Search

A new styracosternan ornithopod genus and species is described based on the right dentary of a single specimen from the Mirambell Formation (Early Cretaceous, early Barremian) at the locality of Portell, (Castellón, Spain).Portellsaurus sosbaynatigen. et sp. nov. is diagnosed by two autapomorphic features as well as a unique combination of characters. The autapomorphies include: the absence of a bulge along the ventral margin directly ventral to the base of the coronoid process and the presence of a deep oval cavity on the medial surface of the mandibular adductor fossa below the eleventh-twelfth tooth position. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that the new Iberian form is more closely related to the African taxonOuranosaurus nigeriensisthan to its synchronic Iberian taxaMagnamanus soriaensisandIguanodon galvensis. In addition,Portellsaurus sosbaynatiis less related to other Iberian taxa such asIguanodon bernissartensisandProa valdearinnoensisthan to the other Early Cretaceous Iberian styracosternansMantellisaurus atherfieldensisandMorelladon beltrani. A new phylogenetic hypothesis is proposed that resolvesIguanodon(I.bernissartensis,I.galvensis) with the ValanginianBarilium dawsoniinto a monophyletic clade (Iguanodontoidea). The recognition ofPortellsaurus sosbaynatigen. et sp. nov. as the first styracosternan dinosaur species identified from the Margas de Mirambell Formation (early Barremian–early late Barremian) in the Morella sub-basin (Maestrat Basin, eastern Spain) indicates that the Iberian Peninsula was home to a highly diverse assemblage of medium-to-large bodied styracosternan hadrosauriforms during the Early Cretaceous.

New palynological analysis of the Arcillas de Morella Formation provides data for determinations of age of the Lower Cretaceous strata in the Ermita Sant Antoni de la Vespa section located in the d...