Abstract
The vertebrate-bearing beds of the Lano quarry (Condado de Trevino) are among the most relevant sites from the Late Cretaceous of Europe. Geologically, Lano and the adjacent region are set on the southern limb of the South-Cantabrian Synclinorium (SE Basque-Cantabrian Region, northern Iberian Peninsula). The Lano sites were discovered in 1984; thousands of bones and teeth, including microfossils, have been collected during the prospection in the field and excavation campaigns. The vertebrate remains occur at two different stratigraphic horizons within a continental to shallow marine succession of Late Campanian-Maastrichtian age. The lower horizon contains the Lano 1 and Lano 2 sites, whereas the upper horizon contains the Albaina site. In the Lano sites, three fossiliferous beds (called L1A, L1B and L2) are known within an alluvial system composed mainly of fluvial sands and silts. The sedimentary structures are consistent with channel areas within an extensive braided river system. Based mainly on stratigraphic correlations, the fluvial beds of Lano are regarded as Late Campanian to Early Maastrichtian in age. These deposits have yielded a very diverse vertebrate assemblage, which consists of nearly 40 species, including actinopterygians, lissamphibians, lepidosaurs, turtles, crocodyliforms, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and mammals. Seven genera and ten species have been erected to date in Lano. With reference to the marine vertebrate association of Albaina, it consists of at least 37 species, including sharks and rays, actinopterygians, mosasaurids, and plesiosaurs. Two genera and species of rhinobatoids (family indet.) and two new species of rhinobatids have been erected in Albaina. The fossil association indicates a Late (but not latest) Maastrichtian age. Recently, isolated turtle and dinosaur fossils have been discovered in the sublittoral beds of Albaina. The Lano quarry is one of the most noteworthy Campanian-Maastrichtian vertebrate localities of Europe by its taxonomic diversity, and provides useful information about the composition and affinities of both continental and marine vertebrate faunas from the latest Cretaceous of southwestern Europe.
Highlights
Laño and the adjacent region are set on the southern limb of the South-Cantabrian Synclinorium (SE Basque-Cantabrian Region, northern Iberian Peninsula)
The occurrence of fossil vertebrates in the Late Cretaceous of the Laño quarry is known since 1984, when the palaeontologist Xabier Orue-Etxebarria discovered bone remains in the quarry (Astibia et al, 1999a)
Fossil remains from the L1A, L1B and L2 fossiliferous levels of the Laño quarry were collected by detailed surface digging
Summary
The occurrence of fossil vertebrates in the Late Cretaceous of the Laño quarry is known since 1984, when the palaeontologist Xabier Orue-Etxebarria discovered bone remains in the quarry (Astibia et al, 1999a). Astibia et al (1990) provided a preliminary list of the Laño vertebrates, including actinopterygians, lissamphibians, squamates, turtles, crocodyliforms, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and mammals from the continental deposits, and selachians from the marine beds. A number of new vertebrate taxa have been erected on the basis of the Laño fossils, including mammals (Gheerbrant and Astibia, 1994), snakes (Rage, 1996), turtles (Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga, 1996) and crocodyliforms (Buscalioni et al, 1997). Recent papers on Laño deal with the description of a new species of the mammal Lainodon (Gheerbrant and Astibia, 2012), the revision of the titanosaurian sauropod Lirainosaurus (Díez Díaz et al, 2011, 2012, 2013a, 2013b; Díez Díaz, 2013) and the dortokid turtle Dortoka (Pérez-García et al, 2012a), and the description of the theropod teeth assemblage (Torices, 2007; Torices et al, in press), among others. Institutional abbreviation: MCNA, Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Álava/Arabako Natur Zientzien Museoa, VitoriaGasteiz (Spain)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
