Agua Nueva Formation

Agua Nueva Formation
Stratigraphic range: Latest Cenomanian to Turonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Formation
Lithology
Primary	Limestone
Other	Shale. bentonite, chert
Location
Country	Mexico
Extent	San Luis Potosí

The Agua Nueva Formation is a geologic formation in Mexico. It preserves fossils dated to the latest Cenomanian and Turonian ages of the Cretaceous period. It consists "predominantly of alternating fossiliferous, organic matter-rich, laminated, dark gray limestone and non-laminated, organic matter-poor limestone in decimeter-thick beds (10 to 30 cm) with occasional centimetric beds (5 cm) of brown shale that show no apparent internal structures." ^[1] The formation is noted for its qualities as a Konservat-Lagerstätte, with notable finds including the plesiosaur Mauriciosaurus , the mosasaur Yaguarasaurus and sharks Ptychodus and Aquilolamna.

It appears to have been deposited on the upper part of a shallow continental shelf. ^[2]

Fossil content

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Cartilaginous fish

Cartilaginous fish of the Agua Nueva Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Aquilolamna	A. milarcae			Complete skeleton	A bizarre aquilolamnid shark. [3]
Lamniformes indet.				Articulated vertebrae	An indeterminate mackerel shark, potentially a cretoxyrhinid. [4]
Ptychodus	P. decurrens		Vallecillo	Teeth	A ptychodontid shark. [5] [6]
	P. mortoni			Teeth
	P. sp.			Complete skeletons
cf. Scyliorhinus	S. sp.			Articulated vertebrae	A catshark. [7]

Ray-finned fish

Based on Amalfitano et al (2020): ^[8]

Ray-finned fish of the Agua Nueva Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Araripichthys	A. sp.				An araripichthyid. [2]	Fossil specimen from an unknown location
Belonostomus	B. sp.				An aspidorhynchid.	Fossil specimen from Germany
Clupeoidei indet.			Huehuetla		A relative of herrings. [9]
Enchodus	E. sp.		Huehuetla		An enchodontid aulopiform. [9]
Goulmimichthys	G. roberti		Vallecillo, Huehuetla		A pachyrhizodontid crossognathiform. [2] [9]	Fossil specimen from Colombia
Hastichthys	H. sp.		Huehuetla		A dercetid aulopiform. [9]
" Nursallia "	"N." tethysensis		Huehuetla		A pycnodont. [9]	Fossil specimen from an unknown location
Pachyrhizodus	P. caninus				A pachyrhizodontid crossognathiform.
Paranursallia	P. gutturosa				A pycnodont.	Fossil specimen from an unknown location
Rhynchodercetis	R. regio				A dercetid aulopiform. [10]	Fossil specimen from Lebanon
Tingitanichthys	T. sp.				A pachyrhizodontid crossognathiform. [9]
Tselfatia	T. formosa		Huehuetla		A plethodid tselfatiiform. [9]	Fossil specimen from an unknown location
Vallecillichthys	V. multivertebratum		Vallecillo		A saurodontid ichthyodectiform. [2] [11]

Lobe-finned fish

Lobe-finned fish of the Agua Nueva Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Latimerioidei indet.				Gular plate	A large-sized marine coelacanth, potentially Megalocoelacanthus . Originally interpreted as a cephalopod gladius and given the name " Palaeoctopus pelagicus". [12]

Reptiles

Mosasaurs

Mosasaurs of the Agua Nueva Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Yaguarasaurus	Y. regiomontanus				A plioplatecarpine mosasaur. [13]

Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs of the Agua Nueva Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Mauriciosaurus	M. fernandezi				A polycotylid plesiosaur. [14]

Molluscs

Cephalopods

Cephalopods of the Agua Nueva Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images

