Overview

• The peer-reviewed description, led by Filippo Bertozzo, appears in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
• The holotype is a ~37 cm partial skull found in 2016 in the Papo Seco Formation on the Setúbal Peninsula, the first iguanodontian skull reported from Portugal.
• The species is diagnosed by a complete fusion of the maxilla and jugal bones, a condition not observed in other iguanodontians.
• Micro-CT imaging reconstructed cranial nerves, inner-ear structures and brain impressions, and revealed replacement teeth that inform feeding mechanics; the authors suggest a comparatively powerful bite.
• The team argues the find expands Barremian iguanodontian diversity in the Lusitanian Basin, consistent with diversification shaped by insular endemism and dispersal.