Open Paleo

Vallibonavenatrix

Malafaia et al., 2019 va-yee-BO-nuh-ven-AY-triks

Named after Vallibona, the town in Castellón, Spain near where its remains were found, combined with Latin venatrix meaning 'huntress'; translates as 'Vallibona huntress'

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

Vallibonavenatrix is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Arcillas de Morella Formation of Castellón, Spain. The type and only species is Vallibonavenatrix cani, known from a partial skeleton.

Under dispute

Vallibonavenatrix cani was described as a spinosaurine (Malafaia and colleagues, 2019) and again recovered as a spinosaurine by Rauhut and colleagues (2025), but its position is unstable across other analyses, which recover it as a baryonychine or a basal spinosaurid outside both subfamilies (Barker and colleagues, 2021; Mateus and Estraviz-López, 2022) or, as an unstable-wildcard result, a megalosaurid (Isasmendi and colleagues, 2024). Spinosauridae is the least-inclusive clade the credible hypotheses accept.

Diagnosis

  1. Moderately high dorsal neural spines relative to centrum height
  2. Deep pleurocoelous fossae and pneumatic foramina in sacral vertebrae
  3. Strongly pneumatic ilium with large internal camerae
  4. Broad and flat platform on ventromedial surface of postacetabular blade of ilium
  5. Strong ventral torsion of ischium diaphysis

Species

Vallibonavenatrix cani Malafaia et al., 2019

Type species

Named for Juan Cano Forner, the amateur fossil collector who discovered and excavated the specimen.

Holotype
MSMCa-1, MSMCa-3, MSMCa-4, MSMCa-5, MSMCa-6, MSMCa-9, MSMCa-10, MSMCa-11, MSMCa-12, MSMCa-13, MSMCa-14, MSMCa-15, MSMCa-18, MSMCa-19, MSMCa-20, MSMCa-22, MSMCa-23, MSMCa-24, MSMCa-27, MSMCa-28, MSMCa-32, MSMCa-33, MSMCa-53, MSMCa-55 , Museo Paleontológico Juan Cano Forner
Material
Partial skeleton of a single individual, comprising one cervical, six dorsal, and four caudal vertebrae, an articulated sacrum, neurapophysis fragments, ten partial ribs, three chevrons, both ilia, both ischia, and a pubis fragment.
Horizon
Arcillas de Morella Formation, Barremian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–121.4 million years ago
Locality
Santa Agueda, Castellón, Spain

References

  1. Malafaia, E.; Gasulla, J. M.; Escaso, F.; Narváez, I.; Sanz, J. L.; Ortega, F. (2019). A new spinosaurid theropod (Dinosauria: Megalosauroidea) from the upper Barremian of Vallibona, Spain: Implications for spinosaurid diversity in the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula. Cretaceous Research 106. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104221

    Describing paper; recovered Vallibonavenatrix as a spinosaurine.

    malafaia2019a
  2. 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

    Camarillasaurus revision recovered Vallibonavenatrix as a spinosaurine.

    rauhut2025a
  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 Vallibonavenatrix as a baryonychine (parsimony) or a basal spinosaurid outside both subfamilies (Bayesian).

    barker2021a
  4. Mateus, O.; Estraviz-López, D. (2022). A new theropod dinosaur from the early cretaceous (Barremian) of Cabo Espichel, Portugal: Implications for spinosaurid evolution. PLOS ONE 17(2): e0262614. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0262614

    Could not recover Vallibonavenatrix as a spinosaurine; it fell in an unresolved position within Spinosauridae.

    mateus2022a
  5. Isasmendi, E.; Cuesta, E.; Díaz-Martínez, I.; Company, J.; Sáez-Benito, P.; Viera, L. I.; Torices, A.; Pereda-Suberbiola, X. (2024). Increasing the theropod record of Europe: a new basal spinosaurid from the Enciso Group of the Cameros Basin (La Rioja, Spain). Evolutionary implications and palaeobiodiversity. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202(3). Oxford University Press (OUP). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad193

    Recovered Vallibonavenatrix in unstable positions, including an early spinosaurine and, as a wildcard result, a megalosaurid.

    isasmendi2024a