Boffins have uncovered a brand-new species of long-necked dinosaur dating back a staggering 75 million years, making a massive splash in Spain. The colossal discovery cropped up among a treasure trove of over 12,000 fossils unearthed since 2007 amid the hustle to lay down tracks for the Madrid-Levante high-speed rail network (AVE).
These old bones have been more than just a heap of history; they’ve led to the identification of a whole host of previously unknown species, giving researchers a deeper dive into what life was like in the Late Cretaceous era.
Heading the dino-digging team, Portuguese fossil-hunter Doctor Pedro Mocho has crowned the new sauropod—discovered around Cuenca, Spain—as Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra. Chock-full of nods to both geography and culture, the name’s a creative concoction honoring its ancient stomping grounds.
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“Qunka” digs into the deep-rooted etymology linked to the Cuenca and Fuentes vicinities. Not stopping there, “Saura” is not only a dainty twist on the Latin word for lizard but also gives a cheeky wink to famed painter Antonio Saura.
And as for “Pintiquiniestra”?
It’s a Royal shout-out to the mythical “Queen Pintiquiniestra”, plucked straight from the pages mentioned in ‘Don Quixote’ by Cervantes.
Doctor Pedro Mocho, stationed at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, shared: “The study of this specimen allowed us to identify for the first time the presence of two distinct lineages of saltasauroids in the same fossil locality.”
He highlighted that one group, dubbed Lirainosaurinae, isn’t much of a stranger in the Iberian Peninsular. Known for being a bit on the shorter side, these dinos adapted to their unique island party pad.
“In other words, Europe was a huge archipelago made up of several islands during the Late Cretaceous.”
“However, Qunkasaura belongs to another group of sauropods, represented in the Iberian Peninsula by medium-large species 73 million years ago.”
“This suggests to us that this lineage arrived in the Iberian Peninsula much later than other groups of dinosaurs.”
Dr Mocho said: “Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra stands out for being one of the most complete sauropod skeletons found in Europe, including cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, part of the pelvic girdle and elements of the limbs.”
“Their unique morphology, especially in the tail vertebrae, offers new insights into the non-avian dinosaurs of the Iberian Peninsula, a historically poorly understood group.”
The study, published in the journal Communications Biology, identifies Qunkasaura as a representative of the opisthocoelicaudine saltasaurids, a group present in the northern hemisphere. Most Late Cretaceous sauropods from south western Europe, including Lohuecotitan pandafilandi – previously described from Lo Hueco, belong to the group Lirainosaurinae, apparently exclusive to the European continent.
A new study hints that Lo Hueco could be the sole site where two dinotastic groups lived side by side. Experts are buzzing about a proposed dino clan dubbed Lohuecosauria—think titanosaurs with representatives from both sides of the family tree.
Dr Mocho believes these prehistoric giants may have stomped around the southern lands before taking on the world. He said: “Fortunately, the Lo Hueco deposit also preserves several skeletons of sauropod dinosaurs to be determined, which may correspond to new species and which will help us understand how these animals evolved.”
Heads up dino aficionados, part of Qunkasaura’s bony frame struts its stuff in the Paleontological Museum of Castilla-La Mancha in Cuenca.
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