Hadrosauridae indet. (MGUY 2200) from La Solana locality. A: medial view. B: lateral view. Abbreviations: Cp, coronoid process;Db, dental battery; A1, alveoli; Mc, Mec- kelian canal; Mt mental foramina. Scalebar = 50 mm. Fig.2 - Dentaire gaucheMGUV 2200 du gisement de La Solana. A: vue médiale. B: vue lat&ale. Abréviations: Cp, processuscoronoïde; Db, batte- rie dental; Al, alvéoles;Mc: canal de Meckel; Mf, foramensmentonniers. Barre d'échelle = 50 film. 123 ORYCTOS,Vol. 1, 1998 Fig.3 - Comparison of dentary teeth of Late Cretaceous :::::i1r-* hadrosaursfrom Europe.A: lingual view of dentary tooth of Hadrosauridae indet. (MDE-Ma1-01) from Tricouté (Fr), (Redrawn from Laurent, 1996). B: lingual view of left denta- ry tooth of Hadrosauridaeindet. (MGUY 2200; in situ rooth) from La Solana(Sp) with an enlargementof mesial denticles. C: lingual view of dentary tooth of T. transsylvanicus from HategBasin (Ro), (AfterV/eishampelet a\.,1993). Scalebar for A-D = 10 mm. Fig.3 - Dents dentaires d'hadrosauridésdes gisements d'Europe. A: dent dentaire d'Hadrosauridae
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