Pronunciation:
Meaning: Champion
Author/s: Santos-Cubedo et al. (2023)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Castellón province, Spain
Discovery Chart Position: #1088
Protathlitis cinctorrensis
(Champion from Cinctorres)Etymology
Protathlitis means "champion" in Greek, in reference to the UEFA Europa League title won by Villarreal C.F. in 2021 and as a tribute to the club centenary celebrated in 2023. (Three of the authors who named Protathlitis live in Villarreal,) The species epithet, cinctorrensis, means "from Cinctorres" in Latin. ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:FDC6CE8E-D932-4A72-9C3A-DF797E32B539.
Discovery
The remains of Protathlitis were discovered at the ANA site in the Arcillas de Morella Formation near the village of Cinctorres, 100 km northwest of Castellón de la Plana, Castellón province, Spain. The site was discovered in 1998 by the geologist Ramón Ortí, but it remained unexplored until 2002, when a team from the Institut de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont from Sabadell (Barcelona) and the Grup Guix from Vila-real (Castellón) unearthed the first fossils.
The holotype includes a fragment of tooth-bearing bone from the upper jaw (8ANA-109) and five tail vertebrae (3ANA83, 4ANA43, 4ANA69, 4ANA76, and 5ANA78). Referred material includes a tooth (4ANA-11) that was published by Suñer and Santos-Cubedo in 2008.
