Jurassic excitement returns: Dinópolis reopens with surprises for visitors and a nod to Buñuel

Dinópolis begins a new season this Saturday, March 1, and it will do so with new features. This Tuesday, the new member who will make a strong entrance in its ‘Terra Magna’ themed area was presented: Oblitosaurus bunnueli, a highly realistic corporeal sculpture of the last dinosaur described by the team of paleontologists from the Dinópolis Foundation.

In addition to this new dinosaur, visitors who come to enjoy Dinópolis and its venues, starting this weekend, will have the opportunity to travel through its various themed tours, such as the latest addition, “Mar Jurásico”; shows such as its “T-REX show”, themed areas such as “La Paleosenda”, which simulates a paleontological site and camp; its spectacular Paleontological Museum (Aragonese Museum of Paleontology), with original skeletons and fossils of dinosaurs that are unique in the world, among other multiple contents that this ‘one-of-a-kind’ science and leisure park houses.

THE NEW MEMBER

The body of Oblitosaurus bunnueli, which is one of the highest quality dinosaurs with a particularly realistic finish of all those exhibited at Terra Magna, measures 6 metres long and just under two metres high. This new dinosaur has been made by the team of the Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel -Dinópolis and led, from the artistic point of view, by Daniel Ayala. Oblitosaurus has been sculpted entirely by hand, from the structural design to the finishing of the last layer, and has been made with special putties that allow the modelling of each of the “scales” that cover its body.

It is located behind the perimeter that delimits the route through the Terra Magna space, situated very close to the visitor, so that the detail and realism can be observed in its entirety. All scientific advice has been very rigorous, since this dinosaur was excavated and described by the Foundation’s own paleontologists. Therefore, multidisciplinary aspects have been taken into account, such as general proportions, the morphology of feet and hands through the study of their footprints, the musculature and even the choice of a glass eye with a horizontal pupil, like that of some herbivorous animals that allow them a wide panoramic view in front of predators.

In general terms, the appearance of the selected surface polychromy is that of a savannah monitor lizard, with a changing pattern along its body and subtle shades that would allow it to maintain a certain degree of camouflage.

This launch was attended by the Minister of Tourism and Environment of the Government of Aragon and President of both entities, Manuel Blasco, who was accompanied by the Managing Director of the Dinópolis Foundation, Alberto Cobos, and Higinia Navarro, Managing Director of Dinópolis.

TRIBUTE TO BUÑUEL

Oblitosaurus bunnueli, or “Buñuel’s forgotten lizard”, is one of the last new ornithopod dinosaurs described in the world and the last one in Aragon. Its scientific name is dedicated to the famous Aragonese film director Luis Buñuel.

Its fossils were found by the team from the Dinópolis Foundation in Riodeva (Teruel) in rocks dating back some 150 million years. Oblitosaurus is the largest ornithopod described to date from the Jurassic of Europe and its exceptional discovery sheds scientific light on the evolution and diversity of this large group of plant-eating dinosaurs.

For the authors of the research on this dinosaur, Sergio Sánchez-Fenollosa, Francisco J. Verdú and Alberto Cobos, and of the paleoguide, the scientific publication in 2023 in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society went beyond a strictly paleontological work. Modestly, “we also intended to give an additional cultural value in order to promote the dissemination of the cinematographic heritage of Aragon, Spain and Mexico. Taking advantage of the fact that 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of the death of one of the most famous directors in the history of world cinema, the Calandino Luis Buñuel, we wanted to pay tribute to him through paleontology, dedicating a new dinosaur from Teruel to him. Now, from 2025, it will be exhibited at Dinópolis, within the framework of the 125th anniversary of the birth of the universal director”, highlights Alberto Cobos, managing director of the Dinópolis Foundation.

In some way it can be said that due to the large dimensions of the fossils of sauropods – such as Turiasaurus – and stegosaurs – such as Dacentrurus – from the Barrihonda-El Humero site in Riodeva, those assigned to ornithopods had gone somewhat unnoticed and had not been studied in depth.

That is why we called the genus of the new dinosaur, Oblitosaurus, the “ forgotten lizard ”. In this way, we related it to one of Buñuel’s most famous films, which is part of the audiovisual heritage of humanity, Los Olvidados. In addition, the tribute to the Aragonese director of the new species was made concrete with the name O. bunnueli.

In short, the “forgotten lizard of Buñuel” thus became another of the new dinosaurs described in Aragon, of which Teruel is the “headliner”. And what better way to get to know Oblitosaurus now than to show it in Dinópolis, in the area called Tierra Magna, as another member of the gallery of Teruel dinosaurs.

NEW PALEOGUIDE

“Buñuel’s Forgotten Lizard, Oblitosaurus bunnueli. A dinosaur straight out of a movie” is the title of the new issue of the Dinópolis Foundation’s Paleoguides series. This series of publications by the Teruel-Dinópolis Paleontological Complex Foundation, called ‘Paleoguides’, aims to educate and disseminate paleontology to the general public.