Hadrosaur and titanosaur trans-ocean dispersal ability between Europe and Africa + Patagoniaemys aeschyli, new turtle from Cretaceous of Argentina (free pdfs)

[Ben Creisler]

Ben Creisler

bcre...@gmail.com

Not yet mentioned papers:

Free pdf:

Alexandros Pantelides, Paul Upchurch, Philip D. Mannion, Elias Gravanis, Donald M. Henderson & Phaedon Kyriakidis (2026)
ENHYDROSS: A New Mechanistic Model Supports the Trans-Oceanic Dispersal Capability of Terrestrial Vertebrates
Ecology and Evolution 16(4): e73280
doi:  https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73280
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.73280

Free pdf:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.73280


Many terrestrial vertebrates, both extinct and extant, have widespread or even global distributions. Although vicariance (e.g., through continental fragmentation, sea-level changes) explains some of these patterns, others seemingly require long-distance trans-oceanic dispersal. A key but underexplored factor in this debate is the biological feasibility of such dispersal based on an organism's physiology and biomechanics. We introduce ENHYDROSS, a new mechanistic energetic model that estimates optimal swimming speed and minimum cost of transport for any vertebrate. These allow us to estimate maximum swimming distances and durations. We tested ENHYDROSS on two mammals (elephant, polar bear) and five reptiles, including the Aldabra giant tortoise, saltwater crocodile, ostrich, and two extinct nonavian dinosaurs (Lambeosaurus and Rapetosaurus). For the extinct dinosaurs, we used a broad range of basal metabolic rates to account for different thermophysiological hypotheses. The model's estimates for extant animals align with observed data, while cases of underestimates can be attributed to the effects of ocean currents, as evidenced by estimated passive drifting distances and times under predominantly mild and intermediate currents. ENHYDROSS generally predicts greater swimming capacity than previously proposed models due to assumptions like null-thermogenesis, resulting in lower minimum cost of transport. Applying our model to test the feasibility of extinct dinosaur dispersal between Africa and Europe during the Cretaceous via the Alboran route (the oceanic corridor separating Iberia from Morocco), we found that both hadrosaurs and titanosaurs could plausibly complete the journey, particularly under favorable conditions such as low sea levels, stepping-stone islands, and higher fat reserves. Hadrosaurs showed slightly better swimming efficiency. Dispersal was especially feasible during the early–middle Albian (112.5–107.5 Ma) and latest Cretaceous (72.5–66 Ma), but was unlikely during periods of high sea levels (97.5–77.5 Ma). These results support the possibility of trans-oceanic dinosaur dispersal across distances of up to ~560 km.

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Free pdf:

Patagoniaemys aeschyli sp. nov.

Federico L. Agnolin, Mauro Aranciaga Rolando, Juliana Sterli, Nicolás R. Chimento, Fernando E. Novas, and Gonzalo L. Muñoz (2026)
A new meiolaniform turtle from the Maastrichtian of Northern Patagonia, Argentina
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 71(1): 173-184
doi:10.4202/app.01268.2025
https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app012682025.html

Free pdf:
https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app71/app012682025.pdf


Meiolaniformes are a group of chelonians including the famous horned-turtles Niolamia argentina (Patagonia) and Meiolania platyceps (Australia). In South America, the Late Cretaceous meiolaniforms are represented by two named taxa: Patagoniaemys gasparinae coming from Campanian–Maastrichtian beds of the La Colonia Formation, Chubut province, and Trapalcochelys sulcata from the Campanian–Maastrichtian beds of the Allen Formation, Río Negro Province. The aim of the present contribution is to describe a new meiolaniform chelonian coming from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Los Alamitos Formation, at Río Negro Province, Argentina. The material is represented by a partial basicranium, incomplete carapace and fragmentary postcranial bones (MPMIK 1839/P/33) belonging to a new species Patagoniaemys aeschyli. To this new species we refer all the material previously referred as indeterminate meiolaniid, meiolaniform and cf. Niolamia sp., coming from the same site and locality, and described by different authors since the 1980s. This new species differs from the type species P. gasparinae, particularly by the presence of longitudinal ridges in the nuchal bone. We also include brief comments about meiolaniform palaeobiogeography and the impact of K/Pg extinction event in Patagonian chelonians.

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