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| Iberian Peninsula Dinosaur Project | |
|---|---|
| Name | Iberian Peninsula Dinosaur Project |
| Formation | 1998 |
| Type | Research consortium |
| Headquarters | Iberian Peninsula |
| Region served | Iberian Peninsula |
| Leader title | Directors |
Iberian Peninsula Dinosaur Project is a long-term paleontological research consortium focused on vertebrate paleobiology across the Iberian Peninsula, including parts of Spain and Portugal. The initiative integrates field excavation, comparative anatomy, geochronology, and paleoecological reconstruction to document Mesozoic vertebrate assemblages, particularly dinosaur faunas. Partnering with universities, museums, and governmental agencies, the project has advanced knowledge of Late Jurassic and Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems through collaborative expeditions and multidisciplinary studies.
The project operates across major stratigraphic basins such as the Duero Basin, Tremp Basin, Basque-Cantabrian Basin, and Lusitanian Basin, coordinating teams from institutions like the University of Zaragoza, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, University of Coimbra, and the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Field seasons typically involve paleontologists, preparators, sedimentologists, and students from programs at Universitat de Barcelona, Universidad de Salamanca, University of Lisbon, Universidad de Oviedo, and international partners including the Natural History Museum, London and the American Museum of Natural History. The consortium links stratigraphic mapping with absolute dating methods developed at laboratories such as the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
The initiative traces roots to regional campaigns in the 1980s led by figures associated with the Museo Paleontológico de Elche, Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, and the Museo de la Universidad de Zaragoza. Formal collaboration emerged in 1998 when researchers from the Universidad de Salamanca and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona coordinated cross-border surveys in the Iberian Range and Portuguese Algarve. Key early contributors included curators and academics affiliated with the National Museum of Natural Sciences (Spain), the Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, and the Instituto Portuário e dos Transportes Marítimos. Subsequent funding cycles involved grants from agencies such as the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, and the European Research Council.
Primary objectives emphasize documenting faunal diversity, phylogenetic relationships, and biogeographic patterns among Mesozoic dinosaurs and other vertebrates. The project prioritizes taxa from the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous intervals, investigating clades like Theropoda, Ornithopoda, Sauropoda, and Ankylosauria. Research goals include refining chronostratigraphic frameworks using collaborators at the Institut de Ciències del Mar and applying isotope geochemistry techniques developed at the Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas. Comparative work references specimens and collections at institutions such as the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
Field campaigns have yielded important specimens from formations like the Lo Hueco Formation, Berriasian and Barremian units in the Tremp Formation, and the Caldas da Rainha and Lourinhã Formation sites. Notable discoveries include partial theropod skeletons, articulated sauropod remains, eggs and nests attributed to Maniraptora-grade theropods, and well-preserved stegosaurs and ankylosaurs that have informed paleobiogeographic links with North Africa, Europe, and North America. Excavations near localities such as Fuentesalvo, Lo Hueco, Porto Dinheiro, and Fumanya have produced specimens curated at the Museu da Lourinhã, Museo de Dinosaurios de Salas de los Infantes, and the Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência.
The consortium employs a suite of paleontological methods including systematic excavation, 3D photogrammetry, preparation in field laboratories, thin-section petrography, and radiometric dating like U-Pb zircon geochronology conducted at facilities such as the Centro de Geociências da Universidade de Coimbra. Morphological analyses use CT scanning capabilities provided by partners at the Hospital Clínic Barcelona and comparative datasets from the American Museum of Natural History and the Natural History Museum, London. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions integrate palynology performed at the Instituto Geológico y Minero de España and stable isotope analyses in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.
Collaborative networks span national museums, universities, and research institutes: Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid), Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Bonn. The project interfaces with heritage agencies including the Direção-Geral do Património Cultural and the Gobierno de Aragón for permitting and conservation. International partnerships have enabled joint publications in journals associated with the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, the Palaeontological Association, and the European Geosciences Union.
Findings from the project have refined models of Late Mesozoic faunal interchange, contributed to descriptions of new species, and clarified evolutionary relationships within Theropoda and Sauropoda. Publications have appeared in venues linked to the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Cretaceous Research, and Palaeontology, influencing phylogenetic matrices used by researchers at institutions like the Field Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. The project’s datasets have supported paleobiogeographic syntheses connecting Iberian faunas to contemporaneous assemblages in Gondwana and Laurasia.
Outreach activities include exhibitions at the Museu da Lourinhã, the Museo Paleontológico de Elche, and traveling displays coordinated with the National Museum of Natural Sciences (Spain), educational programs with the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Universitat de Barcelona, and citizen-science digs involving municipal partners such as the Ayuntamiento de Burgos and the Câmara Municipal de Lourinhã. The project has contributed to documentary features produced by broadcasters like TVE and RTP, and to curriculum materials distributed through the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales and regional science outreach offices.
Category:Paleontology projects Category:Science in Spain Category:Science in Portugal