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Delapparentia

Ruiz-Omeñaca, 2011 Disputed

Honors Albert Félix de Lapparent (1905-1975), who first studied this skeleton and pioneered dinosaur paleontology in Spain.

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

Delapparentia is a genus of iguanodont dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of Galve, Teruel Province, Spain.

Under dispute

The validity of Delapparentia is contested. Ruiz-Omeñaca (2011) erected the genus for a postcranial skeleton that Lapparent had assigned to Iguanodon bernissartensis in 1960, diagnosing it on three autapomorphies. Norman subsequently treated it as a nomen dubium. Gasca and colleagues (2015) redescribed the holotype, added an axial neural arch and a scapular fragment to it, emended the diagnosis to a single autapomorphy of the axis plus a unique combination of postcranial characters, and argued for validity. Verdú and colleagues (2017) went the other way, reporting that comparison revealed no significant differences from Iguanodon and figuring the holotype material as Iguanodon sp. Rotatori and colleagues (2026) again recover it as a distinct terminal taxon. Its position is unresolved in step with this: Gasca and colleagues (2015) place it in an unresolved polytomy outside Iguanodontoidea alongside Barilium and Lanzhousaurus, whereas Rotatori and colleagues (2026) recover it within Iguanodontidae in an Iberian Barremian clade with 'Iguanodon' galvensis and Magnamanus soriaensis, arguing the resulting paraphyly requires narrowing Iguanodon. It is placed at Styracosterna incertae sedis, the least inclusive clade common to those hypotheses.

Diagnosis

  1. Axis with a tall neural spine, its height from the base of the postzygapophysis being greater than half the length of the neural arch.
  2. Lateral surface of the preacetabular process of the ilium twists around its long axis toward its anterior end so that it comes to face almost dorsally.
  3. Rim of the sacrodorsal rib facet is visible, in lateral view, in the preacetabular notch of the ilium.
  4. In profile, the dorsal edge of the ilium is practically straight between the anterior end of the preacetabular process and the part dorsal to the ischial peduncle.
  5. Anterior caudal vertebrae have dorsoventrally expanded (higher than wide) centra.
  6. Neural spines of the caudal vertebrae are elongated, posterodorsally inclined and transversely thickened.

Species

Delapparentia turolensis Ruiz-Omeñaca, 2011 Disputed

Type species

Dedicated to Teruel province, Spain, where the holotype was found, and to the journal Teruel, in which the material was first described.

Holotype
MPT/I.G.446, MPT/I.G.447, MPT/I.G.448, MPT/I.G.449, MPT/I.G.450, MPT/I.G.450bis, MPT/I.G.451, MPT/I.G.452, MPT/I.G.454, MPT/I.G.455, MPT/I.G.456, MPT/I.G.457, MPT/I.G.458, MPT/I.G.459, MPT/I.G.460, MPT/I.G.461, MPT/I.G.462, MPT/I.G.464, MPT/I.G.465, MPT/I.G.466, MPT/I.G.467, MPT/I.G.468, MPT/I.G.469, MPT/I.G.470, MPT/I.G.471, MPT/I.G.472, MPT/I.G.478, MPT/I.G.481, MPT/I.G.488 , Museo de Teruel
Material
Partial postcranial skeleton of one individual: cervical, dorsal and sacral vertebrae, nine anterior caudals, rib and sternal-rib fragments, chevrons, ossified tendons, and an incomplete left ilium, prepubis and ischium. One further fragment is uncatalogued.
Horizon
middle Camarillas Formation, Barremian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–121.4 million years ago
Locality
La Maca 3, Galve, Teruel, Spain

References

  1. Ruiz-Omeñaca, J. I. (2011). Delapparentia turolensis nov. gen et sp., un nuevo dinosaurio iguanodontoideo (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) en el Cretácico Inferior de Galve. Estudios Geológicos 67(1): 83-110. Editorial CSIC. doi:10.3989/egeol.40276.124

    Erects the genus for a skeleton Lapparent had assigned to Iguanodon bernissartensis, and enumerates the holotype elements in its appendix.

    ruiz-omeñaca2011a
  2. Gasca, J. M.; Moreno-Azanza, M.; Ruiz-Omeñaca, J. I.; Canudo, J. I. (2015). New material and phylogenetic position of the basal iguanodont dinosaur Delapparentia turolensis from the Barremian (Early Cretaceous) of Spain. Journal of Iberian Geology 41(1). Universidad Complutense de Madrid. doi:10.5209/rev_jige.2015.v41.n1.48655

    Redescribes the holotype, adds an axial neural arch and scapular fragment, emends the diagnosis, and argues for validity.

    gasca2015a
  3. Verdú, F. J.; Royo-Torres, R.; Cobos, A.; Alcalá, L. (2017). New systematic and phylogenetic data about the early Barremian Iguanodon galvensis (Ornithopoda: Iguanodontoidea) from Spain. Historical Biology 30(4): 437-474. doi:10.1080/08912963.2017.1287179

    Reports no significant differences from Iguanodon and figures the holotype material as Iguanodon sp.

    verdú2017a
  4. Rotatori, F. M.; Chiarenza, A. A.; Fanti, F.; Moreno-Azanza, M. (2026). The early origin of Iguanodontia: new insights into the macroevolution, diversity and biogeography of the clade. Palaeontology 69(2): e70057. doi:10.1111/pala.70057

    Recovers the genus as a distinct terminal in an Iberian Barremian clade with 'Iguanodon' galvensis and Magnamanus soriaensis.

    rotatori2026a
  5. Verdú, F. J.; Royo-Torres, R.; Cobos, A.; Alcalá, L. (2015). Perinates of a new species of Iguanodon (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) from the lower Barremian of Galve (Teruel, Spain). Cretaceous Research 56: 250-264. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.05.010

    Describes Iguanodon galvensis and compares it directly with Delapparentia.

    verdú2015a
  6. Gasulla, J. M.; Escaso, F.; Narváez, I.; Ortega, F.; Sanz, J. L. (2015). A New Sail-Backed Styracosternan (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Morella, Spain. PLOS ONE 10(12): e0144167. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144167

    Lists the genus among the Iberian styracosternans in the description of Morelladon.

    gasulla2015a
  7. Santos-Cubedo, A.; de Santisteban, C.; Poza, B.; Meseguer, S. (2021). A new styracosternan hadrosauroid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Early Cretaceous of Portell, Spain. PLoS ONE 16(7): e0253599:1-30. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0253599

    Notes that no dentary has been described for the genus, in the description of Portellsaurus.

    santos-cubedo2021a
  8. McDonald, A. T.; Espílez, E.; Mampel, L.; Kirkland, J. I.; Alcalá, L. (2012). An unusual new basal iguanodont (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Teruel, Spain. Zootaxa 3595(1). Magnolia Press. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3595.1.3

    Basal iguanodont phylogeny underlying the matrix later used for the genus.

    mcdonald2012a
  9. Poole, K. E. (2022). Phylogeny of iguanodontian dinosaurs and the evolution of quadrupedality. Palaeontologia Electronica 25(3): a30. doi:10.26879/702

    Finds the species inadequately diagnosed, its sole autapomorphy resting on a broken axial spine, and the material close to Barilium.

    poole2022a