The Upper Jurassic Lourinhã Formation (Lusitanian Basin, Portugal) contains a diverse dinosaur fauna comprising theropods, sauropods, stegosaurs, ankylosaurs and several genera of ornithopods. The sedimentology in the area favours preservation of tracksways, and tracks from most of the dinosaurs are also represented by skeletal remains. During fieldwork in the summer of 2003 a new, large, tridactyl track was found at the beach of Vale Frades, approximately 6 km north of Lourinhã (central west Portugal). The track was found together with a stegosaur track on a clay bed exposed within the intertidal zone. Due to the immediate danger of erosion, the track was collected and is now on display at Museu da Lourinhã. The track is 70 cm long and 69 cm wide, the toes are short and broad, with indications of short blunt claws, and there is a high angle of divarication between the outer digits. The shape and dimensions of the track identifies it as deriving from an ornithopod dinosaur with an estimated hip height around three metres. Although very large ornithopods are known from the Cretaceous, the largest known Jurassic ornithopod is Camptosaurus from North America, and the largest known from Portugal is the camptosaurid Draconyx loureiroi. Neither of these reached the body size suggested by the new track. So far the track described herein is the only evidence for a Jurassic ornithopod of that size.

A new Lower Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) dinosaur tracksite at the Olhos de Água beach is described. It is the first vertebrate fossil finding ever found in the concerned unit, and yielded 128 tracks in 17 trackways within an area of ca. 80 square metres.
Three tridactyl footprint morphotypes have been recognized: - Type 1 (“Iguanodontipus-like”) - trackways D, F, K, J and P; - Type 2 (large theropod), although larger in size, typically from a Grallator-like theropod footprint, i.e. A, B, G, H and O trackways; - Type 3 (medium size theropod); M is the only track of this type. There are other, poorly preserved, unidentified trackways. The theropod, swinging trackway B was produced by an animal that was limping. The theropod track M starts eastwards but drastically changes westwards, speeding up at the same time; this dinosaur decided to turn around and run in the opposite direction.
This site shows three main trackway directions: to the South, to the East, and westwards. Except for the trackway O, large theropods A, B, G and H walked southwards. Perpendicularly to these, ornithopods, small theropods and unidentified trackmakers walked towards East (5) and West (7). The segregation of trackmakers and directions, with large theropod trackways southwards and other dinosaurs’ west or eastwards, may mean that large theropods patrolled a walkway area to an important resource, most probably water, often frequented by ornithopods and smaller theropods. There is no evidence of social behavior or gregarism: footprints’ overposition shows that the large, southwards walking theropods passed on different occasions. Three trackway sequences can be established by chronologic order.

This chapter provides an overview of the alpha paleobiodiversity of Angola based on the available fossil record that is limited to the sedimentary rocks, ranging in age from Precambrian to the present. The geological period with the highest paleobiodiversity in the Angolan fossil record is the Cretaceous, with more than 80{%} of the total known fossil taxa, especially marine molluscs, including ammonites as a majority among them. The vertebrates represent about 15{%} of the known fauna and about one tenth of them are species firstly described based on specimens from Angola.

Clavicles and interclavicles are plesiomorphically present in Reptilia. However, several groups show reduction or even loss of these elements. Crocodylimorpha, e.g., lost the clavicles, whereas dinosaurs are generally interpreted to only preserve the clavicles, the theropod furcula representing an unique case of fused clavicles. In sauropods, reports of clavicles are relatively frequent in non-titanosauriforms. These elements are elongated, curved, and rather stout bones with a spatulate and a bifurcate end. However, they were always found as single bones, and differ from the relatively short and unbifurcated clavicles found articulated with the scapulae of basal sauropodomorphs. Elements from the Howe Quarry (Late Jurassic; Wyoming, USA) shed new light on these interpretations. Besides the elongated, curved bones (herein named morphotype A), also pairs of symmetric, L-shaped bones were recovered (morphotype B), associated with diplodocid dorsal and cervical vertebrae. Elements resembling morphotype B - articulated between the scapulae - have recently been reported from a diplodocid found near Tensleep, Wyoming. Taphonomic evidence, as well as the fact that they were preserved in symmetrical pairs, therefore implies that morphotype B represents the true sauropod clavicles. Contrary to earlier reports, morphotype A elements from the Howe Quarry, as well as of previously reported specimens show a symmetry plane following the long axis of the elements. It is thus possible that the morphotype A elements were single bones from the body midline. The only such element present in the pectoral girdle of tetrapods are the interclavicle and the furcula. Comparison with crocodilian and lacertiform interclavicles indicates that the bifurcate end of the sauropod elements might represent the reduced transverse processes of the anterior end, and the spatulate end would have covered the coracoids or sternal plates ventrally. The presence of both clavicles and interclavicles in the pectoral girdle stiffens the anterior trunk, and enhances considerably its stability. Such an enforcement might have been needed in diplodocids due to the strong lateral forces induced to the fore-limbs by the posteriorly placed center of mass (due to shorter fore- than hind-limbs), as well as lateral movements of the enormously elongated necks and tails. The absence of clavicles and interclavicles in titanosauriforms coincides with the development of wide-gauge locomotion style. The presence of interclavicles in sauropods supports the recently proposed homology of the furcula with the interclavicle, instead of representing fused clavicles. Interclavicles were thus not lost, but may have remained cartilaginous or have yet to be found in basal dinosauriforms.

