Qunkasaura: New Cretaceous Sauropod Found In Iberian Peninsula

Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – A new study reports a new species of sauropod dinosaur that lived in Cuenca, Spain, 75 million years ago: Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra.

General view of the Lo Hueco site during the excavation of Qunkasaura in 2007. Credit: GBE-UNED

The more than 12,000 fossils collected from 2007 onward during works to install the Madrid-Levante high-speed train (AVE) tracks revealed this deposit, giving rise to one of the most relevant collections of fossil vertebrates from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe.

The study was led by Portuguese paleontologist Pedro Mocho, from the Instituto Dom Luiz of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (CIÊNCIAS), has just been published in Communications Biology.

The collection has been studied continuously thanks to national projects and the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, which has made it possible to significantly increase our understanding of the ecosystems of southwestern Europe during the Late Cretaceous and also identify several new species for science.

Reconstruction of the life form of Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra.. Credit: José Antonio Peñas Artero

“The study of this specimen allowed us to identify for the first time the presence of two distinct lineages of saltasauroids in the same fossil locality. One of these groups, called Lirainosaurinae, is relatively known in the Iberian region and is characterized by small and medium-sized species, which evolved in an island ecosystem.

“In other words, Europe was a huge archipelago made up of several islands during the Late Cretaceous. However, Qunkasaura belongs to another group of sauropods, represented in the Iberian Peninsula by medium-large species 73 million years ago.

Restoration process of part of the remains of Qunkasaura. Credit: GBE-UNED

“This suggests to us that this lineage arrived in the Iberian Peninsula much later than other groups of dinosaurs,” explains Mocho.

One of the most relevant features of the Lo Hueco fossil record is the abundance of large partial skeletons of sauropod dinosaurs, which are rare in the rest of Europe.

Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra stands out for being one of the most complete sauropod skeletons found in Europe, including cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, part of the pelvic girdle and elements of the limbs. Their unique morphology, especially in the tail vertebrae, offers new insights into the non-avian dinosaurs of the Iberian Peninsula, a historically poorly understood group.

Bone remains of Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra, on display in the Paleontological Museum of Castilla-La Mancha. Credit: GBE-UNED

The study identifies Qunkasaura as a representative of the opisthocoelicaudine saltasaurids, a group present in the northern hemisphere (Laurasia).

On the other hand, most Late Cretaceous sauropods from southwestern Europe, including Lohuecotitan pandafilandi, previously described from Lo Hueco, belong to the group Lirainosaurinae, a group of sauropods apparently exclusive to the European continent.

3D reconstruction of the Qunkasaura skeleton. Credit: GBE-UNED

This study suggests that Lo Hueco is the only place where the coexistence of both groups is known and proposes a new group of titanosaurs called Lohuecosauria, which includes representatives of both lineages. Lohuecosaurs may have originated on the southern continents (Gondwana) before dispersing globally.

The name Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra is made up of several geographic and cultural references close to the Lo Hueco site. “Qunka” refers to the oldest etymology of the toponym from the Cuenca and Fuentes area, “Saura” alludes to the feminine of the Latin saurus (lizard), but also pays homage to the painter Antonio Saura, and “pintiquiniestra” refers to the giant “Queen Pintiquiniestra,” character from a novel mentioned in “Don Quijote de la Mancha’ by Cervantes.

Relationships of Qunkasaura with some of the most important sauropods from the Late Cretaceous and reconstruction of the life form of Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra.. Credit: José Antonio Peñas Artero, GBE-UNED, FCUL

“Fortunately, the Lo Hueco deposit also preserves several skeletons of sauropod dinosaurs to be determined, which may correspond to new species and which will help us understand how these animals evolved,” concludes Mocho.

The study is part of the research conducted by the Evolutionary Biology Group at UNED on ecosystems with dinosaurs in central Iberian Peninsula. Part of the skeleton of Qunkasaura is already on display in the Paleontological Museum of Castilla-La Mancha in Cuenca (Spain).

Paper:

Mocho, P, A Spanish saltasauroid titanosaur reveals Europe as a melting pot of endemic and immigrant sauropods in the Late Cretaceous, Communications Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06653-0

Written by Eddie Gonzales  Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff Writer