Variability of spinosaurid teeth in the Barremian of the province of Teruel (eastern Spain)

Abstract

Spinosaurids were common elements from dinosaur faunas during the Early Cretaceous in western Europe, with isolated teeth being the most common fossils registered in the fossil record. Here, some isolated spinosaurid teeth from the municipality of Galve (province of Teruel, Spain) are studied. They come from the lower Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) deposits of the Camarillas Formation of Western Maestrazgo Basin. These fossils are described and compared with related taxa, and analyzed with morphometric (discriminant and cluster analyses) and cladistic methods when possible. One tooth was classified as Spinosauridae indet., while the other two specimens were assigned to Baryonychinae indet. and Spinosaurinae indet., respectively. The indeterminate baryonychine tooth closely resembles a particular morphotype with an unserrated mesial carina and fluted enamel on both lingual and labial surfaces present in the Iberian Peninsula, unlike those of Baryonyx and Iberospinus. The spinosaurine tooth represents a new morphotype, which is distinguished from other teeth found in the Barremian of Teruel for having mesial and distal unserrated carinae and fluted enamel on both the lingual and labial surfaces. These teeth not only suggest the presence of at least one baryonychine and one spinosaurine taxa during the early Barremian in the eastern Iberian Peninsula, but also support their presence in fluvial systems with some marine influence where other dinosaurs have been broadly identified, such as styracosternan ornithopods.