Nuevos restos fósiles del dinosaurio Lirainosaurus (Sauropoda, Titanosauria) en el Cretácico Superior (Campaniano-Maastrichtiano) de la Península Ibérica

Abstract

The sauropod Lirainosaurus astibiae Sanz et al., 1999, a mediumsized, gracile titanosaur (about 8-10 m in length), is known by a fragmentary skull, teeth and postcranial bones from the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian to early Maastrichtian) of Laño, northern Iberian Peninsula. The aim of this paper is to describe new fossil bones of Lirainosaurus which constitute the first record of Lirainosaurus outside its type locality. The new material, recovered from lacustrine levels of the Sierra Perenchiza Formation (late Campanian to early Maastrichtian) at Chera locality (Valencia Province, eastern Spain), consists of vertebral remains, pectoral girdle elements and limb bones. The material is referred to Lirainosaurus cf. astibiae on the basis of the presence of the following autapomorphies: (1) posterior caudal centra characterized by a restricted articular condyle with a sagittal condylar groove, (2) prominent ridge on the ventral margin of the scapular blade, and (3) coracoidal foramen located close to the scapular border and to the dorsal margin of the coracoid. This combination of features is exclusive of Lirainosaurus. Other diagnostic features of L. astibiae are not preserved or can not be recognised in the recovered material. Lirainosaurus has been previously related with the Saltasaurinae of South America, but clear phylogenetic affinities can be only recognized with a more inclusive clade, the Eutitanosauria. This interpretation is coherent with the wide biogeographical distribution of the eutitanosaurians during the Late Cretaceous.