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A new ornithopod dinosaur is described here under the name of Draconyx loureiroi n. gen., n. sp. on teeth, caudal vertebrae, forelimb, hindlimb, and foot material that were found in association in the Late Jurassic-Tithonian of Lourinhã, Portugal. Draconyx is a Camptosauridae related to Camptosaurus.

A synthesis on the state of art on dinosaur knowledge in Portugal is presented. The following genera have been recognized: Ceratosaurus, Torvosaurus, Lourinhanosaurus, Allosaurus, cf. Compsognathus, Stokesosaurus, cf. Richardoestesia, cf. Archaeopteryx, Euronychodon, cf. Paronychodon, Dinheirosaurus, Lourinhasaurus, Lusotitan, cf. Pleurocoelus, Lusitanosaurus, Dacentrurus, Dracopelta, Phyllodon, Hypsilophodon, Alocodon, Trimucrodon, Draconyx, Iguanodon, and Taveirosaurus. Most are from Late Jurassic localities at the Lourinhã area and Guimarota. A new genus, Lusotitan, is here raised to include the Late Jurassic ‘Brachiosaurus’ atalaiensis. Lower Cretaceous until Cenomanian material is scarce, except for dinosaur footprints. An interesting Late-Cretaceous, mostly small dinosaur association has been collected between Aveiro and Taveiro.

Thyreophoran dinosaurs have spike- and club-shaped osteoderms probably used for defensive weapons. The structural and histological variations have been little known. Here, we provide the comparisons of the internal structures in defensive weapons of ankylosaurs and stegosaurs, using spikes of a polacanthid (Gastonia) and a nodosaurid (Edmontonia), clubs of ankylosaurids (Saichania and Ankylosauridae indet. from Canada), and spikes of stegosaurids (Stegosaurus and Dacentrurus), which sheds light on understandings of evolutionary history and functional implications of defensive weapons in thyreophorans. In ankylosaurs, the structural and histological features of spikes and clubs are similar with those of small osteoderms in having thin compact bones, thick cancellous bones with large vascular canals, and abundant collagen fibers. A previous study demonstrated that each of three groups of ankylosaurs (polacanthid, nodosaurid, and ankylosaurid) has distinct characteristic arrangements of collagen fibers in small osteoderms. This study shows that spikes and clubs of ankylosaurs maintain the same characteristic features for each group despite of the differences in shapes and sizes. Conversely, the spike-shaped osteoderms in primitive (Dacentrurus) and derived (Stegosaurus) stegosaurids have similar structure to each other and are significantly different from the other types of stegosaur osteoderms (throat bony ossicles and plates) in having thick compact bones with a medullary cavity. These lack abundant collagen fibers unlike ankylosaur osteoderms. The spikes of ankylosaurs and stegosaurs are similar in shape, but their structural and histological features are different in having unique structures of collagen fibers for ankylosaurs and thick compact bones for stegosaurs, providing enough strength to have large spikes and to use them as defensive weapons. Although the shapes of ankylosaur clubs are different from spikes, the internal structures are similar, suggesting that ankylosaurs maintain similar structures despite of different shapes in osteoderms. These results indicate that ankylosaurs and stegosaurs used different strategies independently to evolve defensive weapons.

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Dinosaurs and other fossils have been artificially enhanced, or totally forged, to increase their commercial value. The most problematic forgeries to detect are based on original fossils that are artificially assembled. Several techniques are suggested for detecting hoaxes: detailed visual examination, chemical analysis, Xray or CT-scan, and ultraviolet light. It is recommended that museums and paleontological researchers do not purchase and/or trade fossils lacking clear provenience information. Exceptions to that general rule should be closely examined using techniques described herein.

