The hollow-crested lambeosaurine hadrosaurids represent one of the latest and most rapid radiations of ornithischian dinosaurs, attaining a nearly global distribution during the Late Cretaceous. Although their presence in Europe is well documented, there are questions about the origin and timing of their arrival in this continent. The analysis of old and newfound lambeosaurine specimens from the Els Nerets locality (eastern Tremp Syncline, northeastern Spain) have shown that the ornithopod dinosaurs from this classic site belong to Lambeosaurinae. Recent chronostratigraphic data places the locality in the lower Maastrichtian, implying that the Els Nerets lambeosaurine is the first occurrence of the clade in Europe. The Els Nerets lambeosaurine exhibits some noticeable pelvic features only shared with the Asian taxon Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus and thus we hypothesize a close taxonomic affinity between the lambeosaurine from Els Nerets and the Eurasian Tsintaosaurini. Members of this tribe would have dispersed into the Ibero-Armorican Domain not later than the early Maastrichtian, coexisting with endemic dinosaurian groups for some time.

Ostriches are known to be the fastest bipedal animal alive; to accomplish such an achievement, their anatomy evolved to sustain the stresses imposed by running at such velocities. Ostriches represent an excellent case study due to the fact that their locomotor kinematics have been extensively studied for their running capabilities. The shape and structure of ostrich bones are also known to be optimized to sustain the stresses imposed by the body mass and accelerations to which the bones are subjected during movements. This study focuses on the limb bones, investigating the structure of the bones as well as the material properties, and how both the structure and material evolved to maximise the performance while minimising the stresses applied to the bones themselves. The femoral shaft is hollowed and it presents an imbricate structure of fused bone ridges connected to the walls of the marrow cavity, while the tibial shaft is subdivided into regions having different mechanical characteristics. These adaptations indicate the optimization of both the structure and the material to bear the stresses. The regionalization of the material highlighted by the mechanical tests represents the capability of the bone to adapt to external stimuli during the life of an individual, optimizing not only the structure of the bone but the material itself.

Sauropod dinosaurs are well known for their massive sizes and long necks and tails. Among sauropods, flagellicaudatan dinosaurs are characterized by extreme tail elongation, which has led to hypotheses regarding tail function, often compared to a whip. Here, we analyse the dynamics of motion of a 3D model of an apatosaurine flagellicaudatan tail using multibody simulation and quantify the stress-bearing capabilities of the associated soft tissues. Such an elongated and slender structure would allow achieving tip velocities in the order of 30 m/s, or 100 km/h, far slower than the speed of sound, due to the combined effect of friction of the musculature and articulations, as well as aerodynamic drag. The material properties of the skin, tendons, and ligaments also support such evidence, proving that in life, the tail would not have withstood the stresses imposed by travelling at the speed of sound, irrespective of the conjectural ‘popper’, a hypothetical soft tissue structure analogue to the terminal portion of a bullwhip able to surpass the speed of sound.