Everyone has a dream for his country. Some yearn for the full legalization of drugs, the establishment of the largest amusement park world or nudity required, others dream of a country run by women only, while some people think that their country would be better if it were a nuclear power. One of my dreams, well known by those who know me, is that Spain one day become a superpower as far as dinosaurs are concerned, and apparently it is on track.
With the secrecy that characterizes all university after seven years, has been presented to the media Corcovatus Concavenator the Hispania superpredator terrifying the Mesozoic. With 6 feet long, "Pepito," since this is known colloquially, is a member of the family of carnosaurs, namely, that of the carcharodontosaurid (or shark-toothed dinosaurs.)
The most curious feature of this specimen is its hump. Without being a sail back, as in the case of Spinosaurus pelycosaurs or (not dinosaurs) Dimetrodon, the Concavenator hump is a great mystery. There are those who believe that could well have served as a temperature controller (in the same way as did the candles, it seems, of reptiles listed above, or the African elephant's ears), although there are those who see it as a store of fat (such as camels and dromedaries) or even a distinctive sign. Along with this hump highlights the discovery of a series of bumps on the ulna (ulna, thanks to the clarification made by Jorge W. Moreno-Bernal) to give attachment to the larger feathers) on the forearms of the animal (such as has been discovered in more strictly avian reptiles such as Velociraptor ).
The discovery was made in Las Hoyas (Cuenca), where he also found the remains of Iberomesornis and Pelecanimimus (the only ornithomimosaurs (ostrich dinosaur) found in Europe). How could it be otherwise in Spain, the production of "Pepito" has coincided with the announcement of a major investment to build a research center of the dinosaurs in Cuenca (there was already an institution "equal" in Teruel, Dinópolis and a few months of an election ...). If anything has changed is that the fossil (the most complete dinosaur found in Spain) you can visit, it seems, at the Museum of Natural Sciences of Cuenca.
Let us see what is the Administration's commitment with the new center, and if we see the fossil along with others in a museum attraction. At the moment there are many speculations, but at least, "Pepito" made my day a lot, in these times as needed ...
* more about the news: http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20100909/cuenca-triangulo-oro-dinosaurios/353023.shtml
* Illustration: "Dinosaurs , the end ", Went Ivan illustration . Concavenator was related to Carcharodontosaurus, a species represented in the picture.
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