Bioerosion and palaeoecological association of osteophagous insects in the Maastrichtian dinosaur Arenysaurus ardevoli
Cruzado-Caballero, Penélope (Universidad de La Laguna. Departamento de Biología Animal, Edafología y Geología)
Canudo, José Ignacio (Universidad de Zaragoza. Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA)
De Valais, Silvina (Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Investigación en Palaeobiología y Geología (Argentina))
Frigola, Jaime (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà)
Barriuso, Eduardo (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà)
Fortuny, Josep (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Bioerosions produced by the osteophagous diet of animals that fed on dinosaur bones are very scarce in the European fossil record. Herein we present bioerosion on hadrosaurid remains from the Maastrichtian Tremp Formation of the Pyrenean Basin, which is only the second such case recorded from the Iberian-Occitan Plate besides a sauropod from the Jurassic-Cretaceous of Valencia. The hadrosaurid fossil record is particularly rich in the Blasi sites of the Tremp Formation located in the municipality of Arén (Huesca, Spain). In this article, bones referred to the hadrosaurid Arenysaurus ardevoli from the Blasi-3 site are analysed to shed light on the palaeoenvironment and on the presence of a palaeoecological interaction between the hadrosaurid carcase and osteophagous tracemakers. Bioerosions recorded on the bones comprise tunnels, roundish holes, and straight notches, similar to the traces attributed to necrophagous insects (cf. Cuniculichnus seilacheri). Here, we record the first instance of the activity of these animals on dinosaur bones in the Upper Cretaceous of the Ibero-Occitan Plate. The results presented lead us to infer that the Arenysaurus bones were possibly transported by a storm or similar event to the Blasi-3 site, where they were exposed to post-mortem biotic interactions (eaten and partially decomposed by dermestid beetles) for a prolonged time period before they were completely buried.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación CGL2017-85038-P Agencia Estatal de Investigación CGL2017-82654-P Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-117118GB-100 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-315
Note:	Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Lethaia, Vol. 54, Issue 5 (December 2021) , p. 957-968, ISSN 1502-3931

DOI: 10.1111/let.12456

12 p, 6.2 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles