| Riojavenatrix | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Speculativelife restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Spinosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Baryonychinae |
| Genus: | †Riojavenatrix Isasmendi et al.,2024 |
| Type species | |
| †Riojavenatrix lacustris Isasmendi et al., 2024 | |
Riojavenatrix (meaning "La Rioja huntress") is a genus ofspinosauridtheropod dinosaurs from theEarly CretaceousEnciso Group ofLa Rioja, Spain. The type species isRiojavenatrix lacustris.Riojavenatrix represents one of five known spinosaurid taxa from the Iberian Peninsula, the others beingCamarillasaurus,Iberospinus,Protathlitis, andVallibonavenatrix.[1]
Fossils ofRiojavenatrix were discovered in 2005 at the Virgen del Villar-1 site inLa Rioja, Spain. The holotype ofRiojavenatrix is a fragmentarydorsal vertebra, pelvic girdle, and hindlimb elements that were initially assigned toBaryonyx. Apparently, all the material belonged to the same individual because it was recovered in association with bones of consistent size and no duplicated elements.[1]
The Virgen del Villar-1 site is a part of theEnciso Group, dated as uppermostBarremian–lowerAptian. The age of this site is likely to be lower Aptian. It makesRiojavenatrix younger thanBaryonyx,Camarillasaurus,Ceratosuchops,Iberospinus,Riparovenator, and likelyVallibonavenatrix. Although age estimates forIchthyovenator andSuchomimus are imprecise,Riojavenatrix lived around the same time as them.Riojavenatrix is older than the more derived mid-Cretaceous African and South American spinosaurids.[1]
It was named as a new genus of spinosaurid theropod in 2024. The generic name,Riojavenatrix, comes from La Rioja province in Spain, plus the Latinvenatrix, meaning "huntress". The specific name, "lacustris", is Latin for "from the lake".[1]
Riojavenatrix was assigned toSpinosauridae based on the features of thepubis andfemur, and more precisely toBaryonychinae based on the features of the femur,fibula, andtibia. Itsastragalus also bears some similarity toSpinosaurinae. It is one of the youngest baryonychines known, and the fifth spinosaurid found in the Iberian Peninsula.[1]
The followingcladograms illustrate the results of the analyzes obtained by the authors of theRiojavenatrix description using different data sets. The first tree shows several alternative positions.[1]
Rauhut & Pol (2021)[2]
| Mateus & Estraviz-López (2022)[3]
|
In their 2025 reassessment ofCamarillasaurus, Rauhut and colleagues found support for a baryonychine placement ofRiojavenatrix.[4]
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