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The basal part of the Triassic-Jurassic (Rhaetian-Sinemurian) Kap Stewart Formation, exposed at Jameson Land, East Greenland, yields an extensive coprolite collection from black, parallel-laminated mudstone (“paper shale”), representing an open lacustrine system. Preliminary investigations show three different types of coprolites: elongated cylindrical masses, composed of irregularly wrapped layers; elongated cylindrical masses with constriction marks; and spirally-coiled specimens.

A new Late Cretaceous turtle, Angolachelys mbaxi gen. et sp. nov., from the Turonian (90 Mya) of Angola, represents the oldest eucryptodire from Africa. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Angolachelys mbaxi as the sister taxon of Sandownia harrisi from the Aptian of Isle of Wight, England. An unnamed turtle from the Albian Glen Rose Formation of Texas (USA) and the Kimmeridgian turtle Solnhofia parsonsi (Germany), are successively more distant sister taxa. Bootstrap analysis suggests those four taxa together form a previously unrecognized monophyletic clade of marine turtles, herein named Angolachelonia clade nov., supported by the following synapomorphies: mandibular articulation of quadrate aligned with or posterior to the occiput, and basisphenoid not visible or visibility greatly reduced in ventral view. Basal eucryptodires and angolachelonians originated in the northern hemisphere, thus Angolachelys represents one of the first marine amniote lineages to have invaded the South Atlantic after separation of Africa and South America.

The diversity of fossil crocodylomorphs in Portugal is high, with occurrence as old as Mystriosaurus (=Steneosaurus) bollensis from the Lower Jurassic. The Late Jurassic forms are the better documented, and include the following taxa: Machimosaurus hugii, Lisboasaurus estesi Seiffert, 1973, Lusitanisuchus mitrocostatus Seiffert, 1975; Schwarz & Fechner 2004, Theriosuchus guimarotae Schwarz and Salisbury 2005, Cf. Alligatorium, Goniopholis baryglyphaeus, and a crocodylomorph-like eggs in dinosaur nests (Mateus et al., 1998; Ricqlès et al., 2001). From the Lower Cretaceous were reported a few dinosaurs but its record is strangely scarce in crocodylomorphs (Mateus et al., 2011). The Upper Cretaceous crocodiles show a large diversity, but it is mostly based in fragmentary material that require revision, such as “Crocodylus” blavieri? Grey from the Upper Campanian - Maastrichtian of Viso, near Aveiro (initially reported by Sauvage 1897-98), Goniopholis cf. crassidens Owen 1841 and Oweniasuchus pulchelus Jonet 1981. Moreover there is a fascinating, but poorly understood, crocodylomorph diversity in the Cenomanian of Portugal, documented by fragmentary specimens that have been doubtfully assigned to Thoracosaurus Leidy 1852 of the Middle Cenomanian of Cacém, to the nomen dubium Oweniasuchus lusitanicus Sauvage 1897-98 (interpreted as a mesosuchian goniopholid) based in a fragmentary mandible from the Campanian-Maastrichtian, and also from the Middle Cenomanian of Portugal, Buffetaut and Lauverjat (1978) report an fragmentary unidentified possible dyrosaurid from Nazaré. All this specimens are too incomplete to be compared with the specimen here described. In contrast, Cenozoic crocodiles of Portugal are often known after complete skulls and several individuals. The taxa list include Iberosuchus macrodon (Lower to Middle Eocene), Tomistoma calaritanus (Early Miocene) and T. lusitanica (Burdigalian-Helvetian), and Diplocynodon sp. (Antunes, 1961, 1987, 1994).
At least, two different morphotypes of crocodylomorph eggs from the Late Jurassic of Lourinhã Formation are also known.
A new specimen here reported of crocodile based in a partial skull and mandible (ML1818) from the Uppermost Middle Cenomanian platform carbonates of Baixo Mondego, west central Portugal (Tentúgal Fm., Callapez, 2004). The taxon is phylogenetically positioned as a basal Eusuchia, due to the choanae enclosed by the pterygoid, and closely related with stem Crocodylia and Borealosuchus. This specimen represents the only well documented and valid eusuchian species in the Cenomanian of Europe and is the oldest representative of an eusuchian crocodylomorph, with the exception for the Barremian Hylaeochampsa vectiana.

