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The Sociedade de História Natural in Torres Vedras, Portugal houses an extensive collection of as yet undescribed dinosaur tracks with ornithopod affinities. They have been collected from different Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian) geological formations (Praia de Amoreira-Porto Novo, Alcobaça, Sobral, and Freixial) that outcrop along the Portuguese coast, and belong to two different sub-basins of the Lusitanian Basin (the Consolação and Turcifal sub-basins). Three main morphotypes can be distinguished on the basis of size, mesaxony and the morphology of the metatarsophalangeal pad impression. The minute to small-sized morphotype is similar to the Anomoepus-like tracks identified in other Late Jurassic areas. The small to medium-sized morphotype resembles the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous ichnotaxon Dinehichnus, already known in the Lusitanian Basin. Interestingly, these two morphotypes can be distinguished qualitatively (slightly different size, metatarsophalangeal pad impression and digit morphology) but are nevertheless difficult to discriminate by quantitatively analysing their length-width ratio and mesaxony. The third morphotype is considered a large ornithopod footprint belonging to the ichnofamily Iguanodontipodidae. This ichnofamily is typical for Cretaceous tracksites but the new material suggests that it might also be present in the Late Jurassic. The three morphotypes show a negative correlation between size and mesaxony, so the smaller tracks show the stronger mesaxony, and the larger ones weaker mesaxony. The Upper Jurassic ornithopod record from the Lusitanian Basin has yielded both small and medium-sized ornithopod remains, mainly iguanodontians such as dryosaurids and ankylopollexians, which are the main candidates to be the trackmakers.

UID/HIS/04209/2013 A shell coming from an upper Oxfordian section of the Lusitanian Basin located in Alqueidão da Serra (Municipality of Porto de Mós, West Central Portugal) is here presented. It corresponds to the oldest remain of a turtle identified in Portugal. In fact, the record of Jurassic turtles identified in pre-Kimmeridgian levels of Europe is very scarce. The new specimen represents the second worldwide identification of a Plesiochelyid turtle (basal Eucryptodira) performed in pre-Kimmeridgian levels, being the only one recognized at generic level. Therefore, this specimen corresponds to the oldest identification of Craspedochelys, a genus well-represented in Kimmeridgian and Tithonian levels of several European countries. This finding contributes the first evidence on the synchronous coexistence of more than a member of Plesiochelyidae in pre-Kimmeridgian levels, which provides arguments to justify the relatively wide diversity known for this exclusively Jurassic clade during the Kimmeridgian and the Tithonian. authorsversion published

Fieldwork carried out during the past few years in the Algarve region (Portugal) has allowed the description of dinosaur tracks for the first time in the Mesozoic Algarve Basin. Five track levels of Early Barremian age have been described from the Santa and Salema tracksites situated near Vila do Bispo (southwest Algarve). These comprise theropod and iguanodontian footprints (Iguanodontipus isp. was identified at the Santa tracksite). A sequence of subcircular and tridactyl impressions with a characteristic morphology of ornithopod footprints with a high pace angulation value made it possible to determine how erosion changes the print morphology and to understand the sequences of subcircular impressions with a high value of pace angulation in the track record. These dinosaur footprints are preserved in marginal-marine carbonate sediments of a large inner shelf palaeoenvironment with shoals and tidal-flat areas that were periodically exposed. The warm and dry climate favoured extensive growth of algal mats and the deposition of dolomitic sediments. The discovery of these track levels has also enabled the palaeobiogeographical data available for the Early Cretaceous Iguanodontia of the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern Europe to be refined.

A new dinosaur tracksite in the Vale de Meios quarry (Serra de Aire Formation, Bathonian, Portugal)preserves more than 700 theropod tracks. They are organized in at least 80 unidirectional trackways arranged in a bimodal orientation pattern (W/NW and E/SE). Quantitative and qualitative comparisons reveal that the large tridactyl, elongated and asymmetric tracks resemble the typical Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Megalosauripus ichnogenus in all morphometric parameters. Few of the numerous tracks are preserved as elite tracks while the rest are preserved as different gradients of modified true tracks according to water content, erosive factors, radial fractures and internal overtrack formations. Taphonomical determinations are consistent with paleoenvironmental observations that indicate an inter-tidal flat located at the margin of a coastal barrier. The Megalosauripus tracks represent the oldest occurrence of this ichnotaxon and are attributed to large megalosaurid dinosaurs. Their occurrence in Vale de Meios tidal flat represents the unique paleoethological evidence of megalosaurids moving towards the lagoon, most likley during the low tide periods with feeding purposes.

