Arcillas de Morella Formation

Arcillas de Morella Formation
Arcillas de Morella Formation
Stratigraphic range: Barremian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Underlies	Xert Formation
Overlies	Artoles Formation
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone, clay
Other	Marl, limestone, siltstone, conglomerate
Location
Region	Europe
Country	Spain
Type section
Named for	Morella, Castellón
Named by	Canérot et al.
Year defined	1982
	Arcillas de Morella Formation (Spain) Arcillas de Morella Formation (Aragon)

Last updated September 05, 2025

The Arcillas de Morella Formation is a geological formation in Spain whose strata date back to the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous.^[1] Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.^[2]

Geology

The formation was formally named and defined by Canérot and colleagues in 1982.^[3] The formation predominantly consists of red clays and continental sandstones, with some marine intercalations.^[4]

Vertebrate paleofauna

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs of the Arcillas de Morella Formation
Taxa	Species	Notes	Images
Hypsilophodon ^[2]			Hypsilophodon Iguanodon Mantellisaurus Protathlitis Vallibonavenatrix
Iguanodon	I. bernissartensis ^[5]	An iguanodonian dinosaur
Mantellisaurus	M. cf. atherfieldensis ^[5]	An iguanodontian dinosaur
Morelladon	Morelladon beltrani ^[6]	An iguanodontian dinosaur
Baryonychinae ^[2]	Indeterminate remains^[2]
cf. Carcharodontosauridae	Indeterminate remains^[7]	An anterior caudal centrum belonging to an immature individual
Garumbatitan	G. morellensis	A somphospondylan sauropod^[8]
Polacanthus	P. sp	A polacanthine nodosaurid ankylosaur
Protathlitis	P. cinctorrensis ^[9]	A spinosaurid theropod
Titanosauriformes	Indeterminate	At least two distinct taxa, including a somphospondylan ^[10]
Vallibonavenatrix	V. cani ^[4]	A spinosaurid theropod

Turtles

Turtles of the Arcillas de Morella Formation
Taxa	Species	Notes	Images
Brodiechelys	B. royoi ^[11]	A xinjiangchelyid turtle
Eodortoka	E. morellana^[12]	A dortokid turtle

Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs of the Arcillas de Morella Formation
Taxa	Presence	Notes	Images
Leptocleididae ^[13]

Correlation

Early Cretaceous stratigraphy of Iberia
Ma	Age	Paleomap \ Basins	Cantabrian	Olanyà	Cameros	Maestrazgo	Oliete	Galve	Morella	South Iberian	Pre-betic	Lusitanian
100	Cenomanian		La Cabana	Sopeira	Utrillas		Mosquerela					Caranguejeira
			Altamira		Utrillas
			Eguino
125	Albian		Ullaga - Balmaseda	Lluçà						Traiguera
			Monte Grande		Escucha		Escucha			Jijona
			Itxina - Miono		Escucha
	Aptian		Valmaseda - Tellamendi		Ol Gp. - Castrillo	Benassal		Benassal				Olhos
			Valmaseda - Tellamendi	Font	En Gp. - Leza	Morella /Oliete	Oliete	Villaroya	Morella	Capas Rojas		Almargem
			Patrocinio - Ernaga	Senyús	En Gp. - Jubela	Forcall				Villaroya	Upper Bedoulian	Figueira
	Barremian		Vega de Pas	Cabó	Abejar	Xert	Alacón	Xert		Huérguina	Upper Bedoulian	Assises
				Prada	Abejar	Artoles				Collado	Moutonianum	Papo Seco
				Rúbies	Tera Gp. - Golmayo	Alacón/Blesa	Blesa	Camarillas	Mirambel	Collado	Moutonianum	Papo Seco
150	Hauterivian				Ur Gp. - Pinilla	Llacova	Blesa	Castellar	Tera Gp. - Pinilla	Villares		Porto da Calada
						Llacova	hiatus			Villares
						Huerva			Gaita
	Valanginian		Villaro		Ur Gp. - Larriba				Ped Gp. - Hortigüela
					Ped Gp. - Hortigüela				Ped Gp. - Piedrahita
					Peñacoba			Galve		Miravetes
	Berriasian		Cab Gp. - Arcera		Valdeprado	hiatus		Alfambra		Miravetes
					TdL Gp. - Rupelo			Arzobispo	hiatus	Tollo
					On Gp. - Huérteles Sierra Matute			Arzobispo		Tollo
	Tithonian		Lastres		Tera Gp. - Magaña		Higuereles			Tera Gp. - Magaña		Lourinhã
					Tera Gp. - Magaña				Arzobispo
					Ágreda				Arzobispo
Legend		Major fossiliferous , oofossiliferous , ichnofossiliferous , coproliferous , minor formation
Sources

