Bernardino P. Pérez-Moreno

On the presence of Allosaurus fragilis (Theropoda: Carnosauria) in the Upper Jurassic of Portugal: first evidence of an intercontinental dinosaur species

The species Allosaurus fragilis, from the Morrison Formation of North America (Kimmeridgian–Tithonian, Upper Jurassic), is one of the best known members of the Theropoda, the group including all predatory non-avian dinosaurs and birds. Here, we report on the first diagnostic theropod remains discovered from the Jurassic of the Iberian Peninsula. The specimen is the first evidence of A. fragilis outside North America. Thus, this taxon represents the first dinosaur species found on two different continents, and suggests the existence of a ‘land bridge’ between North America and Europe during the Late Jurassic.

Palaeontology: An Early Cretaceous pellet

We have discovered a mass of fossil bones from four juvenile birds at Las Hoyas in Cuenca, Spain, which show signs of having been digested. To our knowledge, this rare finding of an Early Cretaceous fossil of an apparently regurgitated pellet provides the first evidence that Mesozoic birds were prey animals.

A preliminary note on the first tetrapod trackways from the lithographic limestones of Las Hoyas (Lower Cretaceous, Cuenca, Spain)

Although famous as a fossil lagerstatte that has produced numerous well-preserved vertebrates, recent discoveries indicate that the lithographic limestones of Las Hoyas (Calizas de la Huerguina Formation) also contain vertebrate trackways. We herein report on at least two distinctive tetrapod track types tentatively assigned to crocodilians and to turtles. Turtle tracks are isolated while the crocodile ones are forming a trackway showing an animal walking with a very regular step and stride length on an emergent surface. It is interesting to note the similarity between the inferred turtle tracks from Las Hoyas and those from the Late Jurassic lithographic limestones of Cerin, France. The occurrence of tracks in both environments suggests that the ichnofaunas are similar.