A new species of dinosaur has been identified more than a decade after a large number of ancient skeletons were found in Spain — and researchers expect more species to be discovered.
The discovery was made at the Lo Hueco fossil site near Cuenca, a mountainous town in central Spain.
Researchers then spent the next three months extracting several skeletons of dinosaurs, mostly sauropods, a herbivore characterized by having a very long neck, long tail, large body and small head, Mocho said.
All sauropods are herbivores, so the new species likely subsisted on a plant-based diet.
“A lot of dinosaurs are small because they have small areas to live in, so they have a small amount of resources,” Mocho said.
“So, generally, the animals associated to insular environments are relatively small in some cases, and others, the opposite happens.”
Researchers are trying to determine whether the lineage for this species of sauropod originated in Asia or North America.
At least two different sauropods were found on the site, Mocho said, adding that they are still sifting through the skeletons that require examination.
Researchers expect to not only discover more species from the fossils that were collected but to find more skeletons if and when additional excavations commence.
“We don’t know exactly how many bones we still have over there, but we still have some remains to collect,” he said.
More than ten years after numerous prehistoric skeletons were discovered in Spain, a new species of dinosaur has been identified, and scientists anticipate the discovery of more.
The discovery was made close to Cuenca, a mountainous town in central Spain, at the Lo Hueco fossil site. Pedro Mocho, a paleontologist at the University of Lisboa’s faculty of sciences, told ABC News that workers started unearthing multiple ancient dinosaur, crocodile, and turtle skeletons while the site was being prepared for the construction of a high-speed train between Madrid and Valencia.
The next three months were devoted to the extraction of several dinosaur skeletons, the majority of which belonged to sauropods, a kind of herbivore distinguished by a long neck, long tail, large body, and small head, according to Mocho.
In a paper published in Communications Biology on Wednesday, it was revealed that Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra, a new species of titanosaur, was created from the fossils recovered from that paleontological expedition. The fossils are estimated to be from the late Cretaceous period and are roughly 72 million years old.
The “weird” tail morphology of the Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra is characterized by all of the vertebrates being “anteriorly clean,” a trait that Mocho said has only been observed in a particular group of titanosaurs found in South America.
Since the vertebrae are “completely sutured,” the dinosaur to which the skeleton belonged most likely died as a sub-adult and did not reach its full-grown size, according to Mocho.
Since all sauropods are herbivores, it is likely that the new species lived off of plants.
The fact that Europe was a “insular environment” in the late Cretaceous, when the new species first appeared, adds to paleontologists’ fascination with the species. Seldom did an animal grow to such a large size in such conditions.
According to Mocho, “many dinosaurs are small because they have limited areas to live in, so they have a small amount of resources.”. In general, animals found in isolated areas tend to be smaller in certain instances, while in others the reverse is true. “.”.
Researchers are attempting to ascertain whether North America or Asia is where this sauropod species’ lineage originated.
The town of Cuenca, painter Antonio Saura, and Queen Pintiquiniestra—a figure from the 16th-century book “Amadis of Greece”—were all mentioned in the name of the new species, Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra. This name was later used in Miguel de Cervantes’ 17th-century Spanish novel “Don Quixote.”.
The remainder of the Lo Hueco site was granted protections by the Spanish government, according to Mocho, while the area the train passes through was cleared entirely of additional prehistoric bones.
Mocho stated that they are still sorting through the skeletons that need to be examined but that at least two distinct sauropods were discovered there.
If and when further excavations start, researchers hope to find more skeletons in addition to new species from the fossils that were gathered.
There are still some remains to gather, he said, “but we’re not sure exactly how many bones we have over there.”.