Several well preserved clutches of dinosaurs have been discovered in the upper Kimmeridgian/ Tithonian of Lourinhã (Estramadur Province, Portugal). Some eggs of one clutch contained embryo elements of a theropod dinosaur. The egg-shell resembles that of eggs which have been discovered in the Upper Jurassic of Colorado

Africa is the only continent that now straddles arid zones located beneath the descending limbs of both the northern and southern Hadley cells, and it has done so since it became a distinct continent in the Early Cretaceous. Since that time, Africa has drifted tectonically some 12 degrees north and rotated approximately 45 degrees counterclockwise. This changing latitudinal setting and position of the landmass under the relatively stable Hadley Cells is manifested as southward migration of climatic zones over the past 132 million years. Data from kerogen, X-ray diffraction analysis of sedimentary matrix, carbon isotopes from shell samples and tooth enamel,new 40Ar/39Ar radiometric dates, pollen and plant macrofossils, and fossil vertebrates indicate a productive upwelling system adjacent to a coastal desert since the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean; however, the position of the coastal desert has migrated southward as Africa drifted north, resulting in today's Skeleton Coast and Benguela Current. This migration has had a profound effect on the placement of the West African coast relative to areas of high marine productivity and resulting extensive hydrocarbon deposits, on the placement of arid zones relative to the continent especially the Skeleton Coast desert, on the climatic history of the Congo Basin (which shows a Late Cretaceous decrease in aridity based on the relative abundance of analcime in the Samba core), and in reducing the southern temperate region of Africa from 17{%} of continental area during the Cretaceous to 2{%} today. We show here that these related geographic and environmental changes drove ecological and evolutionary adjustments in southern African floras and faunas, specifically with respect to the distribution of anthropoid primates, the occurrence of modern relicts such as the gnetalean Welwitschia mirabilis, endemism as in the case of ice plants, and mammalian adaption to an open environment as in springhares. Africa's tectonic drift through climate zones has been a first-order environmental determinant since the Early Cretaceous.

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This chapter provides an overview of the alpha paleobiodiversity of Angola based on the available fossil record that is limited to the sedimentary rocks, ranging in age from Precambrian to the present. The geological period with the highest paleobiodiversity in the Angolan fossil record is the Cretaceous, with more than 80{%} of the total known fossil taxa, especially marine molluscs, including ammonites as a majority among them. The vertebrates represent about 15{%} of the known fauna and about one tenth of them are species firstly described based on specimens from Angola.

Although rich in Cretaceous vertebrate fossils, prior to 2005 the amniote fossil record of Angola was poorly known. Two horizons and localities have yielded the majority of the vertebrate fossils collected thus far; the Turonian Itombe Formation of Iembe in Bengo Province and the Maastrichtian Mocuio Formation of Bentiaba in Namibe Province. Amniotes of the Mesozoic of Angola are currently restricted to the Cretaceous and include eucryptodire turtles, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs. Recent collecting efforts have greatly expanded our knowledge of the amniote fauna of Angola and most of the taxa reported here were unknown prior to 2005.

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THE SAUROPOD DINOSAUR TURIASAURUS RIODEVENSIS IN THE LATE JURASSIC OF PORTUGAL MATEUS, Octávio, New University of Lisbon (CICEGe-FCT) & Museum of Lourinhã, Lisboa, Portugal A partial sauropod was found in 1996 in Vale Pombas, north of Lourinhã, Central West of Portugal, in the Lourinhã Formation, top of Amoreira Porto Novo member dated as c. 150 M.a. (Early Tithonian, Late Jurassic) and is currently housed at Museum of Lourinhã, in Portugal. The specimen (ML368) comprises a complete tooth with root, anterior chevron and almost complete right forelimb including partial scapula, complete coracoid, humerus, ulna, radius, metacarpals I, III and V, phalanx, and ungual phalanx I. It can be ascribed to Turiasaurus riodevensis, which was previously described from the Villar del Arzobispo Formation at Riodeva (Teruel, Spain). Characters shared with T. riodevensis holotype include: curvature and asymmetry of tooth crown, expansion of crown, outline of humerus, medial deflection of the proximal end of humerus, shape and prominence of deltopectoral crest, vertical ridge in the distal half of the ulna (considered as diagnostic of Turiasauria), configuration of metacarpals, and bone proportions. It differs from T. riodevensis holotype by the smaller size and the more rectangular ungual phalanx in lateral view. The sediments from which the Riodeva specimen was recovered were previsouly thought to be Tithonian to Berriasian in age. The presence of this species in Portugal, in beds confidently dated as Early Tithonian, may allow a more precise date for the Riodeva type locality of early Tithonian in age. The humerus of the Portuguese T. riodevensis is 152 cm long. Although shorter than the Spanish specimen (790 mm), it represents a large individual. All adult sauropods recovered in Portugal thus far are very large individuals: Dinheirosaurus (estimated body length is 20- 25 m), Lusotitan (humerus length estimated to be 205 cm), Lourinhasaurus (femur length: 174 cm), and Turiasaurus here reported. The lack of of small or medium adult body-size sauropods in the Late Jurassic of Portugal, suggests browsing niches thought to be occupied by smaller forms, could be have been available for other dinosaurs, like the long necked stegosaur Miragaia longicollum.