Editing Allosaurus (section)

===Portuguese discoveries===

[[File:Cliffs of Lourinhã Formation outcrops.png|thumb|right|Cliffs of [[Lourinhã Formation]] outcrops, Portugal]] 
In 1988, during construction works of a warehouse, a skeleton of a large theropod was discovered near the village of Andrés, [[Leiria District]], [[Portugal]].<ref name="PMetal99"/><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Malafaia |first1=E. |last2=Ortega |first2=F. |last3=Escaso |first3=F. |last4=Dantas |first4=P. |last5=Pimentel |first5=N. |last6=Gasulla |first6=J. M. |last7=Ribeiro |first7=B. |last8=Barriga |first8=F. |last9=Sanz |first9=J. L. |date=December 10, 2010 |title=Vertebrate fauna at the Allosaurus fossil-site of Andrés (Upper Jurassic), Pombal, Portugal |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/JIGE/article/view/JIGE1010220193A |journal=Journal of Iberian Geology |language=es |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=193–204 |doi=10.5209/rev_JIGE.2010.v36.n2.7 |issn=1886-7995|doi-access=free |bibcode=2010JIbG...36..193M }}</ref> The Andrés quarry is included in the Bombarral Formation ("Grés Superiores"). The lower part of this formation is diachronic with the [[Alcobaça Formation]] in the northen [[Lusitanian Basin]], and is dated to the Early [[Tithonian]]. This specimen was reported in 1999 as the first occurrence of ''Allosaurus fragilis'' outside North America.<ref name="PMetal99"/> The specimen, labeled MNHNUL/AND.001, is deposited in the [[National Museum of Natural History and Science, Lisbon]]. It consists of a partial skeleton, composed of an incomplete right quadrate, several vertebrae and chevrons, several dorsal ribs and gastralia, a partial pelvis, most of the hind limbs and several indeterminate fragments.<ref name="PMetal99"/> In 2003, Miguel Telles Antunes and Octávio Mateus published a review of the dinosaurs from Portugal, where they assigned the Andrés specimen to ''Allosaurus'' sp.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Antunes |first1=Miguel Telles |last2=Mateus |first2=Octávio |date=2003 |title=Dinosaurs of Portugal |journal=Palevol |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=77–95|doi=10.1016/S1631-0683(03)00003-4 |bibcode=2003CRPal...2...77A }}</ref>

The [[Guimarota]] coal mine in [[Leiria District|Leiria]], [[Portugal]], produced plenty of remains of micro-vertebrates while it was being explored.<ref>Martin, T. & Krebs, B. 2000 ''Guimarota. A Jurassic ecosystem.'' Munich: Dr Friedrich Pfeil.</ref> The Guimarota beds belong to the [[Alcobaça Formation]], and are dated of the Late [[Kimmeridgian]]. In 2005, Oliver Rauhut and Regina Fechner describe the right maxilla of a juvenile theropod (IPFUB Gui Th 4) from the [[Guimarota]] mine, that was stored in the collections of the Institute of Geological Sciences of the [[Free University of Berlin]]. They attribute the maxilla to ''Allosaurus'' sp. based on the large maxillary fenestra and coeval presence of the other ''Allosaurus'' specimens.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Rauhut |first1=Oliver W. M |last2=Fechner |first2=Regina |date=June 7, 2005 |title=Early development of the facial region in a non-avian theropod dinosaur |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=272 |issue=1568 |pages=1179–1183 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2005.3071 |issn=0962-8452 |pmc=1559819 |pmid=16024380}}</ref> This specimen allowed the authors to conclude that the development of paranasal pneumacity in theropods is [[Heterochrony|heterochronic]], with juveniles having more pronouced pneumaticity than adults.<ref name=":5"/>

{{multiple image
|direction = horizontal
|align = right
|total_width = 300
|image1 = Allosaurus europaeus ML415 skull.png
|alt1 = 
|image2 = A. europaeus material.png
|alt2 =
|footer = ''A. europaeus'' holotype skull with diagram showing preserved elements
}}

