Galvesaurus
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Galvesaurus Temporal range: Barremian 130 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Neosauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Genus: |
†Galvesaurus Barco et al., 2005 |
| Species: | †G. herreroi |
| Binomial name | |
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Galvesaurus herreroi Barco et al., 2005 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Galveosaurus herreroi Sánchez-Hernández, 2005 |
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Galveosaurus herreroi Sánchez-Hernández, 2005
Galvesaurus or Galveosaurus is a genus of extinct sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous period. Fossils of the only known species, G. herreroi, were found in Galve, Spain, hence its generic name, "Galve lizard". The specific name G. herreroi honours the discoverer, José María Herrero.
While Royo-Torres et al. (2006) grouped Galvesaurus within Turiasauria with Losillasaurus and Turiasaurus, Barco & Canudo (2012) showed that Galvesaurus lacks synapomorphies of Turiasauria, and that it was actually a Macronarian.
During the 1980s, a fossil site known as Cuesta Lonsal, near Galve (Teruel), Spain, was excavated by local amateur fossil hunter José María Herrero after he found the fossilized remains of a sauropod dinosaur. Zaragoza University and the Government of Aragon commissioned members of a scientific research team known as "Aragosaurus" to investigate the site in 1987. They determined that the site would be an important one for paleontological research, and after obtaining the necessary permits, they began their own dig there in 1993. Between 1993 and 2002, they obtained more than 50 bones associated with a new sauropod species. Also during that time, various team members published scientific reports on the bones they were recovering and on the site itself, though they refrained from publishing a formal name for the new dinosaur due to the fact the fossils were still undergoing preparation. As the bones were prepared and studied, the team transferred them to the small Spanish Paleontological Museum of Galve for display.
The description of the sauropod from Galve was not as straightforward as is typical for most dinosaurs. Problems arose when the same specimen, housed at the Museo Paleontológico de Galve, was studied and published almost simultaneously by two groups of scientists, both of whom were supposedly unaware the other was studying exactly the same bones, the holotype material.
The name Galveosaurus herreroi, was first published in a paper by Bárbara Sánchez-Hernandez on August 11, 2005, based on a partial skeleton housed in the Spanish Paleontological Museum of Galve. At the same time, several members of the Aragosaurus team, Jose Luis Barco, Jose Ignacio Canudo, Gloria Cuenca-Bescós and Jose Ignacio Ruíz-Omeñaca, had been preparing a paper on the new sauropod, including the same specimen, elements of which had been in preparation since 1993. Barco et al. published their own description of the sauropod, which they named Galvesaurus herreroi (note the lack of the letter "o"), in the journal Naturaleza Aragonesa. The date given in the journal, labelled as the July-December 2005 issue, was July 1st, 2005. If that date was correct, the valid name for this dinosaur would be Galvesaurus herreroi, and attributed to Barco et al. rather than to Sánchez-Hernández. However, according to Sánchez-Hernandez, the date the authors provided is contradicted by the date of publication listed for the journal as a whole (July–December, 2005). Sánchez-Hernandez pointed to ICZN article 21.6 and 23, and claimed the publication date of Barco et al. (2005) is technically considered to be December 31, 2005, the last date of the given range. Therefore, according to Sánchez-Hernández, Galveosaurus herreroi is the valid name for this species. The Aragosaurus team disputed this, saying that the date given at the end of their paper, July 1st 2005, being within the given July-December range of the journal, was not contradictory and therefore was not sufficient to invoke the ICZN rules. Sánchez-Hernandez argued that the actual date the journal was published was December 18th, 2005, and used the fact that her name Galveosaurus was already in widespread use online as evidence that her paper was first to publication.
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