Logroño, Mar 19 (EFE).- A team of paleontologists has recently verified that the fossil remains of a carnivorous spinosaurid dinosaur, found in the 2022 excavation campaign in the Rioja municipality of Igea, correspond to the most complete spinosaurid in the Iberian Peninsula and, possibly, from the European record.
The results of the research, recently completed, will be presented on the 24th in Logroño, the Igea Paleontological Interpretation Center has reported, where the fossil challenges found and studied are currently deposited.
The excavation work was carried out at the “Virgen de Villar 2” site, which, according to the research team, is an “exceptional” paleontological outcrop, which has made it possible to recover a large quantity of fossilized bone remains of this large carnivorous dinosaur, among 7 and 8 meters in length, with an elongated snout and highly developed arms, the Paleontological Center has detailed, in a note.
The quantity and quality of the fossil remains recovered in the 2022 campaign at this site will have a social and scientific impact at a national and international level, as it is not only one of the most complete theropod (carnivorous) dinosaurs in the Spanish record, Rather, it is possibly the most complete spinosaurid in the European record, even rivaling the iconic English dinosaur Baryonyx.
The research team also maintains that this is one of the most important paleontological discoveries in the entire history of La Rioja and that, furthermore, “it is destined to become a reference in national paleontology.”
The deposits of Igea, a municipality located about 80 kilometers from Logroño, are providing a large amount of spinosaurid material, which is why, for the research team, they confer important scientific value, since, among the latest studies on this species of dinosaur, there are an investigation into the way of life of these dinosaurs.
The team that will announce the results of this research on the 24th are the paleontologist and researcher at the University of the Basque Country, Xabier Pereda; and the honorary director of the Paleontological Center of La Rioja in Igea, Francisco Sáez-Benito.