References

↑ Villanueva-Amadoz, Uxue; Santisteban, Carlos; Santos-Cubedo, Andrés (2015-04-03). "Age determination of the Arcillas de Morella Formation (Maestrazgo Basin, Spain)". Historical Biology. 27 (3–4): 389–397. Bibcode:2015HBio...27..389V. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.874422. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 128775513.
1 2 3 4 Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 562. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
↑ Villanueva-Amadoz, Uxue; Santisteban, Carlos; Santos-Cubedo, Andrés (2015-04-03). "Age determination of the Arcillas de Morella Formation (Maestrazgo Basin, Spain)" . Historical Biology. 27 (3–4): 389–397. Bibcode:2015HBio...27..389V. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.874422. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 128775513.
1 2 Elisabete Malafaia; José Miguel Gasulla; Fernando Escaso; Iván Narváez; José Luis Sanz; Francisco Ortega (2019). "A new spinosaurid theropod (Dinosauria: Megalosauroidea) from the late Barremian of Vallibona, Spain: Implications for spinosaurid diversity in the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula". Cretaceous Research. in press: 104221. doi : 10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104221.
1 2 Gasulla, José M.; Escaso, Fernando; Ortega, Francisco; Sanz, José L. (January 2014). "New hadrosauriform cranial remains from the Arcillas de Morella Formation (lower Aptian) of Morella, Spain" . Cretaceous Research. 47: 19–24. Bibcode:2014CrRes..47...19G. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2013.10.004.
↑ Gasulla, José Miguel; Escaso, Fernando; Narváez, Iván; Ortega, Francisco; Sanz, José Luis (2015). "A New Sail-Backed Styracosternan (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Morella, Spain". PLOS ONE. 10 (12): e0144167. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1044167G. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144167 . PMC 4691198 . PMID 26673161.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
↑ Montealegre, Adrian; Castillo-Visa, Oscar; Sellés, Albert (2024-01-31). "New theropod remains from the late Barremian (Early Cretaceous) of Eastern Iberian Peninsula". Historical Biology : 1–11. doi:10.1080/08912963.2024.2308220. ISSN 0891-2963.
↑ Mocho, Pedro; Escaso, Fernando; Gasulla, José M; Galobart, Àngel; Poza, Begoña; Santos-Cubedo, Andrés; Sanz, José L; Ortega, Francisco (2023-09-28). "New sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Morella (Spain) provides new insights on the evolutionary history of Iberian somphospondylan titanosauriforms". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 201: 214–268. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad124. ISSN 0024-4082.
↑ Santos-Cubedo, A.; de Santisteban, C.; Poza, B.; Meseguer, S. (2023). "A new spinosaurid dinosaur species from the Early Cretaceous of Cinctorres (Spain)". Scientific Reports. 13 (1). 6471. Bibcode:2023NatSR..13.6471S. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33418-2 . hdl: 10234/203142 . PMC 10195869 . PMID 37202441.
↑ Mocho, P.; Pérez-García, A.; Gasulla, J. M.; Ortega, F. (2017-06-01). "High sauropod diversity in the upper Barremian Arcillas de Morella Formation (Maestrat Basin, Spain) revealed by a systematic review of historical material". Journal of Iberian Geology. 43 (2): 111–128. Bibcode:2017JIbG...43..111M. doi:10.1007/s41513-017-0012-8. ISSN 1886-7995. S2CID 134844724.
↑ Pérez-García, A.; Gasulla, J.M.; Ortega, F. (2014). "A new turtle species of Brodiechelys from the Early Cretaceous of Spain: Systematic and palaeobiogeographic implications" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 59 (2): 333–342.
↑ Pérez-García, A.; Gasulla, J.M.; Ortega, F. (2014-03-01). "Eodortoka morellana gen. et sp. nov., the first pan-pleurodiran turtle (Dortokidae) defined in the Lower Cretaceous of Europe" . Cretaceous Research. 48: 130–138. Bibcode:2014CrRes..48..130P. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2013.12.004. ISSN 0195-6671.
↑ Quesada, Juan M.; Pérez-García, Adán; Gasulla, José Miguel; Ortega, Francisco (2019-02-01). "Plesiosauria remains from the Barremian of Morella (Castellón, Spain) and first identification of Leptocleididae in the Iberian record" . Cretaceous Research. 94: 8–24. Bibcode:2019CrRes..94....8Q. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.10.010. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 134139253.

