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First pterosaur remains from the Early Cretaceous Lagerstätte of Las Hoyas, Spain: palaeoecological significance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2009

ROMAIN VULLO ,
ÁNGELA D. BUSCALIONI ,
JESÚS MARUGÁN-LOBÓN  and
JOSÉ J. MORATALLA
ROMAIN VULLO*
Affiliation:
Université de Rennes I, UMR CNRS 6118, Campus de Beaulieu, 263 avenue du général Leclerc, 35042 Rennes, France
ÁNGELA D. BUSCALIONI
Affiliation:
Unidad de Paleontología, Departamento de Biología, Calle Darwin, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
JESÚS MARUGÁN-LOBÓN
Affiliation:
Unidad de Paleontología, Departamento de Biología, Calle Darwin, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
JOSÉ J. MORATALLA
Affiliation:
Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (Museo Geominero), Calle Ríos Rosas 23, 28003 Madrid, Spain
*
*Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Pterosaur teeth from the Early Cretaceous Lagerstätte of Las Hoyas (Spain) are described. We reassess the track from this site previously ascribed to a pterosaur, concluding that it is a theropod footprint. The teeth belong to two pterodactyloid taxa: a basal Istiodactylidae similar to Haopterus and an indeterminate Ornithocheiridae. From a palaeoecological point of view, the occurrence of such pterosaurs in the freshwater wetland palaeobiota of Las Hoyas strengthens the evidence of the similarity of this Spanish locality to the famous Early Cretaceous Lagerstätten of Liaoning in China.

Keywords

CretaceousBarremianSpainPterosauriaLas Hoyas Lagerstätte
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 146 , Issue 6 , November 2009 , pp. 931 - 936
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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