Naturwissenschaften (2011) 98:67–78
DOI 10.1007/s00114-010-0742-3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Bone histology of the titanosaur Lirainosaurus astibiae
(Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Latest Cretaceous
of Spain
Julio Company
Received: 15 July 2010 / Revised: 11 November 2010 / Accepted: 12 November 2010 / Published online: 1 December 2010
# Springer-Verlag 2010
Abstract The titanosaur Lirainosaurus astibiae is the only heterochronic growth would be a reversal of the accelerated
sauropod species known from the Late Cretaceous of the pattern of bone deposition typical for the sauropod lineage.
Iberian Peninsula. Lirainosaurus did not reach a gigantic
body size and is one of the smallest sauropods discovered Keywords Titanosauria . Lirainosaurus . Bone
to date. Histological analysis of Lirainosaurus bones, microstructure . Growth . Peramorphosis . Dwarfism
focused on diaphyseal transverse sections of appendicular
elements, reveals that Lirainosaurus did not exhibit the
osseous microstructure typical for large sauropods, but is Introduction
comparable with that of the coeval titanosaurs Alamosaurus
sanjuanensis, Ampelosaurus atacis, and Magyarosaurus Lirainosaurus astibiae was a small to medium-sized
dacus, and also shares histological traits with other small to gracile titanosaur (about 8–10 m in length and estimated
medium-sized sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Lirainosaurus body mass of approximately 1.5 t) first discovered in the
limb bones exhibit a laminar fibrolamellar bone micro- Upper Cretaceous Laño Quarry of Burgos province,
structure interrupted by growth marks, fully obliterated in northern Spain (Sanz et al. 1999). Recent fieldwork
adulthood by intense secondary remodeling processes carried out in Late Campanian–Early Maastrichtian beds
which tend to replace completely the primary cortex. at Chera Basin (Iberian Ranges, eastern Spain) has
Lirainosaurus attained smaller sizes than typical sauropods produced new material referable to L. astibiae, consisting
reducing the rate of primary periosteal osteogenesis and mainly of disarticulated vertebrae, pectoral girdle ele-
developing an extensive secondary remodeling well before ments, and associated limb bones of individuals at or near
the adult size was reached. Histological organization of full adult size (Company et al. 2009). Bones have been
Lirainosaurus long bones is more mature than observed in collected from three different fossiliferous horizons placed
basal neosauropods at similar ontogenetic stage, document- within a narrow stratigraphic interval in the upper part of
ing a case of peramorphosis by pre-displacement. This the Sierra Perenchiza Formation, which represents palus-
trine deposits accumulated in a coastal plain paleoenviron-
ment (Martín-Chivelet et al. 2002).
Communicated by Robert Reisz
Lirainosaurus is one of the smallest sauropod taxa,
J. Company (*) exclusively reported from the Iberian Peninsula, and
Departamento de Ingeniería del Terreno, Universidad Politécnica
phylogenetically represents a derived titanosauriform
de Valencia,
46022, Valencia, Spain (Upchurch et al. 2004). It has been previously related
e-mail: [email protected] with the Saltasaurinae of South America (Sanz et al.
1999; Wilson 2002; Curry-Rogers 2005) but clear
J. Company
phylogenetic affinities can be recognized only within a
Instituto “Cavanilles” de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva,
Universidad de Valencia, more inclusive clade, the Eutitanosauria (Company et al.
46071, Valencia, Spain 2009) (Fig. 1).
78 Naturwissenschaften (2011) 98:67–78
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