The Escucha Formation is a geological

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N� ...

and

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,675 in 2014 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate, with a ...

provinces of northeastern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

whose strata date back to the late

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

to middle

Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± 0.9 M ...

stages of the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, et al., 2004 The approximately thick formation underlies the

Utrillas Formation Utrillas is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacion ...

and overlies

Castrillo de la Reina Castrillo de la Reina is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research cen ...

Benassal Benassal is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alt Maestrat, Castellón, Valencia, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' ...

& Oliete Formations. The Escucha Formation comprises

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

s and

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

, in which several fossil insects were found. The formation was deposited in a variety of continental to paralic (

deltaic A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more rare ...

)

environments Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

.Peyrot et al., 2007

Fossil content

The Escucha Formation has provided the following fossils, among others:Escucha Formation
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org

Dinosaurs

;Other dinosaurs * Allosauroidea indet. * Iguanodontia indet. * Titanosauriformes indet. ;Reptiles * '' Aragochersis lignitesta''Pérez García et al., 2020 * '' Toremys cassiopeia'' * '' Trachydermochelys sp.'' * Testudines indet. * '' Anteophthalmosuchus escuchae'' * Goniopholididae indet. * ''

Hulkepholis plotos ''Hulkepholis'' is an extinct genus of goniopholidid mesoeucrocodylian from the Early Cretaceous of southern England and eastern Spain. It contains two species, the type species, ''Hulkepholis willetti'', and also ''H. plotos''. ''Hulkepholis'' i ...

'' ;Fish * Chondrichthyes indet. * Osteichthyes indet.

Insects

;Other arthropods * '' Alavia neli'' * '' Archaelagonops alavensis'' * ''

Mesozygiella dunlopi ''Mesozygiella'' is an extinct genus of Orb-weaver spider, orb-weaving spider (family Araneidae), with one known species, ''Mesozygiella dunlopi'', dating from the Early Cretaceous, making it the earliest orb-weaver yet discovered. Two male speci ...

'' * '' Alavesiaphis margaritae'' * '' Hispanocader lisae'' * '' Alavametra popovi'' * '' Iberovelia quisquilia'' * '' Glaesivelia pulcherrima'' * '' Gymnopollisthrips maior'' * '' G. minor'' * '' Manicapsocidus enigmaticus'' * '' Archaeatropos alavensis'' * '' Preempheria antiqua'' * '' Empheropsocus arilloi'' * '' E. margineglabrus'' * '' Morazatermes krishnai'' * '' Cantabritermes simplex'' * '' Autrigonoforceps iberica'' * '' Hispanelcana alavensis'' * '' H. arilloi'' * '' H. lopezvallei'' * '' Libanophron sugaar'' * '' Hippocoon basajauni'' * '' Burmaphron iratxoak'' * '' B. jentilak'' * '' B. sorginak'' * '' Tagsmiphron olentzero'' * '' Elasmophron mari'' * '' Ectenobythus iberiensis'' * '' Liztor pilosus'' * '' Cretepyris martini'' * '' Zophepyris alavaensis'' * '' Ampulicomorpha perialla'' * '' Microcostaphron parvus'' * '' Archephedrus stolamissus'' * '' Protorhyssalopsis perrichoti'' * '' Spathiopteryx alavarommopsis'' * '' Serphites lamiak'' * '' Aposerphites angustus'' * '' Archaeromma hispanicum'' * '' Galloromma alavaensis'' * '' Alavaromma orchamum'' * '' Tithonoscelio resinalis'' * '' Bruescelio platycephalus'' * '' Electroteleiopsis hebdomas'' * '' Alavascelio delvallei'' * '' Amissascelio temporarius'' * '' Perimoscelio tyrbastes'' * '' Perimoscelio confector'' * '' Proterosceliopsis masneri'' * '' Juxtascelio interitus'' * '' Iberopria perialla'' * '' Iberoevania roblesi'' * '' Cretevania alonsoi'' * '' Iberomaimetsha nihtmara'' * '' Iberomaimetsha rasnitsyni'' * '' Valaa delclosi'' * '' Megalava truncata'' * '' Eosyntexis parva'' * '' Cretasonoma corinformibus'' * '' Penarhytus tenebris'' * '' Prosolierius parvus'' * '' Cretakarenni hispanicus'' * '' Rhizophtoma longus'' * '' Darwinylus marcosi'' * '' Mediumiuga sinespinis'' * '' Archiaustroconops alavensis'' * '' Leptoconops (Leptoconops) zherikhini'' * '' Gerontodacus skalskii'' * '' Chimeromyia alava'' * '' Chimeromyina concilia'' * '' Euliphora grimaldii'' * '' Alavesia subiasi'' * '' Tethepomima holomma'' * '' Tethepomyia buruhandi'' * '' Lysistrata emerita'' * '' Hegalari minor'' * '' Hegalari antzinako'' * '' Alavamanota hispanica'' * '' Allocotocera xavieri'' * '' Cretohaplusia ortunoi'' * '' Eltxo cretaceus'' * '' Helius (Helius) alavensis'' * '' Helius (Helius) spiralis'' * '' Espanoderus barbarae'' * '' Alavaraphidia imperterrita'' * '' Baissoptera cretaceoelectra'' * '' Cretokatianna bucculenta'' * '' Sphyrotheciscus senectus'' * '' Archeallacma dolichopoda'' * '' Katiannasminthurus xenopygus'' * '' Pseudosminthurides stoechus'' * '' Burmisotoma spinulifera'' * '' Protoisotoma autrigoniensis'' * '' Proisotoma communis'' * '' Proleptochelia tenuissima'' * '' Electrotanais monolithus'' * '' Alavatanais carabe'' * '' Alavatanais margulisae'' * '' Eurotanais terminator'' * '' Spinomegops arcanus'' * '' Strieremaeus minguezae'' * '' Iberofoveopsis miguelesi'' * '' Hispanothrips utrillensis'' * '' Aragonitermes teruelensis'' * '' Aragonimantis aenigma'' * '' Mymaropsis turolensis'' * '' Serphites silban'' * '' Galloromma turolensis'' * '' Alavaromma orchamum'' * '' Cretevania rubusensis'' * '' Cretevania alcalai'' * '' Cretevania montoyai'' * '' Actenobius magneoculus'' * '' Arra legalovi'' * '' Leptoconops (Leptoconops) zherikhini'' * '' Atriculicoides sanjusti'' * '' Atriculicoides hispanicus'' * '' Gerontodacus skalskii'' * '' Microphorites utrillensis'' * '' Litoleptis fossilis'' * '' Burmazelmira grimaldii'' * '' Aragomantispa lacerata'' * '' Spinomegops aragonensis'' * '' Ametroproctus valeriae'' * '' Cretaceobodes martinezae'' * '' Trhypochthonius lopezvallei'' ;Invertebrates * Ostracoda indet. * Bivalvia indet. * Gastropoda indet. ;Flora *

Pinophyta Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extan ...

* Angiospermae indet.

Correlation

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{ISBN, 0-520-24209-2