Open Paleo

Camarillasaurus

Sánchez-Hernández & Benton, 2014 cam-a-REE-yuh-SOR-us

From Camarillas (the village of Camarillas in Teruel Province, Spain, near where fossils were found) + Greek sauros (σαῦρος) meaning 'lizard'; overall meaning 'Camarillas lizard'.

125.8–121.4 million years ago Barremian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Camarillasaurus is an extinct genus of spinosaurid theropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous period (Barremian) of Camarillas, Teruel Province, in what is now northeastern Spain. Described in 2014, it was originally identified as a ceratosaurian theropod, but later studies suggested affinities to the Spinosauridae. Camarillasaurus is one of several spinosaurid taxa known from the Iberian peninsula, the others being Iberospinus, Protathlitis, Baryonyx, Riojavenatrix, and Vallibonavenatrix.

Under dispute

Camarillasaurus cirugedae was originally described as a basal ceratosaur (Sánchez-Hernández and Benton, 2014), but that reading is superseded: recent analyses recover it as a spinosaurid. Its subfamily placement is unstable — recovered as a spinosaurine by Barker and colleagues (2021) and Rauhut and colleagues (2025, as a derived spinosaurine near Spinosaurus), but treated as a basal spinosaurid, possibly outside both subfamilies, by Santos-Cubedo and colleagues (2023). Spinosauridae is the least-inclusive clade the current hypotheses accept.

Diagnosis

  1. Extremely broad tibia proximal end with anteroposterior/mediolateral axis ratio of 2.8, the highest of any theropod
  2. Deep narrow longitudinal groove placed anterolaterally to the crista fibularis on the medial tibial surface, giving the tibial shaft a g-shaped cross section
  3. Chevron with a deep broad longitudinal groove along the full length of the shaft on both anterior and posterior sides, arising from a fossa below the haemal canal

Species

Camarillasaurus cirugedae Sánchez-Hernández & Benton, 2014

Type species

Named for Pedro Cirugeda Buj, the discoverer of the holotype specimen.

Holotype
MPG-KPC1, MPG-KPC2, MPG-KPC3, MPG-KPC4, MPG-KPC5, MPG-KPC6, MPG-KPC7, MPG-KPC8, MPG-KPC9, MPG-KPC10, MPG-KPC11, MPG-KPC12, MPG-KPC13, MPG-KPC14, MPG-KPC15, MPG-KPC16, MPG-KPC17, MPG-KPC18, MPG-KPC19, MPG-KPC20, MPG-KPC21, MPG-KPC22, MPG-KPC23, MPG-KPC30, MPG-KPC31, MPG-KPC32, MPG-KPC33, MPG-KPC34, MPG-KPC35, MPG-KPC36, MPG-KPC37, MPG-KPC38, MPG-KPC39, MPG-KPC43, MPG-KPC44, MPG-KPC45, MPG-KPC46, MPG-KPC47, MPG-KPC48, MPG-KPC49, MPG-KPC50, MPG-KPC51 , Museo Paleontológico de Galve
Material
Apical part of a lateral tooth, two almost complete sternal plates and isolated remains of sternal plates, broken right scapulocoracoid, almost complete presacral rib and rib fragments, posterior cervical or anterior dorsal vertebra, almost complete mid-dorsal vertebra, two broken dorsal centra, broken sacrum, two sacral centra, isolated neural arch, broken portion of a centrum with prezygapophysis, three broken anterior caudal centra, four mid-posterior caudal vertebrae, broken posterior caudal centrum, broken portion of a vertebral centrum, three possible broken tops of neural spines, almost complete chevron, isolated broken chevron blade, proximal part of a right tibia, and isolated bone fragments
Horizon
Camarillas Formation, Barremian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–121.4 million years ago
Locality
Fuente Arnar, Teruel, Spain

References

  1. Sánchez-Hernández, B.; Benton, M. J. (2014). Filling the ceratosaur gap: A new ceratosaurian theropod from the Early Cretaceous of Spain. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 59(3): 581-600. Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Paleobiologii (Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences). doi:10.4202/app.2011.0144

    Describing paper (2014); recovered Camarillasaurus as a basal ceratosaur, a reading later superseded.

    sánchez-hernández2014a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate.

    jones2026c
  3. Barker, C. T.; Hone, D. W. E.; Naish, D.; Cau, A.; Lockwood, J. A. F.; Foster, B.; Clarkin, C. E.; Schneider, P.; Gostling, N. J. (2021). New spinosaurids from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous, UK) and the European origins of Spinosauridae. Scientific Reports 11(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97870-8

    Recovered Camarillasaurus as an early-branching spinosaurine.

    barker2021a
  4. Santos-Cubedo, A.; de Santisteban, C.; Poza, B.; Meseguer, S. (2023). A new spinosaurid dinosaur species from the Early Cretaceous of Cinctorres (Spain). Scientific Reports 13(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-33418-2

    Treated Camarillasaurus in text as a basal spinosaurid, possibly outside both subfamilies or close to Iberospinus.

    santos-cubedo2023a
  5. Rauhut, O. W. M.; Canudo, J. I.; Castanera, D. (2025). Revision of the theropod dinosaur Camarillasaurus cirugedae from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) of Teruel province, Spain. Palaeontologia Electronica 28(3): 1-67. doi:10.26879/1543

    Revision of Camarillasaurus placed it as a derived spinosaurine near Spinosaurus.

    rauhut2025a