Europatitan eastwoodi, a new sauropod from the lower Cretaceous of Iberia in the initial radiation of somphospondylans in Laurasia

Abstract

The sauropod of El Oterillo II is a specimen that was excavated from the Castrillo de la Reina Formation (Burgos, Spain), late Barremian–early Aptian, in the 2000s but initially remained undescribed. A tooth and elements of the axial skeleton, and the scapular and pelvic girdle, represent it. It is one of the most complete titanosauriform sauropods from the Early Cretaceous of Europe and presents an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the radiation of this clade in the Early Cretaceous and study the paleobiogeographical relationships of Iberia with Gondwana and with other parts of Laurasia. The late Barremian–early Aptian is the time interval in the Cretaceous with the greatest diversity of sauropod taxa described in Iberia: two titanosauriforms, Tastavinsaurus and Europatitan; and a rebbachisaurid, Demandasaurus. The new sauropod Europatitan eastwoodi n. gen. n. sp. presents a series of autapomorphic characters in the presacral vertebrae and scapula that distinguish it from the other sauropods of the Early Cretaceous of Iberia. Our phylogenetic study locates Europatitan as the basalmost member of the Somphospondyli, clearly differentiated from other clades such as Brachiosauridae and Titanosauria, and distantly related to the contemporaneous Tastavinsaurus. Europatitan could be a representative of a Eurogondwanan fauna like Demandasaurus, the other sauropod described from the Castrillo de la Reina Formation. The presence of a sauropod fauna with marked Gondwananan affinities in the Aptian of Iberia reinforces the idea of faunal exchanges between this continental masses during the Early Cretaceous. Further specimens and more detailed analysis are needed to elucidate if this Aptian fauna is caused by the presence of previously unnoticed Aptian land bridges, or it represents a relict fauna from an earlier dispersal event.

New information on the Cretaceous sauropod dinosaurs of Zhejiang Province, China: impact on Laurasian titanosauriform phylogeny and biogeography

“…The late Barremian–early Aptian Spanish sauropods, Europatitan eastwoodi and Tastavinsaurus sanzi , are recovered as ‘basal’ somphospondylans here (figure 5), as has been proposed in several other analyses [40,41,84,106]. In agreement with Torcida Fernández-Baldor et al .…”

“…in 2019; (ii) Europatitan eastwoodi , from the Early Cretaceous of Spain, was scored based on Torcida Fernández-Baldor et al . [84]; (iii) the Early Cretaceous Chinese sauropod Yongjinglong datangi was scored based on Li et al . [54]; (iv) the Late Cretaceous Chinese taxon Huabeisaurus allocotus was scored based on D'Emic et al .…”

Forelimb musculature and osteological correlates in Sauropodomorpha (Dinosauria, Saurischia)

“…2728)(D); G . brancai (HMN SII mounted skeleton)(E); Europatitan eastwoodi (taken from Torcida Fernández-Baldor et al ., Fig 13A in [ 132 ])(F); Vouivria dampariensis (taken from Mannion et al ., Fig 16A in [ 133 ])(G); Elaltitan lilloi (modified from Mannion and Otero, Fig 6A in [ 74 ])(H). Arrow depicts the scapular posterior tubercle.…”

Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution

“…The stratigraphic position of the Spanish non-titanosauriform macronarian Aragosaurus (Sanz et al, 1987;Royo-Torres et al, 2014) has been the subject of debate (Canudo et al, 2012;Royo-Torres et al, 2014), but it has most recently been placed in the lower section of the Galve Formation and assigned a probable late Berriasian-early Valanginian age (Aurell et al, 2016). Stratigraphically younger Spanish deposits (late Hauterivian-early Aptian) record the presence of brachiosaurid (Soriatitan) and somphospondylan (Europatitan, Tastavinsaurus) titanosauriforms (Canudo et al, 2008;Royo-Torres et al, 2017b;Torcida Fernández-Baldor et al, 2017), as well as the rebbachisaurid Demandasaurus (Pereda-Suberbiola et al, 2003;Torcida Fernández-Baldor et al, 2011).…”