Open Paleo

Arenysaurus

Pereda-Suberbiola et al., 2009 ah-REN-ee-SOR-us

Named for Arén, the town in the Pyrenees of Spain near where it was found, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'.

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Arenysaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (66 million years ago), being one of the last non-avian dinosaurs and it went extinct during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. It is known from a partial skull and skeleton found in the late Maastrichtian-age Tremp Formation of the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain. The type species is A. ardevoli, described in 2009 by Pereda-Suberbiola and colleagues, a group of researchers from Spain. The genus name refers to Arén, where it was found, and the specific epithet honors geologist Lluís Ardèvol. Arenysaurus was a lambeosaurine, a member of the hadrosaurid subfamily with hollow and decorative cranial crests. It is one of the most complete and best dated ever found in the Late Cretaceous period.

Diagnosis

  1. Frontal dome very prominent, more developed than in other adult lambeosaurines
  2. Nearly vertical prequadratic (precotyloid) process of the squamosal and jugal process of the postorbital
  3. Deltopectoral crest of the humerus oriented anteriorly
  4. Short frontals with posterior length/width ratio approximately 0.5 (approximately two times wider than long)
  5. Parietal excluded from the occipital surface of the skull
  6. Median ramus of squamosal lower than the paroccipital process

Species

Arenysaurus ardevoli Pereda-Suberbiola et al., 2009

Type species

Named for geologist Lluís Ardèvol.

Holotype
MPZ2008/1 , Museo de Ciencias Naturales de la Universidad de Zaragoza
Material
Partial, articulated skull comprising the skull roof and braincase
Horizon
lower Tremp Group, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Blasi 3, Arén, Huesca, Spain

References

  1. Pereda-Suberbiola, X.; Canudo, J. I.; Cruzado-Caballero, P.; Barco, J. L.; López-Martínez, N.; Oms, O.; Ruiz-Omeñaca, J. I. (2009). The last hadrosaurid dinosaurs of Europe: a new lambeosaurine from the uppermost Cretaceous of Aren (Huesca, Spain). Comptes Rendus Palevol 8: 559-572. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2009.05.002 pereda-suberbiola2009a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a