Outline: a typical theropod
Protathlitis
"champion"
Type species Protathlitis cinctorrensis
- Lived
- 126 to 121 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Spinosauridae
- Found in
- Spain
- Named by
- Santos-Cubedo et al. 2023
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
125 million years ago
Field notes
About Protathlitis
What it was like
Protathlitis was a spinosaur, a predator with a long, low snout that probably caught fish as well as other prey. It is known from a few bones, and some scientists doubt that they all belong to the same animal.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now Spain. Its bones come from the Arcillas de Morella Formation, where it lived alongside Iguanodon, the plant eater Morelladon and another spinosaur, Vallibonavenatrix.
How it was found
Santos-Cubedo and colleagues named it in 2023. The type species is Protathlitis cinctorrensis.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Spinosauridae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: A. Santos-Cubedo, C. de Santisteban, and B. Poza, S. Meseguer. 2023. A new spinosaurid dinosaur species from the Early Cretaceous of Cinctorres (Spain). Scientific Reports 13:6471:1-13