Four different localities from the Late Jurassic of Lourinhã formation with eggshells and embryos were studied: Paimogo (lower Amoreira-Porto Novo member), Peralta (Praia Azul member), Porto das barcas (Bombarral member) and Casal da Rôla (Amoreira-Porto Novo member). All but Casal da Rôla have embryonic material. Preliminary results show that eggshells from Paimogo correspond to obliquiprismatic morphotype (0.92mm thick), similar to those from Morrison Formation. Within Paimogo site a different type of eggshell was discovered, having a radial section of 153 μm with a mammilary layer measuring 65 μm. Porto das Barcas eggshells represent a discretispherulitic morphotype (1,23 mm thick).
This locality presents a nest 60-cm diameter containing many eggshells but an indeterminate number of eggs. Some embryonic bones were discovered between the eggshells including teeth and skull bones showing that the eggs belong to a saurischian, tentatively a sauropod dinosaur. Peralta nest eggshells are preliminary ascribed to obliquiprismatic morphotype (column: 0,56mm and mammilla: 0,21mm) probably related to Paimogo’s nest taxon (Lourinhanosaurus). Peralta site bears embryonic bones namely small theropod teeth associated with bone fragments, and unidentifiable dinosaur vertebra. Only eggshells have been collected at Casal da Rôla (ML1194). The eggshells (0,78mm thick) are prismatic morphotype and it was impossible to determine the pore system, the outer surface is smooth with no ornamentation.
Lourinhã formation has the oldest sauropod and theropod nest with embryos known so far.

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A newly discovered dinosaur track-assemblage from the Upper Jurassic Lourinha˜ Formation (Lusitanian Basin, central-west Portugal), comprises medium- to large-sized sauropod tracks with well-preserved impressions of soft tissue anatomy, stegosaur tracks and tracks from medium- to large-sized theropods. The 400-m-thick Lourinha˜ Formation consists of mostly aluvial sediments, deposited during the early rifting of the Atlantic Ocean in the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian. The stratigraphic succession shows several shifts between flood-plain mud and fluvial sands that favour preservation and fossilization of tracks. The studied track-assemblage is found preserved as natural casts on the underside of a thin bivalve-rich carbonate bed near the Tithonian–Kimmeridgian boundary. The diversity of the tracks from the new track assemblage is compared with similar faunas from the Upper Jurassic of Asturias, Spain and the Middle Jurassic Yorkshire Coast of England. The Portuguese record of Upper Jurassic dinosaur body fossils show close similarity to the track fauna from the Lourinha˜ Formation.

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Book of abstracts of the 5th Symposium on Mesozoic and Decapod Crustaceans

Abstract
Late Jurassic dinosaur footprints were found on a coastline cliff in Lourinhã, Porto das Barcas, Lagido do Forno (coordinate 39°14.178’N, 9°20.397’W, Portugal) in June 2001. The locality is characterized by steep cliffs with high slopes that are composed of gray and red sandstones/ siltstones. The location belongs to the successions of Lusitanian Basin representing the Porto Novo Member of the Lourinhã Formation. Three natural infills of tridactyl tracks, possibly ascribed to ornithopod, a bipedal herbivore were found, representing a left foot movement, a right and a left one, respectively. Footprints are 300- 400mm wide and have a height of 330-360mm. The footprints are characterized by round fingers, which are elongated due to some degradation/ erosion. The footprints were collected from the field in 2001 and subsequently cleaned, consolidated and glued in the laboratory of the Museum of Lourinhã before being exhibited in a museum display. Stone matrix was removed and a consolidation product was applied, probably a polyvinyl acetate. The footprint with broken central digit was glued with an epoxy resin, Araldite. Both applied products were confirmed by analysis of μ- FTIR and both presented colour change and detachment surface problems. The footprints have been exposed in the palaeontology hall of the Museum of Lourinhã, Portugal from 2004 without climate controlling. These trace fossils form an important part of the palaeontological collection of Late Jurassic vertebrate fossils from Lourinhã Formation. Presently, it is considered a unique heritage in danger of disappearing due to high decay level of disaggregation of its geological structure. The footprints display several pathologies, such as “Blistering”, “Powdering”, “Exfoliation”’ as well as “Dirt”, “Fracture”’, “Inscriptions”, “Consolidants” and “Adhesives” and are now in very poor conditions. Laboratorial analysed were made to evaluate the presence of salts. Moreover a microclimatic study was conducted inside the museum to evaluate the influence of thermo-hygrometric parameters on the decay processes. The future interventions will depend on the results of consolidation trials that are currently under progress by using stone samples taken from the same layer and location from Porto das Barcas applying different commercial consolidation products.