See also

• Earth sciences portal
• Mexico portal
• Paleontology portal

• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Mexico

References

1. Blanco, Alberto; Ángeles-Trigueros, Susana Abigail; Hernández-Ávila, Juan; Silva-Martínez, Luis E.; Zavala-Díaz de la Serna, Francisco Javier; Ambrocio-Cruz, Silvia Patricia; Castañeda-Posadas, Carlos; Blanco, Alberto; Ángeles-Trigueros, Susana Abigail; Hernández-Ávila, Juan; Silva-Martínez, Luis E. (2016). "Microscopic biomorphic structures in Upper Cretaceous marine sedimentary pyrite". Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas. 33 (3): 378–386. ISSN   1026-8774.
2. Blanco, Alberto; Cavin, Lionel (2003-07-01). "New Teleostei from the Agua Nueva Formation (Turonian), Vallecillo (NE Mexico)" . Comptes Rendus Palevol. 2 (5): 299–306. Bibcode:2003CRPal...2..299B. doi:10.1016/S1631-0683(03)00064-2. ISSN   1631-0683.
3. Vullo, Romain; Frey, Eberhard; Ifrim, Christina; González González, Margarito A.; Stinnesbeck, Eva S.; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang (2021-03-19). "Manta-like planktivorous sharks in Late Cretaceous oceans". Science. 371 (6535): 1253–1256. Bibcode:2021Sci...371.1253V. doi:10.1126/science.abc1490. PMID   33737486.
4. Blanco-Piñón, Alberto; Shimada, Kenshu; González-Barba, Gerardo; Blanco-Piñón, Alberto; Shimada, Kenshu; González-Barba, Gerardo (2005). "Lamnoid vertebrae from the Agua Nueva Formation (Upper Cretaceous: lower Turonian), northeastern Mexico". Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas. 22 (1): 19–23. ISSN   1026-8774.
5. Blanco-Piñón, Alberto; Garibay-Romero, Luis M.; Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús (2007). "The oldest stratigraphic record of the Late Cretaceous shark Ptychodus mortoni Agassiz, from Vallecillo, Nuevo León, northeastern Mexico". Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas. 24 (1): 25–30. ISSN   1026-8774.
6. Vullo, Romain; Villalobos-Segura, Eduardo; Amadori, Manuel; Kriwet, Jürgen; Frey, Eberhard; González González, Margarito A.; Padilla Gutiérrez, José M.; Ifrim, Christina; Stinnesbeck, Eva S.; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang (2024-04-24). "Exceptionally preserved shark fossils from Mexico elucidate the long-standing enigma of the Cretaceous elasmobranch Ptychodus". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 291 (2021) 20240262. doi:10.1098/rspb.2024.0262. PMC   11040243 . PMID   38654646.
7. "Vallecillo, Nuevo León: una nueva localidad fosilífera del Cretácico Tardío en el noreste de México | Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas". rmcg.geociencias.unam.mx. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
8. Amalfitano, Jacopo; Giusberti, Luca; Fornaciari, Eliana; Carnevale, Giorgio (2020-04-03). "Upper Cenomanian Fishes from the Bonarelli Level (Oae2) of Northeastern Italy". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 126 (2). doi:10.13130/2039-4942/13224. ISSN   2039-4942. Archived from the original on 2025-03-18. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
9. Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús; Cantalice Severiano, Kleyton Magno; Barrientos-Lara, Jair Israel; Díaz-Cruz, Jesús Alberto; Than-Marchese Aguilera, Bruno Andrés (2019-03-13). "The Huehuetla quarry, a Turonian deposit of marine vertebrates in the Sierra Norte of Puebla, central Mexico". Palaeontologia Electronica. 22. doi: 10.26879/921 . Retrieved 2025-02-05.
10. Blanco, Alberto; Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús (2006-09-11). "Rhynchodercetis regio, sp. nov., a dercetid fish (Teleostei: Aulopiformes) from Vallecillo, Nuevo León State, Northeastern Mexico" . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (3): 552–558. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[552:RRSNAD]2.0.CO;2. ISSN   0272-4634.
11. Blanco-Piñón, Alberto; Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús (2007). "Review of Vallecillichthys multivertebratum (Teleostei: Ichthyodectiformes), a Late Cretaceous (early Turonian) "Bulldog fish" from northeastern Mexico". Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas. 24 (3): 450–466. ISSN   1026-8774.
12. Schultze, Hans-Peter; Fuchs, Dirk; Giersch, Samuel; Ifrim, Christina; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang (2010). "Palaeoctopus pelagicus from the Turonian of Mexico reinterpreted as a coelacanth (Sarcopterygian) gular plate". Palaeontology. 53 (3): 689–694. Bibcode:2010Palgy..53..689S. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00943.x. ISSN   1475-4983.
13. Rivera-Sylva, Héctor E.; Longrich, Nicholas R.; Padilla-Gutierrez, José M.; Guzmán-Gutiérrez, José Rubén; Escalante-Hernández, Víctor M.; González-Ávila, José G. (2024-01-01). "A new species of Yaguarasaurus (Mosasauridae: Plioplatecarpinae) from the Agua Nueva Formation (Upper Turonian – ?Lower Coniacian) of Nuevo Leon, Mexico" . Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 133 104694. Bibcode:2024JSAES.13304694R. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2023.104694. ISSN   0895-9811.
14. Frey, Eberhard; Mulder, Eric W. A.; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang; Rivera-Sylva, Héctor E.; Padilla-Gutiérrez, José Manuel; González-González, Arturo Homero; Frey, Eberhard; Mulder, Eric W. A.; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang; Rivera-Sylva, Héctor E.; Padilla-Gutiérrez, José Manuel; González-González, Arturo Homero (2017). "A new polycotylid plesiosaur with extensive soft tissue preservation from the early Late Cretaceous of northeast Mexico". Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana. 69 (1): 87–134. Bibcode:2017BoSGM..69...87F. doi: 10.18268/BSGM2017v69n1a5 . ISSN   1405-3322.

External links

• "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2021.