In 2006, a new species of ''Allosaurus'', ''A. europaeus'', was reported based a specimen found in a beach near Vale Frades, [[Lourinhã]], [[Portugal]].<ref name="OMetal06">{{cite book |last1=Mateus |first1=Octávio |title=Paleontology and Geology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation |last2=Walen, Aart |last3=Antunes, Miguel Telles |publisher=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science |year=2006 |editor=Foster, John R. |series=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, '''36''' |location=Albuquerque, New Mexico |pages=123–129 |chapter=The large theropod fauna of the Lourinha Formation (Portugal) and its similarity to that of the Morrison Formation, with a description of a new species of ''Allosaurus'' |editor2=Lucas, Spencer G.}}</ref> The specimen, labeled ML415, is deposited in the [https://museulourinha.org/ Lourinhã Museum], and consists of a partial skull, three cervical vertebrae and cervical ribs. It was found in rocks of the Praia Azul Member of the [[Lourinhã Formation]], which in that sector is dated to the Early [[Tithonian]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mateus |first1=O. |last2=Dinis |first2=J. |last3=Cunha |first3=P. P. |date=September 30, 2017 |title=The Lourinhã Formation: the Upper Jurassic to lower most Cretaceous of the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal – landscapes where dinosaurs walked |url=http://cienciasdaterra.novaidfct.pt/index.php/ct-esj/article/view/355 |journal=Ciências da Terra - Earth Sciences Journal |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=75–97 |doi=10.21695/cterra/esj.v19i1.355|hdl=10316/79879 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In 2005, the Andrés quarry was reactivated for further prospection, which yielded remains of a diverse vertebrate fauna and new ''Allosaurus'' remains.<ref name="MDOE07">{{cite journal |last1=Malafaia |first1=Elisabete |last2=Dantas, Pedro |last3=Ortega, Francisco |last4=Escaso, Fernando |year=2007 |title=Nuevos restos de ''Allosaurus fragilis'' (Theropoda: Carnosauria) del yacimiento de Andrés (Jurásico Superior; centro-oeste de Portugal) |trans-title=New remains of ''Allosaurus fragilis'' (Theropoda: Carnosauria) of the Andrés deposit (Upper Jurassic; central-west Portugal) |url=http://www.dfmf.uned.es/~fortega/uned_fo_pdf/2007_Malafaia_etal_EJIP07.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Cantera Paleontológica |language=es, en |pages=255–271 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.dfmf.uned.es/~fortega/uned_fo_pdf/2007_Malafaia_etal_EJIP07.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022}}</ref><ref name=":3"/> These new remains (such as a partial right frontal, MNHNUL/AND.001/062), along with further preparation of the original Andrés specimen, allowed for a more detailed comparison with other ''Allosaurus'' species.<ref name="MDOE07"/> The authors concluded that the Andrés specimen is compatible with the diagnosis of ''A. fragilis'', and also disputed the attribution of the Vale Frades specimen to a new species, claiming that the autapomorphies proposed in the diagnosis of ''A. europaeus'' can be explained by individual variation.<ref name="MDOE07"/> In 2010, new ''Allosaurus'' elements from the Andrés quarry are reported, including new cranial remains such as a right quadrate-quadratojudal, two lacrimals, a right dentary, a right frontal, the posterior end of the right mandible and a complete braincase. A second complete left ilium suggests the presence of a second ''Allosaurus'' individual in the quarry, larger than the first.<ref name=":3"/> The authors once again claim that ''A. europaeus'' should be considered a ''[[nomen dubium]]'' until a more detailed description of the Vale Frades specimen is published.<ref name=":3"/>

A detailed description of the remains of the Andrés specimen was published on the doctoral thesis of Elisabete Malafaia.<ref name=":6">Malafaia, E. (2017). ''Phylogenetic analysis, paleoenvironmental and paleobiogeographic interpretation of theropod dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic of the Lusitanian Basin'' [Doctoral Thesis, Universidade de Lisboa]. <nowiki>https://repositorio.ulisboa.pt/handle/10451/35031</nowiki></ref> The remains, catalogued as MNHN/UL.AND.#, were collected between 1988 and 2010, and include cranial elements (such as the maxilla, nasal, lacrimals, prefrontal, postorbitals, frontals, palatines, quadrate, quadratojugal, squamosal, vomer, braincase, articular, surangulars, prearticular, angulars, supradentary and coronoid, isolated mesial and lateral teeth) and postcranial elements (intercentrum of the atlas, dorsal, sacral and caudal vertebrae, cervical and dorsal ribs, chevrons, coracoid, ilium, pubes, femora, tibiae, fibulae, astragalus and calcaneum, distal tarsal III, second, third, and fourth metatarsals, and several phalanges).<ref name=":6"/> Duplicate elements reported in the thesis include the previously mentioned left ilium, a fragmentary pubic peduncle in articulation with the pubes, and a right frontal, caudal vertebra, and pedal phalanges of a third much smaller individual. The author claims that the Andrés specimens present noticeable differences with both ''A. fragilis'' and the type specimen of ''A. europaeus'', but tentatively assigns it to ''Allosaurus'' cf. ''europaeus'', pending the discovery of more specimens that allow the comparison between the two.<ref name=":6"/>

In 2024, Burigo and Mateus publish a redescription and revised diagnosis of the Vale Frades specimen.<ref name=":2"/> The authors report new elements, such as the atlas-axis, coronoid, new teeth and rib fragments, and confirm the validity of the species. A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis using scored cranial characters was performed. The authors claim that the Andrés specimen is attributable to ''A. europaeus'', and that ''A. europaeus'' is more closely related to ''A. jimmadsenni'' than to ''A. fragilis''.<ref name=":2"/>

In 2025, Malafaia and colleagues publish a detailed description of the cranial elements of the Andrés specimen in a scientific journal and suggest that ''A. europaeus'' is synonymous with ''A. fragilis''.<ref name=Malafaia2025>{{Cite journal |last=Malafaia |first=Elisabete |last2=Dantas |first2=Pedro |last3=Escaso |first3=Fernando |last4=Mocho |first4=Pedro |last5=Ortega |first5=Francisco |date=2025-05-01 |title=Cranial osteology of a new specimen of Allosaurus Marsh, 1877 (Theropoda: Allosauridae) from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal and a specimen-level phylogenetic analysis of Allosaurus |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf029 |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=204 |issue=1 |pages=zlaf029 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf029 |issn=0024-4082}}</ref>