Jagua Formation
The Jagua Formation is a Late Jurassic (middle to late Oxfordian) geologic formation in the Sierra de los Órganos and Sierra del Rosario mountain ranges in Pinar del Río Province, western Cuba. Plesiosaur, pliosaur, pterosaur, metriorhynchid, turtle and dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from its strata.
Description
The formation comprises marine shales and limestones. The 60 metres (200 ft) thick Jagua Vieja Member consists of black shales and horizontally laminated marly micritic to biomicritic limestones. The latter contains calcareous concretions which the fossils are found in. The formation overlies the San Cayetano Formation and is overlain by the Guasasa Formation. The bedding direction is steeply dipping towards the northwest.
Fossil content
Vertebrate paleofauna
Based on Iturralde-Vinent & Izquierdo (2015):
Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Bony fishes
| Bony fish of the Jagua Formation | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Description | Notes | Image | |
| Aspidorhynchus | A. arawaki | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A aspidorhynchid fish | 
| |||
| Caturus | C. deani | Valle los Jazmines, Jagua Vieja | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A caturid halecomorph. In need of taxonomic revision. | 
| ||
| Eugnathides | E. browni | Mogote La Mina | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A pachycormiform fish. In need of taxonomic revision. | |||
| Gyrodus | G. macropthalmus cubensis | Mogote La Mina | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A pycnodont. | 
| ||
| Hypsocormus | H. leedsi | Laguna de Piedra | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A pachycormiform fish. In need of taxonomic revision. | 
| ||
| Lepidotes | L. gloriae | Jagua Vieja | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A lepidotid lepisosteiform. | 
| ||
| ?Leptolepis | L. euspondylus | Mogote La Mina | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A leptolepid fish. In need of taxonomic revision. | 
| ||
| Luisichthys | L. vinalesensis | Jagua Vieja | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A varasichthyid fish | 
| ||
| Pholidophorus | P. sp. | A pholidophorid fish | 
| ||||
| Sauropsis | S. woodwardi | Viñales | A pachycormiform fish. In need of taxonomic revision. | 
| |||
Reptiles
Dinosaurs
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Description | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camarasauridae indet. | Jagua Vieja | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A camarasaurid sauropod, the only dinosaur known from the formation. Material consists of a first or second metacarpal, now lost. |
Pterosaurs
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Description | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cacibupteryx | C. caribensis | Mogote Jagua Vieja | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A rhamphorhynchid pterosaur | ||
| Nesodactylus | N. hesperius | Hoyo del Palmar 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Viñales |
Jagua Vieja Mb. | A rhamphorhynchid pterosaur |
Crocodylomorphs
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Description | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cricosaurus | C. sp. | Puerta de Ancón Sierra de Guasasa |
Jagua Vieja Mb. | A metriorhynchid thalattosuchian | 
| |
| Geosaurus | G. sp. | A geosaurine metriorhynchid | ||||
| Thalattosuchia indet. | Hoyo de la Sierra | A thalattosuchian of uncertain affinities. |
Plesiosaurs
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Description | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ?"Cryptocleidus" | "C." vignalensis | Laguna de Piedra | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A sauropterygian, nomen dubium. | ||
| Gallardosaurus | G. iturraldei | Sierra de Caiguanabo ~8 km (5.0 mi) east of Viñales |
Jagua Vieja Mb. | A pliosaurid plesiosaur | 
| |
| Vinialesaurus | V. caroli | Viñales | A cryptoclidid plesiosaur | 
|
Ichthyosaurs
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Description | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ichthyosauria indet. | Laguna de Piedra | Jagua Vieja Mb. | An indeterminate ichthyosaur, initially described as "Ichthyosaurus torrey" | |||
| Ophthalmosauridae Indet. | Indeterminate | Viñales |
Turtles
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Description | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notoemys | N. oxfordensis | Valle de Viñales | A platychelyid pan-pleurodiran turtle, originally described under the separate genus of Caribemys |
Other fossils
- Favreina
- Globochaete
- Gryphaea mexicana - Pan de Azúcar Mb.
- Liostrea mairei
- L. sandalina - Zacarías Mb.
- Nanogyra (Nanogyra) nana - Zacarías Mb.
- Ostrea broughtoni - Zacarías Mb.
- Plicatula cf. weymouthiana - Zacarías Mb.
- Voltzia palmeri
- Perisphinctes sp.