The study in course of the materials rescued from the fire that in 1978, destroyed much of the palaeontological collections of the current National Museum of Natural History and Science (Museu Nacional de Historia Natural e da Ciencia) of Lisbon, has allowed the rediscovery of several Cretaceous cephalopods (and the corresponding original labels) that the renowned palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny, according to the wishes of the emperor Napoleon III, offered to the king Pedro V in 1855, in order to re-establish the good relationships between France and Portugal. These historical specimens correspond to nautiloids: Angulithes triangularisde Montfort, 1808; ammonoids: Phylloceras (Hypophylloceras) tethys (d'Orbigny, 1840), Ptychophylloceras (Semisulcatoceras) semisulcatum (d'Orbigny, 1840), Neolissoceras grasianum (d'Orbigny, 1840), Pleurohoplites (Pleurohoplites) renauxianus (d'Orbigny, 1840), Acanthoceras rhotomagense (Brongniart, 1822), Coilopoceras requienianus (d'Orbigny, 1840) and Turrilites (Turrilites) costatusLamarck, 1801; and belemnoids: Duvalia dilatata (de Blainville, 1827), Hibolithes subfusiformis (Raspail, 1829) and Belemnitella mucronata (von Schlotheim, 1813). All of them come from outcrops relevant for the French stratigraphy, and they seem to have been selected by d'Orbigny with a representative criterion.

The Galinha tracksite reveals a sequence of Bajocian—Bathonian limestones belonging to the Serra de Aire Formation (West-Central Portugal) and is one of the few sites in the world where Middle Jurassic sauropod dinosaur tracks can be found. This tracksite is characterised by the presence of long, wide gauge sauropod trackways, the Middle Jurassic age of which suggests these dinosaurs were more widely distributed over time than previously thought. Two trackways contain unique pes and manus prints with morphologies that allow a new sauropod ichnotaxon to be described: Polyonyx gomesi igen, et isp. nov. On the basis of different manus/pes prints and trackway features, the proposal is made to subdivide Sauropodomorpha ichno-morphotypes into five groups: Tetrasauropus-like, Otozoum-like, Breviparopus/Parabrontopodus-like; Brontopodus-like, and Polyonyx-like. Polyonyx gomesi igen, et isp. nov. is thought to represent a non-neosauropod eusauropod, with a well developed manus digit I. The posterior orientation of...

A recently discovered Early Cretaceous (early late Albian) dinosaur tracksite at Parede beach (Cascais, Portugal) reveals evidence of dinoturbation and at least two sauropod trackways. One of these trackways can be classified as narrow-gauge, which represents unique evidence in the Albian of the Iberian Peninsula and provides for the improvement of knowledge of this kind of trackway and its probable trackmaker, in an age when the sauropod record is scarce. These dinosaur tracks are preserved on the upper surface of a marly limestone bed that belongs to the Gale Formation (Agua Doce Member, middle to lower upper Albian). The study of thin-sections of the beds C22/24 and C26 in the Parede section has revealed a microfacies composed of foraminifers, radiolarians, ostracods, corals, bivalves, gastropods, and echinoids in a mainly wackestone texture with biomicritic matrix. These assemblages match with the lithofacies, marine molluscs, echinids, and ichnofossils sampled from the section and indicate a shallow marine, inner shelf palaeoenvironment with a shallowing-upward trend. The biofacies and the sequence analysis are compatible with the early late Albian age attributed to the tracksite. These tracks and the moderate dinoturbation index indicate sauropod activity in this palaeoenvironment. Titanosaurs can be dismissed as possible trackmakers on the basis of the narrow-gauge trackway, and probably by the kidney-shaped manus morphology and the pes-dominated configuration of the trackway. Narrow-gauge sauropod trackways have been positively associated with coastal palaeoenvironments, and the Parede tracksite supports this interpretation. In addition, this tracksite adds new data about the presence of sauropod pes-dominated trackways in cohesive substrates. As the Portuguese Cretaceous sauropod osteological remains are very scarce, the Parede tracksite yields new and relevant evidence of these dinosaurs. Furthermore, the Parede tracksite is the youngest evidence of sauropods in the Portuguese record and some of the rare evidence of sauropods in Europe during the Albian. This discovery enhances the palaeobiological data for the Early Cretaceous Sauropoda of the Iberian Peninsula, where the osteological remains of these dinosaurs are relatively scarce in this region of southwestern Europe. Therefore, this occurrence is also of overall interest due to its impact on Cretaceous Sauropoda palaeobiogeography.

