Program and abstracts XVII Conference of the EAVP – Brussels, Belgium 2 – 6 July 2019 2 3 4 5 6 A POSSIBLE ANHANGUERAN PTEROSAUR MANDIBLE FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS OF GERMANY P. Abel1, J. J. Hornung2, B. P. Kear3, S. Sachs4* 1Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübigen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany 2Landesmuseum Hannover, 30169 Hannover, Germany 3Museum of Evolution, Uppsale University, 753 26 Uppsala, Sweden 4Abteilung Geowissenschaften, Naturkundemuseum Bielefeld, 33602 Bielefeld, Germany *presenting author, [email protected] Key words: Pterosauria, Anhangueria, Cretaceous, Valanginian Presentation type: poster Cretaceous pterosaur fossils are rare in Germany. The specimens documented to date are limited to only a few fragmentary body fossils and footprint traces from different Lower Cretaceous strata. Here we add to this sparse, but palaeobiogeographically significant record with the description of an incomplete mandible from marine sediments of the lower Valanginian Stadthagen Formation of Sachsenhagen in northern Germany. The remains are represented by the posterior section of a gracile symphyseal rostrum with a delicate midline ridge along its ventral edge. A pronounced lateral longitudinal groove also extends below the alveolar rim. Broken tooth crowns are preserved in the mesiodistally elongate alveoli, which are widely spaced (increasingly so posteriorly) and labially inclined without raised rims. Although precise generic affinities are uncertain, the shape and arrangement of the alveoli are reminiscent of Camposipterus nasutus Seeley 1869, from the Albian of England (which was defined on the basis of an incomplete cranial rostrum), as well as mandibles of the putative anhangueran taxon Cearadactylus atrox Leonardi & Borgomanero 1985, together with the unequivocal anhanguerids Anhanguera piscator Kellner & Tomida 2000, Tropeognathus mesembrinus Wellnhofer 1987, and Ludodactylus sibbicki Frey et al. 2003, (all of which additionally share the presence of a symphyseal ridge). We therefore conclude that the Stadthagen Formation pterosaur potentially constitutes one of the stratigraphically earliest occurrences of Anhangueria, and is at present the only known exemplar of this recovered from Germany. 7 The Sauropod, the Turtle, and the Tree: A Jurassic Fable J. Anquetin1,2*, C. Püntener3 1Jurassica Museum, Route de Fontenais 21, 2900 Porrentruy, Switzerland. 2Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Chemin du musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland. 3Section d’archéologie et paléontologie, Office de la culture, République et Canton du Jura, Hôtel des Halles, 2900 Porrentruy, Switzerland. *presenting author, [email protected] Keywords: taphonomy, dinosaur, sauropod, turtle, Thalassochelydia Presentation type: oral communication In the past two decades, the Canton of Jura in NW Switzerland has been the theatre of a unique experiment. During the construction of the A16 Transjurane Highway, palaeontological remains were systematically collected and their stratigraphical context recorded, leading up to a collection or more that 40,000 Mesozoic and Cenozoic fossils, as well as to the measurement of more than 14,000 dinosaur footprints. As conclusion to the study of the Late Jurassic turtles from this collection, we report two unique cases of fossil preservation and discuss their taphonomical context. The first case consists of a sub-complete turtle shell found embedded in Late Jurassic dinosaur-track-bearing laminites. The preservation of the shell suggests that it was trod on by a sauropod dinosaur after the death of the turtle. Examples of such non-predatory interactions are rare, or rarely reported, in the fossil record. The second case consists of an assemblage of more than 180 disarticulated shell bones and a turtle skull found together in a block of Late Jurassic limestone entangled in the roots of a tree deracinated by a storm. The accumulation of so many turtle bones in such a small block of rock remains unexplained and unprecedented in an otherwise well-explored stratigraphical layer. These remains can be attributed to a new species of coastal marine turtle. 