See also
References
- ^ Jagua Formation at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Barrett et al., 2008
- ^ Iturralde Vinent & Norell, 1996
- ^ Iturralde-Vinent, Manuel; Izquierdo, Yasmani Ceballos (2015-02-23). "Catálogo de Especímenes de Vertebrados del Jurásico Tardío (pieces, reptiles) de Cuba Occidental". Revista Paleontología Mexicana. 4 (1): 25–40. doi:10.22201/igl.05437652e.2015.4.1.288. ISSN 2007-5189.
- ^ Apesteguía, S.; Ceballos Izquierdo, Y.; Iturralde-VINENT, M. (2019-09-02). "New taxonomic assignment for a dinosaur sauropod bone from Cuba". Historical Biology. 33 (5): 737–742. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1661406. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 202854022.
- ^ Gasparini et al., 2004
- ^ Gasparini & Iturralde Vinent, 2001, p.538
- ^ Laguna de Piedra at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Gasparini, 2009
- ^ Gasparini et al., 2002
- ^ Gasparini & Iturralde Vinent, 2001, p.542
- ^ Sierra Ancón at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Hoyo de la Sierra at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Mogote La Mina at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Jagua Vieja at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Viñales at Fossilworks.org
Bibliography
- Barrett, P.M.; Butler, R.J.; Edwards, N.P.; Milner, A.R. (2008), Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas - pp. 61–107 (PDF), Flugsaurier: Pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer - Hone, D.W.E., and Buffetaut, É. (eds). Zitteliana B, 28., pp. 1–264, retrieved 2019-02-07
- De la Fuente, M.S.; Iturralde Vinent, M. (2001), "A new pleurodiran turtle from the Jagua Formation (Oxfordian) of western Cuba" (PDF), Journal Information, 75 (4): 860–869, Bibcode:2001JPal...75..860D, doi:10.1017/S0022336000016954, retrieved 2019-02-07
- Gasparini, Zulma (2009), "A New Oxfordian Pliosaurid (Plesiosauria, Pliosauridae) in the Caribbean Seaway" (PDF), Palaeontology, 52 (3): 661–669, Bibcode:2009Palgy..52..661G, doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2009.00871.x, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16, retrieved 2019-02-07 Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Gasparini, Z.; Fernández, M.; De La Fuente, M. (2004), "A new pterosaur from the Jurassic of Cuba", Palaeontology, 47 (4): 919–927, Bibcode:2004Palgy..47..919G, doi:10.1111/j.0031-0239.2004.00399.x, retrieved 2019-02-07
- Gasparini, Z.; Bardet, N.; Iturralde Vinent, M. (2002), "A new cryptoclidid plesiosaur from the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) of Cuba", Geobios, 35 (2): 201–211, Bibcode:2002Geobi..35..201G, doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(02)00019-0, archived from the original on 2010-07-02, retrieved 2019-02-07
- Gasparini, Z.; Iturralde Vinent, M. (2001), "Metriorhynchid crocodiles (Crocodyliformes) from the Oxfordian of Western Cuba", Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte, 2001 (9): 534–542, doi:10.1127/njgpm/2001/2001/534, retrieved 2019-02-07
- Iturralde Vinent, Manuel; Norell, Mark A. (1996), "Synopsis of Late Jurassic Marine Reptiles from Cuba" (PDF), American Museum Novitates, American Museum of Natural History: 1–17, retrieved 2019-02-07
Further reading
- Bermúdez, Pedro J (1961), "Las formaciones geológicas de Cuba" (PDF), Geología Cubana, 1: 1–180, retrieved 2019-02-06
- Colbert, Edwin H (1969), "A Jurassic pterosaur from Cuba" (PDF), American Museum Novitates (2370): 1–26, retrieved 2019-02-07
- Fernández, M.; Iturralde Vinent, M. (2000), "An Oxfordian Ichthyosauria (Reptilia) from Vinales, western Cuba: paleobiogeographic significance", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 20: 191–193, doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0191:AOIRFV]2.0.CO;2, retrieved 2019-02-07
- Pugaczewska, H (1978), "Jurassic pelecypods from Cuba", Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 23: 163–186
- Schevill, W.E (1950), "An Upper Jurassic sepioid from Cuba", Journal of Paleontology, 24: 99–101
- Thies, D (1989), "Lepidotes gloriae, sp. nov. (Actinopterygii: Semionotiformes) from the Late Jurassic of Cuba" (PDF), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 9 (1): 18–40, Bibcode:1989JVPal...9...18T, doi:10.1080/02724634.1989.10011736, retrieved 2019-02-07