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[1] Villanueva-Amadoz, Uxue; Santisteban, Carlos; Santos-Cubedo, Andrés (2015-04-03). "Age determination of the Arcillas de Morella Formation (Maestrazgo Basin, Spain)". Historical Biology. 27 (3–4): 389–397. Bibcode:2015HBio...27..389V. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.874422. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 128775513.

[cretaceousdistribution-2] 1 2 3 4 Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 562. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.

[3] Villanueva-Amadoz, Uxue; Santisteban, Carlos; Santos-Cubedo, Andrés (2015-04-03). "Age determination of the Arcillas de Morella Formation (Maestrazgo Basin, Spain)" . Historical Biology. 27 (3–4): 389–397. Bibcode:2015HBio...27..389V. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.874422. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 128775513.

[:0-4] 1 2 Elisabete Malafaia; José Miguel Gasulla; Fernando Escaso; Iván Narváez; José Luis Sanz; Francisco Ortega (2019). "A new spinosaurid theropod (Dinosauria: Megalosauroidea) from the late Barremian of Vallibona, Spain: Implications for spinosaurid diversity in the Early Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula". Cretaceous Research. in press: 104221. doi : 10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104221.

[:1-5] 1 2 Gasulla, José M.; Escaso, Fernando; Ortega, Francisco; Sanz, José L. (January 2014). "New hadrosauriform cranial remains from the Arcillas de Morella Formation (lower Aptian) of Morella, Spain" . Cretaceous Research. 47: 19–24. Bibcode:2014CrRes..47...19G. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2013.10.004.

[gasullaetal15-6] Gasulla, José Miguel; Escaso, Fernando; Narváez, Iván; Ortega, Francisco; Sanz, José Luis (2015). "A New Sail-Backed Styracosternan (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Morella, Spain". PLOS ONE. 10 (12): e0144167. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1044167G. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144167 . PMC 4691198 . PMID 26673161.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)

[Montrealegre20242-7] Montealegre, Adrian; Castillo-Visa, Oscar; Sellés, Albert (2024-01-31). "New theropod remains from the late Barremian (Early Cretaceous) of Eastern Iberian Peninsula". Historical Biology : 1–11. doi:10.1080/08912963.2024.2308220. ISSN 0891-2963.

[Garumbatitan-8] Mocho, Pedro; Escaso, Fernando; Gasulla, José M; Galobart, Àngel; Poza, Begoña; Santos-Cubedo, Andrés; Sanz, José L; Ortega, Francisco (2023-09-28). "New sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Morella (Spain) provides new insights on the evolutionary history of Iberian somphospondylan titanosauriforms". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 201: 214–268. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad124. ISSN 0024-4082.

[Protathlitis-9] Santos-Cubedo, A.; de Santisteban, C.; Poza, B.; Meseguer, S. (2023). "A new spinosaurid dinosaur species from the Early Cretaceous of Cinctorres (Spain)". Scientific Reports. 13 (1). 6471. Bibcode:2023NatSR..13.6471S. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33418-2 . hdl: 10234/203142 . PMC 10195869 . PMID 37202441.

[10] Mocho, P.; Pérez-García, A.; Gasulla, J. M.; Ortega, F. (2017-06-01). "High sauropod diversity in the upper Barremian Arcillas de Morella Formation (Maestrat Basin, Spain) revealed by a systematic review of historical material". Journal of Iberian Geology. 43 (2): 111–128. Bibcode:2017JIbG...43..111M. doi:10.1007/s41513-017-0012-8. ISSN 1886-7995. S2CID 134844724.

[11] Pérez-García, A.; Gasulla, J.M.; Ortega, F. (2014). "A new turtle species of Brodiechelys from the Early Cretaceous of Spain: Systematic and palaeobiogeographic implications" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 59 (2): 333–342.

[12] Pérez-García, A.; Gasulla, J.M.; Ortega, F. (2014-03-01). "Eodortoka morellana gen. et sp. nov., the first pan-pleurodiran turtle (Dortokidae) defined in the Lower Cretaceous of Europe" . Cretaceous Research. 48: 130–138. Bibcode:2014CrRes..48..130P. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2013.12.004. ISSN 0195-6671.

[13] Quesada, Juan M.; Pérez-García, Adán; Gasulla, José Miguel; Ortega, Francisco (2019-02-01). "Plesiosauria remains from the Barremian of Morella (Castellón, Spain) and first identification of Leptocleididae in the Iberian record" . Cretaceous Research. 94: 8–24. Bibcode:2019CrRes..94....8Q. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.10.010. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 134139253.

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