Open Paleo

Tamarro

Sellés et al., 2021 tah-MAH-row

Named after the tamarro, a small creature in the folklore of Pallars, Spain

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

Tamarro is a genus of troodontid theropod from the Late Cretaceous Talarn Formation (Tremp Group) of Spain. The genus contains a single species, Tamarro insperatus, known from a partial metatarsal described in 2021.

Under dispute

Tamarro, the first European jinfengopterygine, was placed in Jinfengopteryginae by its describers (Sellés and colleagues, 2021), where it is placed, though the attribution is queried given the fragmentary holotype (a partial metatarsal) and the contested monophyly of the subfamily.

Diagnosis

  1. Metatarsal II with marked plantar ridge
  2. Small foramen on the lateral surface of the plantar ridge (autapomorphy)
  3. Sub-arctometatarsalian condition with metatarsal III restricted to plantar margin on proximal part
  4. Nutritional foramen on posteromedial surface of metatarsal II (autapomorphy)

Species

Tamarro insperatus Sellés et al., 2021

Type species

From Latin 'insperatus' meaning 'unexpected', referring to the unexpected discovery of the fossil at the Sant Romà d'Abella site.

Holotype
MCD-7073 , Museu de la Conca Dellà
Material
Partial skeleton
Horizon
upper Talarn Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Sant Romà d'Abella, Lleida, Spain

References

  1. Sellés, A. G.; Vila, B.; Brusatte, S. L.; Currie, P. J.; Galobart, À. (2021). A fast-growing basal troodontid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the latest Cretaceous of Europe. Scientific Reports 11(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83745-5 sellés2021a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate.

    jones2026c