Laño ( eu, Lañu) is a hamlet and '' concejo'' (a small administrative subdivision) in

Condado de Treviño Condado de Treviño (" County of Treviño") is a municipality in the province of Burgos, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. This municipality and the geographically smaller La Puebla de Arganzón make up the enclave of Treviñ ...

within the

Treviño enclave The Treviño Enclave ( eu, Trebiñuko Barrendegia es, Enclave de Treviño) in northern Spain is part of the territory of the province of Burgos (part of Castile and León), but is completely surrounded by the territory of the Basque Country pro ...

; which is administratively part of the Spanish

province of Burgos The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Vall ...

, but which is completely surrounded by the territory of the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous c ...

country

province of Álava A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outs ...

. It is best known for the fossils of extinct vertebrates dating from around 70 million years before present which have been found there.

Palaeontology

The Paleontology Unit of the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country ( eu, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, ''EHU''; es, Universidad del País Vasco, ''UPV''; UPV/EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Bilbao, initially ...

and other scientists have studied the fossil record at Laño. The fossils are from the

late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

(

late Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campanian ...

to lower Maastrichtian). It has been inferred that there was then a

braided river A braided river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called braid bars or, in English usage, '' aits'' or ''eyots''. Braided streams tend to occur in rivers with high sedime ...

bed at the site, that the sea was nearby, and that the climate was

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

sub-tropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north an ...

Taxa In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

identified at Laño include: * ''

Arcovenator ''Arcovenator'' ("Arc hunter") is an extinct genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaurs hailing from the Late Cretaceous of France. The type and only described species is ''Arcovenator escotae''. Description Though shallower, the nearly complet ...

'' sp., a species of

abelisaurid Abelisauridae (meaning "Abel's lizards") is a family (or clade) of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are fou ...

dinosaur * '' Acynodon iberoccitanus'', a species of crocodilian in genus '' Acynodon'' * '' Dortoka vasconica'', a species of turtle in genus '' Dortoka'' in family

Dortokidae Dortokidae is an extinct family of freshwater pan-pleurodiran turtles, known from the Cretaceous and Paleocene of Europe. Only four species have been named, but indeterminate fossils show that they were abundant across western and eastern-central ...

in sub-order

Pleurodira The Pleurodira are one of the two living suborders of turtles, the other being the Cryptodira. The division between these two suborders represents a very deep evolutionary divide between two very different types of turtles. The physical differe ...

* ''

Gargantuavis ''Gargantuavis'' is an extinct genus of large, primitive bird containing the single species ''Gargantuavis philoinos''. It is the only member of the monotypic family Gargantuaviidae. Its fossils were discovered in several formations dating to ...

'', a genus of bird * '' Herensugea caristiorum'', a species of snake in genus '' Herensugea'' in family

Madtsoiidae Madtsoiidae is an extinct family of mostly Gondwanan snakes with a fossil record extending from early Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) to late Pleistocene strata located in South America, Africa, India, Australia and Southern Europe. Madtsoiidae i ...

* '' Lainodon orueetxebarriai'', a species of placental mammal in genus '' Lainodon'' in family

Zhelestidae Zhelestidae is a lineage of extinct eutherian mammals. Occurring in the Late Cretaceous from the Turonian to the Maastrichtian, they were an extremely successful group, with representatives present in Europe, Asia, India (and subsequently in M ...

* '' Lirainosaurus astibiae'', a species of sauropod dinosaur in genus ''

Lirainosaurus ''Lirainosaurus'' (meaning "slender lizard"; from the Basque ''lirain'', meaning "slender", and the Greek ''sauros'', meaning "lizard")is a genus of titanosaur sauropod which lived in what is now Spain. The type species, ''Lirainosaurus astibiae ...

'' * '' Menarana laurasiae'', a species of snake in genus ''

Menarana ''Menarana'' is an extinct genus of madtsoiid snake which existed in Madagascar during the Late Cretaceous. The type species is ''Menarana nosymena''. Several vertebrae and rib fragments as well as part of the basicranium have been found from t ...

'' * '' Musturzabalsuchus buffetauti'', a species of crocodilian in genus '' Musturzabalsuchus'' * '' Polysternon atlanticum'', a species of turtle in genus ''

Polysternon ''Polysternon'' is a genus of turtles in the extinct family Bothremydidae. It was described by Portis in 1882, and contains the species ''P. provinciale'' (originally placed in the genus ''Pleurosternon''), which existed during the Cretaceous of ...

'' * '' Solemys vermiculata'', a species of turtle in genus '' Solemys'' in family

Helochelydridae The Helochelydridae are an extinct family of stem-turtles known from fossils found in North America and Europe spanning the Early to Late Cretaceous. Description The skull, shell and osteoderms of helochelydrids are covered in small, cylindric ...

* '' Rhabdodon'', a genus of ornithopod * ''

Struthiosaurus ''Struthiosaurus'' (Latin ''struthio'' = ostrich + Greek ''sauros'' = lizard) is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaurs, from the Late Cretaceous period (Santonian-Maastrichtian) of Austria, Romania, France and Hungary in Europe.

'', a genus of ankylosaur * '' Taveirosaurus'', a genus of ornithischian dinosaur * ''

Tarascosaurus ''Tarascosaurus'' (" Tarasque lizard") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous of France. Discovery After having in 1988 identified an upper jaw bone found near Pourcieux as belonging to a member of the Abelisauridae, ...

'' a genus of

dinosaur * ?''

Pyroraptor ''Pyroraptor'' (meaning "fire thief") is an extinct genus of paravian dinosaur, probably a dromaeosaurid or unenlagiid (considering that unenlagiids are a separate family), from the Late Cretaceous Ibero-Armorican island, of what is now southe ...

'', a genus of

dromaeosaurid Dromaeosauridae () is a family of feathered theropod dinosaurs. They were generally small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek ('), meaning ...

dinosaur

Gallery

File:Lañuko Eliza kalea.JPG, Laño church

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lano Populated places in the Province of Burgos Paleontology in Spain Late Cretaceous