Cerro Barcino Formation
The Cerro Barcino Formation (also known as the Gorro Frigio Formation) is a geological formation in South America whose strata span the Early Cretaceous to the earliest Late Cretaceous. The top age for the formation has been estimated to be Cenomanian. Earlier estimates placed the formation until the Campanian.
The formation was deposited in the Cañadón Asfalto Basin, a rift basin that started forming in the earliest Jurassic. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
The Cerro Barcino Formation is the second-youngest unit of the Chubut Group, which also includes the older Los Adobes Formation. Both formations cover a vast area in Chubut Province, Argentina. The two formations are distinguished by geological features suggesting a distinct change in climate, from a wetter, flood plain environment in the Los Adobes to a much more arid, desert-like environment in the Cerro Barcino.
The Cerro Barcino Formation is subdivided into several subunits (members). From oldest to youngest:
- Bayo Overo (Correlates with both the Puesto La Paloma and the Cerro Castaño members)
- Puesto La Paloma
- Characterized by arid plains interspersed with sand dunes
- Cerro Castaño
- A return to more humid, flood-plain conditions
- Las Plumas
The Puesto La Paloma Member dates from ~118-113 Ma, the Cerro Castaño Member dates from ~113-100.5 Ma, correlating with the Albian, and the Las Plumas Member dates from ~100.5-98 Ma.
Fossil content
Indeterminate abelisaurid remains from the Puesto La Paloma Member. Possible rebbachisaurid remains are known from the La Paloma Member.
Lepidosaurs (Kaikaifilusaurus minimus and Priosphenodon minimus) and Testudinata (Chubutemys copelloi and Prochelidella cerrobarcinae) are also discovered from this formation.
Crurotarsans
| Crocodylomorphs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
| Barcinosuchus | B. gradilis | Near El Escorial village, Chubut Province | Cerro Castaño Member | "Skull, mandible, and postcranial remains." | A peirosaurid. The first crocodyliform from the Chubut Group | |
Dinosaurs
| Dinosaurs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Member | Material | Notes | Images |
| Chubutisaurus | C. insignis | Bayo Overo | two partial skeletons | A basal somphospondylan |  |
| Genyodectes | G. serus | Cerro Castaño | partial snout | A possible ceratosaurid. |  |
| Patagotitan | P. mayorum | Cerro Castaño | partial skeleton and other elements | A huge lognkosaur. |  |
| Tyrannotitan | T. chubutensis | Cerro Castaño | two partial skeletons and teeth | A giant giganotosaurin carcharodontosaurid. |  |
| "Megalosaurus" | "M." inexpectatus | Bayo Overo | teeth | Indeterminate abelisaurid originally described as a species of Megalosaurus | |
| Abelisauroidea | indeterminate | La Paloma member | Vertebrae | Very similar to the later and more large bodied abelisauroids from South America such as Carnotaurus. | |
See also
- List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
- La Amarga Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the Neuquén Basin
- Lohan Cura Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the Neuquén Basin
- Río Belgrano Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of the Austral Basin
References
- ^ Rauhut et al., 2003
- ^ Krause, J. Marcelo; Ramezani, Jahandar; Umazano, Aldo M.; Pol, Diego; Carballido, José L.; Sterli, Juliana; Puerta, Pablo; Cúneo, N. Rubén; Bellosi, Eduardo S. (2020-04-01). "High-resolution chronostratigraphy of the Cerro Barcino Formation (Patagonia): Paleobiologic implications for the mid-cretaceous dinosaur-rich fauna of South America" (PDF). Gondwana Research. 80: 33–49. Bibcode:2020GondR..80...33K. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2019.10.005. ISSN 1342-937X. S2CID 210265289.
- ^ Leardi, Juan Martín; Pol, Diego (2009-12-01). "The first crocodyliform from the Chubut Group (Chubut Province, Argentina) and its phylogenetic position within basal Mesoeucrocodylia" (PDF). Cretaceous Research. 30 (6): 1376–1386. Bibcode:2009CrRes..30.1376L. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2009.08.002. hdl:11336/90736. ISSN 0195-6671.
- ^ Carballido, José L.; Pol, Diego; Cerda, Ignacio; Salgado, Leonardo (2011-02-10). "The osteology of Chubutisaurus insignis del Corro, 1975 (Dinosauria: Neosauropoda) from the 'middle' Cretaceous of central Patagonia, Argentina". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (1): 93–110. Bibcode:2011JVPal..31...93C. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.539651. hdl:11336/94194. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 86055386.
- ^ Rauhut, Oliver W. M. (2004-12-10). "Provenance and anatomy of Genyodectes serus, a large-toothed ceratosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Patagonia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (4): 894–902. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0894:PAAOGS]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 131178611.
- ^ Carballido, José L.; Pol, Diego; Otero, Alejandro; Cerda, Ignacio A.; Salgado, Leonardo; Garrido, Alberto C.; Ramezani, Jahandar; Cúneo, Néstor R.; Krause, Javier M. (2017-08-16). "A new giant titanosaur sheds light on body mass evolution among sauropod dinosaurs". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1860). doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.1219. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5563814. PMID 28794222.
- ^ Canale, Juan Ignacio; Novas, Fernando Emilio; Pol, Diego (2015-01-02). "Osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Tyrannotitan chubutensis Novas, de Valais, Vickers-Rich and Rich, 2005 (Theropoda: Carcharodontosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina" (PDF). Historical Biology. 27 (1): 1–32. Bibcode:2015HBio...27....1C. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.861830. hdl:11336/17607. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 84583928.
- ^ Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.563-570
- ^ Ezcurra, Martin Daniel; Novas, Fernando Emilio (2016). "Theropod dinosaurs from Argentina" (PDF). Contribuciones del MACN. ISSN 1666-5503.
- ^ Rauhut, Oliver W. M.; Cladera, Gerardo; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Rich, Thomas H. (2003-10-01). "Dinosaur remains from the Lower Cretaceous of the Chubut Group, Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 24 (5): 487–497. doi:10.1016/S0195-6671(03)00067-3. ISSN 0195-6671.
Bibliography
- Figari, Eduardo G.; Scasso, Roberto A.; Cúneo, Rubén N.; Escapa, Ignacio (2015), "Estratigrafía y evolución geológica de la Cuenca de Cañadón Asfalto, Provincia del Chubut, Argentina" (PDF), Latin American Journal of Sedimentology and Basin Analysis, 22: 135–169, retrieved 2018-09-10
- Novas, F.E.; De Valais, S.; Vickers-Rich, P.; Rich, T. (2005), "A large Cretaceous theropod from Patagonia, Argentina, and the evolution of carcharodontosaurids", Naturwissenschaften, 92 (5): 226–230, Bibcode:2005NW.....92..226N, doi:10.1007/s00114-005-0623-3, PMID 15834691, retrieved 2019-04-06doi:10.1007/s00114-005-0623-3PMID 15834691Bibcode:2005NW.....92..226N
- Rauhut, O.W.M.; Cladera, G.; Vickers-Rich, P.; Rich, T.H. (2003), "Dinosaur remains from the Lower Cretaceous of the Chubut Group, Argentina" (PDF), Cretaceous Research, 24 (5): 487–497, Bibcode:2003CrRes..24..487R, doi:10.1016/S0195-6671(03)00067-3, retrieved 2019-04-06doi:10.1016/S0195-6671(03)00067-3
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