A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Barremian of Galve, Spain

A partially articulated postcranial skeleton of a small ornithischian dinosaur, Gideonmantellia amosanjuanae nov. gen. et sp., from the Early Cretaceous of Galve (Teruel province, Spain) is described. It was recovered in an outcrop of fluvial red clays from the Camarillas Formation, which is Barremian in age. This partial skeleton is recognised as a new ornithopod taxon by the following autapomorphies: (1) postacetabular process of the ilium with a brevis shelf that is noticeably medially expanded in its cranial part but narrow and horizontal in its caudal part; (2) rod-like prepubic process with its anterior end twisted and expanded; and (3) L-shaped first chevron. Our phylogenetic analysis indicates that Gideonmantellia represents a basal ornithopod taxon more derived than Orodromeus, the “Asian clade” (which includes Haya and others) and Hypsilophodon.