Iberian paleontology: new fossils and old debates in Spain
A bison with a copper arrowhead in Navarre, Spinosaurus mirabilis and the Prototaxites enigma reopen the debate on how we reconstruct the past from fossils.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Spanish paleontology delivers a 4,000-year-old bison and a Spinosaurus that reopen the debate on how to reconstruct the past
Four thousand years ago, an 850-kilo bison fell into a sinkhole in Navarre with a copper arrowhead between its ribs. The skeleton, recovered in October 2025 in the Urbasa-Andía Natural Park, is one of the most important paleontological finds on the Iberian Peninsula. But it is not the only one: in March 2025, a study on bioRxiv questioned the nature of the giant Prototaxites, an 8-meter-tall organism that may belong to an extinct lineage with no modern equivalent. In 2026, the journal Science published the description of Spinosaurus mirabilis, a new crested spinosaur found in Niger that places these dinosaurs as the equivalents of today's herons: shoreline predators, not swimmers.
The Iberian haul: from Torvosaurus to the Urbasa bison
Torvosaurus, a carnivore over 11 meters long, is the largest dinosaur found on the Iberian Peninsula from the Jurassic. It lived between 168 and 148 million years ago. The skeleton of the Chalcolithic bison, presented by the Government of Navarre in 2025, contains a copper arrowhead that proves human activity and suggests that the ecosystems of northern Spain still hosted large herbivores and predators as recently as four millennia ago.
The peacock dilemma: reconstructing without antiestéticathers
An exercise proposed in the debate illustrates the problem: if the peacock were known only from its bones, no sensible reconstruction would give it the fan-shaped tail that defines the species. The sarracena is that paleontological reconstructions carry a conservative bias, and only exceptional fossils — such as carbonized antiestéticathers or impressions of soft tissue — can confirm extravagant structures. The case of Longisquama and the dorsal spike of Concavenator still lack a clear functional explanation.
A lineage that resurfaces: synapsids and Prototaxites
The thread reviews evolution from the Permian synapsids — the ancestors of mammals — through therapsids and cynodonts. But the most baffling find is Prototaxites: researchers at the University of Edinburgh argue that it fits into no known biological category. If confirmed, it would be an independent lineage of terrestrial life that went extinct without descendants.
The mix of rigorous data — such as the Permian-Triassic extinction, which wiped out 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates — with still-open hypotheses such as the function of Concavenator's hump or the nature of Prototaxites shows that paleontology remains a science where methodological skepticism is the best tool.
Related debates in the forum
Four thousand years ago, an 850-kilo bison fell into a sinkhole in Navarre with a copper arrowhead between its ribs. The skeleton, recovered in October 2025 in the Urbasa-Andía Natural Park, is one of the most important paleontological finds on the Iberian Peninsula. But it is not the only one: in March 2025, a study on bioRxiv questioned the nature of the giant Prototaxites, an 8-meter-tall organism that may belong to an extinct lineage with no modern equivalent. In 2026, the journal Science published the description of Spinosaurus mirabilis, a new crested spinosaur found in Niger that places these dinosaurs as the equivalents of today's herons: shoreline predators, not swimmers.
The Iberian haul: from Torvosaurus to the Urbasa bison
Torvosaurus, a carnivore over 11 meters long, is the largest dinosaur found on the Iberian Peninsula from the Jurassic. It lived between 168 and 148 million years ago. The skeleton of the Chalcolithic bison, presented by the Government of Navarre in 2025, contains a copper arrowhead that proves human activity and suggests that the ecosystems of northern Spain still hosted large herbivores and predators as recently as four millennia ago.
The peacock dilemma: reconstructing without antiestéticathers
An exercise proposed in the debate illustrates the problem: if the peacock were known only from its bones, no sensible reconstruction would give it the fan-shaped tail that defines the species. The sarracena is that paleontological reconstructions carry a conservative bias, and only exceptional fossils — such as carbonized antiestéticathers or impressions of soft tissue — can confirm extravagant structures. The case of Longisquama and the dorsal spike of Concavenator still lack a clear functional explanation.
A lineage that resurfaces: synapsids and Prototaxites
The thread reviews evolution from the Permian synapsids — the ancestors of mammals — through therapsids and cynodonts. But the most baffling find is Prototaxites: researchers at the University of Edinburgh argue that it fits into no known biological category. If confirmed, it would be an independent lineage of terrestrial life that went extinct without descendants.
The mix of rigorous data — such as the Permian-Triassic extinction, which wiped out 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates — with still-open hypotheses such as the function of Concavenator's hump or the nature of Prototaxites shows that paleontology remains a science where methodological skepticism is the best tool.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (65 replies).
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