The Allen Formation is a geological formation in Argentina whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous (middle Campanian to early Maastrichtian. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. Indeterminate chelid remains and other vertebrates have also been discovered in this formation.
Description
Uliana and Dellapé defined the formation's stratotype in 1981 in the eastern area of the Bajo de Añelo, where the relation between the base and top is clearly exposed. The deposits are mostly clastic, interbedded with banks of limestone and layers of anhydrite, which were defined as continental and shallow marine facies associated with semiarid conditions.
The interpreted sedimentary paleoenvironments range from purely continental such as ephemeral lacustrine, aeolian and fluvial systems to coastal marine paleoenvironments with development of estuaries and tidal flats, followed by a lagoon sedimentary stage from marsh to sea with carbonate precipitation in an area protected from waves, ending with a retraction leading to the accumulation of evaporites.
Armas and Sánchez performed a detailed facies analysis of the formation in 2015, where the authors concluded the formation represents a hybrid coastal system
of tidal flats, dominated by Atlantic ingressions, with a large storm influence in some areas linked to aeolian systems.
A fragmentary skeleton including parts of the skull, lower jaw, a few neck and torso vertebrae, some ribs, a humerus, and assorted bones from both legs
A holotype consists of a mid-dorsal vertebra, both scapulocoracoids, left tibia and femur, left pubis articulated with the pubic peduncle of the ilium, the anterior blade of the left ilium, and two partially preserved eggs.
^Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, South America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 600-604. ISBN0-520-24209-2.
^Rozadilla, S.; Brissón-Egli, F.; Agnolín, F.L.; Aranciaga-Rolando, A.M.; Novas, F.E. (2022). "A new hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Late Cretaceous of northern Patagonia and the radiation of South American hadrosaurids". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (17): 1207–1235. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.2020917. S2CID247122005.
^Sergio Bogan; Louis Taverne; Federico L. Agnolin (2011). "Description of a new aspidorhynchid fish, Belonostomus lamarquensis sp. nov. (Halecostomi, Aspidorhynchiformes), from the continental Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina". Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre. 81: 235–245.
^Agnolín, F. L.; Aranciaga-Rolando, A. M.; Ortiz, R. (2024). "New chelid turtle with a flattened skull from the Late Cretaceous of Northern Patagonia, Argentina". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. doi:10.1080/03115518.2024.2427261.
^Connelly, B. E.; Cardozo, M. S.; Montgomery, J. D.; Rougier, G. W. (2024). "New mammals from the Upper Cretaceous Allen Formation (Patagonia, Argentina) and reassessment of meridiolestidan diversity". Cretaceous Research. 162. 105935. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105935.