The historical holotypes of the Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) ammonites Vascoceras gamai Choffat, 1898 (type of the genus), and Vascoceras barcoicense (Choffat, 1898), thought to be destroyed by the fire of March 1978 at the National Museum of Natural History, Lisbon, Portugal, have been rediscovered in good state of preservation. Based on the study of the originals, these upper Cenomanian specimens can be rehabilitated as holotypes, maintaining and justifying the status of both taxa as well as of Vascoceras cauvini Chudeau, 1909.

Today, scientific literacy has become increasingly important as a hallmark of citizenship and as a way to facilitate many of life’s daily decisions. Scientific literacy can be achieved through learning, a complex lifelong process that occurs both in school and out-of-school settings. As most adults only engage in formal education about science during compulsory schooling, all the learning that people go through in out-of-school settings and beyond compulsory schooling becomes extremely important toward the scientific literacy of the individual. The learning process in out-of-school settings requires interest from each person and can be facilitated by various agents, for example, museums. This is particularly true for Earth sciences as Geology topics are rarely taught within the science curricula during school. The Museu Nacional de Historia Natural e da Ciencia provides realistic experiences that engage different publics into science and thus enhances the public science literacy. It is expected that by enhancing people’s Earth sciences literacy, it will also enhance their awareness of geological heritage.

The University of Coimbra holds a large repository of palaeontological collections bought from European mineral dealers, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among these specimens currently available at the Science Museum stand out three collections acquired from the Krantz house, between 1890 and 1913, for the Section of Mineralogy and Geology of the Natural History Museum. Their taxonomic diversity is high, as well as their geographic and stratigraphic wide-range origins, representing many classical locations and sedimentary formations of the European geology, and overseas countries. These collections have been used since long for teaching in practical classes of Natural Sciences at the University, using hands-on procedures. Together with other contemporary Krantz collections, known by several Iberian institutions, reveal an important heritage with both scientific and historical relevance that should be preserved, studied and reviewed from a scientific point of view.

More than a hundred sauropod tracksites, ranging in age from Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) to Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), are repor­ted from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Sauropod trackway orientation patterns throughout an entire geographic area such as the Iberian Peninsula and over different time periods may provide new data about the palaeoecology and behavioural patterns of sauropods. The studied tracksites exhibit two main trackway orientation patterns, directional and random, indicating different behaviours in grega­rious or solitary (milling) individuals. Gregarious behavioural patterns are mainly observed within Parabrontopodus/Breviparopus- like and Brontopodus -like ichnotypes of a single size class (either small or medium-sized), indicating age segregation. Among the gregarious sauropods the former ichnotype is linked with inland environments, while the latter is mainly linked with coastal environments. Solitary trackways are mainly of medium-sized to large individuals, are also linked with both inland ( Parabrontopodus/Breviparopus -like) and coastal environments ( Parabrontopodus/Breviparopus -like, Brontopodus -like), and belong to the above-mentioned ichnotypes as well as to Polyonyx -like ichnotypes. Thus, no obvious link between gregarious behaviour and the palaeoenvironmental setting can be inferred from the sauropod track record of the Iberian Peninsula. Nonetheless, sauropod trackways showing titanosauriform characters ( Brontopodus -like) are more common in coastal environments, contrary to what might be expected given this group’s apparent taxonomic preference for inland environments.

This work constitutes the first contribution for the systematisation of geological heritage knowledge in Portugal, following the international recommendations for the characterisation of geological heritage (IUGS, ProGEO). The application of the ProGEO methodology has resulted in the creation of fourteen frameworks with international relevance, established by consensus among the Portuguese geological community. The description of each category in this paper is not exhaustive and only the most relevant scientific settings are presented. The following are the three key outcomes of this work: i) At a national level, the most important geosites are identified, indicating where geoconservation efforts should be prioritised based on scientific justification; ii) At a regional level, conditions have been developed to foster dialogue with Spanish colleagues in order to create Iberian frameworks; iii) At an international level, it is now possible to integrate Portuguese geosites in to the global inventories promoted by IUGS, UNESCO, and ProGEO.