In a world where paleontologists are used to making do with a handful of bones , the find of the most complete titanosaur skeleton ever discover in Europe would be exciting enough . However , the really interesting thing about the newly key speciesAbditosaurus kuehneiis the mismatch between its huge size and its location in the Pyrenees .
Living on island changes metal money , making somelarger , somesmallerand somelose the power to fly . In the last few million years before the asteroid smash , when Europe was a set of disconnected island , the titanosaur class of sauropods take on the second path , becoming smaller than their continental counterpart . At least that was what was believed , prior to the description ofAbditosaurus ’ 14 tonne ( 15.4 ton ) bulk inNature Ecology and Evolution .
" titanosaurian from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe be given to be small or intermediate - sized due to their evolution in parochial conditions,“Dr Bernat Vilaof Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont said in astatement . " It is a recurring phenomenon in the story of life on Earth , we have several examples worldwide in the dodo record of this evolutionary trend . ”
By our standards , the European archipelago of the time included some large islands , admit Ibero - Armorican , made up of advanced - day Spain , Portugal , and much of France . To a titanosaur , however , this was still little enough to limit food resources , applying evolutionary air pressure that quail these herbivorous dinosaurs .
accordingly , the breakthrough of the 17.5 meter ( 58 foot)Abditosauruswas a shock . However , with 53 pieces of its frame unearthed over a flow of decades , include scattered limb and pelvic bones , 19 vertebrae , six ribs , and a few teeth , there is little doubt about its size . " We were really lucky , it is strange to notice such complete specimens in the Pyrenees due to its disruptive geologic history , " said co - authorDr Ángel Galobart .
The writer explain this mystifier by concludingAbditosauruswas a unexampled arrival to Ibero - Armorican , crossing from Africa 70.6 million years ago when sea level were in short low . Its closest relative was the AfricanParalitian , trace by contemporary South American titanosaurs . It was probably not alone in having made the journeying . " In the same site we have find eggshells of dinosaur mintage fuck to have inhabited Gondwana , the southernmost continent . " said co - authorDr Albert Sellés .
As so often happens when island species are suddenly forced to contend with arrivals from another continent , affair did not go well for the natives . The sudden modification in Ibero - Armorican ’s inhabitants is known as the “ Maastrichtian Dinosaur Turnover ” .
The fact 68 twelvemonth passed between the firstAbditosaurusbone being found to the publication of its scientific verbal description is testimony to how slowly things can move in paleontology , even when describing unco crucial finds . The process was interrupted by long periods of disregard of the website and violent storm so large they force digging to stop . The interrupted nature of the work is immortalize for descendants in the genus name , which imply “ forgotten reptile ” . The species name honors Walter Kühne , who see the first clappers .