8 THE TAXONOMIC DIVERSITY OF THE BARREMIAN ANUROFAUNA OF THE IBERIAN PLATE: OLD FINDS, NEW TAXA A. M. Báez1* 1CONICET, Departamento de Cs. Geológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad de Buenos Aires; Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Av. Angel Gallardo 470, 1405, Buenos Aires, Argentina. *presenting author, [email protected] Keywords: Anura, Cretaceous, Spain, Costata, osteology Presentation type: oral communication The Early Cretaceous continental successions of the Iberian Peninsula have yielded a significant number of well-preserved remains of plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates as a result of the intensive prospecting of recent years. Among vertebrates, remains of anurans have been recovered from many Barremian sites. Some of these finds consist of fragmentary bones whereas others furnish evidence on the skeletal morphology and proportions of the represented taxa. Notwithstanding, most of these records have been ascribed to the relatively basal extant costatan clade based on insufficient data. Revisions of some of these materials have demonstrated the presence of traits presumably plesiomorphic and unknown in living costatans, thereby casting doubts on their phylogenetic placements. Herein, undescribed incomplete, but articulated, specimens from the late Barremian Las Hoyas Konservat- lagerstätte are thoroughly discussed. One of them (MUPA LH 00004) is referred to the genus Wealdenbatrachus recorded in the nearby, coeval fossil site of Uña, and, thus, probably outside the costatan clade according to a recent study. The other specimen (MUPA LH 11392) is now known only from a photograph and a cast; based on the available evidence it has a combination of characters that differs from those of other known specimens from the same bearing beds and also from other Barremian localities, indicating that it pertains to an additional taxon among the anurans of Las Hoyas. Moreover, this combination is unknown within crown Costata and it likely places the taxon outside its basal node, although its position remains uncertain due to the incompleteness of the material. 9 A ‘CRYPTO-SPECIES’ OF EUSMILUS AND A NOVEL PHYLOGENY FOR THE NIMRAVIDAE RECOVERED BY BAYESIAN TIP-DATING P. Z. Barrett1* 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403, U.S.A. *presenting author, [email protected] Keywords: Nimravidae, Barbourofelidae, crypto-species, Bayesian, Tip-Dating Presentation type: oral communication The Nimravidae is an extinct family of Late Eocene to Late Miocene carnivorans commonly referred to as ‘false sabretooth cats.’ A newly described Oligocene member of this family is represented by specimens that are not new, but have been known (and published upon) by researchers for the past 86 years under a variety of names, such as c.f. Eusmilus. This ‘crypto-species’ eluded diagnosis, due largely to taxonomic difficulties in the family and inaccessibility to specimens (until recently) on permanent display. The phylogenetic position of this species was assessed relative to a near- comprehensive set of Eocene-Miocene taxa. Specifically, I implemented a Bayesian tip-dated analysis with the fossilized birth-death (FBD) model incorporating morphological (134 characters) and stratigraphic occurrence data. The analysis yields a dated phylogeny placing the entirety of the Nimravidae in a novel arrangement. The clade is split into two highly-supported subfamilies (posterior probability of 1.0), one of which displays a pattern of character acquisition convergent on feline morphology, while the other on extreme sabretooth features. Within the latter, all “barbourofelid” taxa were recovered as sister to earlier-occurring Eocene and Oligocene derived sabretooth taxa. These “barbourofelids” are in turn split into the historically posited tribes Afrosmilini and Barbourofelini. The results of this analysis illuminate the problems of ‘dark data’ (curated specimens that have largely been unaccessed) in museum collections and the new methodologies applicable to phylogenetic analyses of enigmatic taxa. 10 A LATE BARREMIAN ECOSYSTEM SUSTAINED BY FISHES AND SHRIMPS: EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM THE STUDY OF THE LAS HOYAS COPROLITES S. Barrios-de Pedro1*, K. Chin2, A.D. Buscalioni1 1Department of Biology (palaeontology), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C/ Darwin 2, 28049 Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain. 2Department of Geological Sciences and Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, 80309 Boulder, Colorado, United States of America. *presenting author, [email protected] Keywords: Early Cretaceous, microprobe, scales, thin sections, trophic interactions Presentation type: oral communication The Early Cretaceous locality of Las Hoyas (Cuenca, Spain) contains a wide floristic and faunistic diversity interpreted as characteristic of a wetland biota. The biodiversity is also reflected in the number of distinct coprolites, which vary in shape and in the type and density of inclusions. Thin sections of twenty coprolites, corresponding to seven of twelve described morphotypes, were studied to infer trophic interactions in the ancient ecosystem. Petrographic and electron microprobe analyses indicated that all coprolites have a microcrystalline phosphatic groundmass, and three coprofabrics were recognized. The fish-scales coprofabric was observed in cylinder and elongated morphotypes; scale fragments