Villalba de la Sierra Formation | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Campanian-Maastrichtian ~ | |
Type | Geological formation |
Lithology | |
Primary | Mudstone |
Other | Sandstone, gypsum |
Location | |
Coordinates | 40°00′N2°00′W / 40.0°N 2.0°W |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 30°42′N0°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 |
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]
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]
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. | |
Crocodiles of the Villalba de la Sierra Formation | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Taxon | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
Agaresuchus | A. fontisensis | ||||
Lohuecosuchus | L. megadontos | ||||
Musturzabalsuchus | M. sp |
Turtles of the Villalba de la Sierra Formation | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Taxon | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
Foxemys | F. mechinorum | ||||
Iberoccitanemys | I. convenarum | ||||
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Ampelosaurus is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now France. Its type species is A. atacis, named by Le Loeuff in 1995. Its remains were found in a level dating from 71.5 million years ago representing the early Maastrichtian.
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