Villalba de la Sierra Formation
| Villalba de la Sierra Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Campanian-Maastrichtian ~ | |
 Excavation of a titanosaur at Lo Hueco | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Mudstone |
| Other | Sandstone, gypsum |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 40°00′N 2°00′W / 40.0°N 2.0°W |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 30°42′N 0°36′W / 30.7°N 0.6°W |
| Region | Castilla-La Mancha |
| Country |  Spain |
| Extent | Iberian Ranges |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Villalba de la Sierra |
  Villalba de la Sierra Formation (Spain) | |
The Villalba de la Sierra Formation is a Campanian to Maastrichtian geologic formation in Spain. Fossil dinosaur eggs have been reported from the formation, that comprises gypsiferous, grey, argillaceous mudstones and sandstones, deposited in a floodplain environment[1][2] characterised by high seasonality and variability in water availability.[3]
Fossil content
[edit]The formation has provided abundant titanosaurian remains, including Lohuecotitan and Qunkasaura, the only two genera currently named.[4][5] More than 10,000 fossil remains of various fishes, amphibians, lizards, dinosaurs (Ampelosaurus sp., Rhabdodon sp.), turtles (Foxemys mechinorum, Iberoccitanemys convenarum), and crocodiles (Lohuecosuchus megadontos, Agaresuchus fontisensis, Musturzabalsuchus sp.) are also known from the site, one of the richest for the Late Cretaceous in Europe.[4][6]
Dinosaur
[edit]| Dinosaurs of the Villalba de la Sierra Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxon | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Lohuecotitan | L. pandafilandi | Lo Hueco. | A disarticulated partial skeleton | A titanosaur. | |
| Qunkasaura[7] | Q. pintiquiniestra | Lo Hueco. | A partial skeleton belonging to a single individual. | A saltasauroid titanosaur. |  |
Reptiles
[edit]Crocodiles
[edit]| Crocodiles of the Villalba de la Sierra Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxon | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Agaresuchus | A. fontisensis | ||||
| Lohuecosuchus | L. megadontos | ||||
| Musturzabalsuchus | M. sp | ||||
Turtles
[edit]| Turtles of the Villalba de la Sierra Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxon | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Foxemys | F. mechinorum | ||||
| Iberoccitanemys | I. convenarum | ||||
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Lo Hueco, Fuentes (G1) at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.517-607
- ^ Peyrot, Daniel; Barroso-Barcenilla, Fernando; Cambra-Moo, Oscar (1 October 2013). "Paleoecology of the late Campanian/early Maastrichtian Fossil-Lagerstätte of "Lo Hueco" (Cuenca, Spain): Palynological insights". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 387: 27–39. Bibcode:2013PPP...387...27P. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.07.005. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ a b Díez Díaz et al., 2016
- ^ Mocho, P.; Escaso, F.; Marcos-Fernández, F.; Páramo, A.; Sanz, J. L.; Vidal, D.; Ortega, F. (2024). "A Spanish saltasauroid titanosaur reveals Europe as a melting pot of endemic and immigrant sauropods in the Late Cretaceous". Communications Biology. 7. 1016. doi:10.1038/s42003-024-06653-0. PMC 11375222.
- ^ Ortega et al., 2015
- ^ Mocho, P.; Escaso, F.; Marcos-Fernández, F.; Páramo, A.; Sanz, J. L.; Vidal, D.; Ortega, F. (2024). "A Spanish saltasauroid titanosaur reveals Europe as a melting pot of endemic and immigrant sauropods in the Late Cretaceous". Communications Biology. 7. 1016. doi:10.1038/s42003-024-06653-0. PMC 11375222. PMID 39232208.
Bibliography
[edit]- Díez Díaz, V.; Mocho, P.; Páramo, A.; Escaso, F.; Marcos-Fernández, F.; Sanz, J.L.; Ortega, F. (2016). "A new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spain)". Cretaceous Research. 68: 49–60. Bibcode:2016CrRes..68...49D. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.08.001.
- Ortega, F.; Bardet, N.; Barroso-Barcenilla, F.; Callapez, P.M.; Cambra-Moo, O.; Daviero- Gómez, V.; Díez Díaz, V.; Domingo, L.; Elvira, A.; Escaso, F.; García-Oliva, M.; Gómez, B.; Houssaye, A.; Knoll, F.; Marcos-Fernández, F.; Martín, M.; Mocho, P.; Narváez, I.; Pérez- García, A.; Peyrot, D.; Segura, M.; Serrano, H.; Torices, A.; Vidal, D.; Sanz, J.L. (2015). "The biota of the Upper Cretaceous site of "Lo Hueco" (Cuenca, Spain)". Journal of Iberian Geology. 41 (1). doi:10.5209/rev_JIGE.2015.v41.n1.48657. hdl:10486/675918.
- Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka, eds. (2004). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 1–880. ISBN 0-520-24209-2. Retrieved 2019-02-21.