![\"Digital](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image_14234_2-Cariocecus-bocagei.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDigital assemblage of the Cariocecus bocagei skull. Image credit: Bertozzo et al., doi: 10.1080\/14772019.2025.2536347.<\/p>\n
A partial skull of Cariocecus bocagei was discovered in 2016 along the cliffs of western Portugal from the Papo Seco Formation.<\/p>\n
About 37\u2009cm long, the specimen is the first ever iguanodontian skull from this country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe specimen was discovered in the Papo Seco Formation along the south-western shore of the Set\u00fabal Peninsula, approximately 200 m north of Praia do Areia do Mastro,\u201d the paleontologists said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDetailed sequence analysis indicates that the Early Cretaceous units exposed along this margin were deposited during the fourth and final rifting episode associated with the formation of the Lusitanian Basin.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers examined the fossil and identified anatomical features never seen in any other iguanodontian species.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe maxilla and the jugal bone are completely fused. We\u2019ve never seen that in any other iguanodont,\u201d Dr. Bertozzo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a random abnormality. This is a truly unique trait \u2014 and therefore a new species.\u201d<\/p>\n
Micro-CT scans allowed the scientists to examine the cranial nerves and inner ear in exceptional detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cA skull is always a special find. It tells us far more than isolated bones,\u201d Dr. Bertozzo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this case, we could even trace impressions of the brain and nerves, and reconstruct parts of the inner ear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe structure of the balance organs and auditory nerves gives us clues about how this animal lived and oriented itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother striking feature is an unusually low \u2018eyebrow\u2019 bone \u2014 lower than in any other known iguanodontian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt likely supported a heavy brow ridge, possibly similar to those seen in modern eagles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat kind of structure may have had functional or even visual significance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe teeth of Cariocecus bocagei also offered surprising insights,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cMicro-CT scans revealed not only the visible teeth, but also replacement teeth embedded in the jaw \u2014 new teeth already forming to replace worn ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis kind of tooth replacement is typical for iguanodonts, but it has rarely been observed so clearly in early species.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the team, Cariocecus bocagei may have had a more powerful bite than its relatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe discovery of Cariocecus bocagei augments our understanding of the ecological structure of Early Cretaceous environments in the Lusitanian Basin, suggesting the presence of more than one iguanodontian species, mimicking the trend seen in other coeval habitats in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain and central Africa,\u201d the authors said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Barremian diversity of iguanodontian taxa was caused by insular endemism events, which originated after a dispersal of North American dryomorphs between the Late Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn conclusion, the discovery of Cariocecus bocagei highlights the importance of the Hauterivian-Barremian-Aptian for the diversification and speciation of iguanodontians that led to the evolution of the more sophisticated hadrosaurids in the Turonian.\u201d<\/p>\n
The findings<\/a> were published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.<\/p>\n_____<\/p>\n
Filippo Bertozzo et al. 2025. Cariocecus bocagei, a new basal hadrosauroid from the Lower Cretaceous of Portugal. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 23 (1); doi: 10.1080\/14772019.2025.2536347<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A team of paleontologists from Portugal, Italy, the United States and Belgium has added another species of herbivorous…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[28649,28650,9154,13650,1813,9155,28651,28652,61,28653,60,28654,28655,2888,82,28656],"class_list":{"0":"post-37260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-cariocecus","9":"tag-cariocecus-bocagei","10":"tag-cretaceous","11":"tag-dinosaur","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-fossil","14":"tag-hadrosaur","15":"tag-hadrosauroidea","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-iguanodontia","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-lusitanian-basin","20":"tag-papo-seco-formation","21":"tag-portugal","22":"tag-science","23":"tag-skull"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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