The Lago Colhué Huapí Formation is a

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

geologic

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 ...

of the

Chubut Group Chubut may refer to: * Chubut Province, Argentina * Chubut River in the Chubut Province * Chubut steamer duck The Chubut steamer duck or white-headed flightless steamer duck (''Tachyeres leucocephalus'') is a flightless duck endemic to Argenti ...

in the

Golfo San Jorge Basin The Golfo San Jorge Basin ( es, Cuenca del Golfo San Jorge) is a hydrocarbon-rich sedimentary basin located in eastern Patagonia, Argentina. The basin covers the entire San Jorge Gulf and an inland area west of it, having one half located in Santa ...

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The formation, named after Lake Colhué Huapí, is overlain by the

Salamanca Formation The Salamanca Formation is a geologic formation in the Golfo San Jorge Basin of central Patagonia that yields well-preserved, well-dated fossils from the early Paleocene. Studies of these fossils are providing new data on plant and animal diversit ...

of the Río Chico Group and in some areas by the

Laguna Palacios Formation The Laguna Palacios Formation is a Maastrichtian geologic formation of the Chubut Group in the Golfo San Jorge Basin in Patagonia, Argentina. The formation partly overlies and partly is laterally equivalent to the Lago Colhué Huapí Formation and ...

.Casal ''et al.'', 2015 The strata of the Lago Colhué Huapé Formation were thought to pertain to the

Bajo Barreal Formation The Bajo Barreal Formation is a geological formation in the Golfo San Jorge Basin of Chubut and Santa Cruz, Argentina whose strata date back to the Middle Cenomanian to Late Turonian. The formation was first described by Teruggi & Rossetto in ...

, but are now recognized as a distinct stratigraphic unit in their own right.Clyde ''et al.'', 2014

Vertebrate paleofauna

Taxa recovered from the Lago Colhué Huapí Formation include the sauropods '' Aeolosaurus colhuehaupiensis'', ''

Argyrosaurus ''Argyrosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived about 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Argentina. Discovery and naming The type species, ''Argyrosaurus superbus'', was formall ...

'', and ''

Elaltitan ''Elaltitan'' is an extinct genus of large lithostrotian titanosaur sauropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (mid Cenomanian to Turonian stage) of Chubut Province, southern Argentina. It contains a single species, ''Elaltitan lilloi''. ...

'', as well as the hadrosaurid ''

Secernosaurus ''Secernosaurus'' (meaning "severed lizard") is a genus of herbivorous dinosaur. ''Secernosaurus'' was a hadrosaur, a "duck-billed" dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous. ''Secernosaurus'' and its close relatives lived in South America, ...

'' and the probable elasmarian ornithopod '' Sektensaurus''.Martínez ''et al.'', 2016Casal ''et al.'', 2007Mannion & Otero, 2012 The dubious possible ceratopsian ''

Notoceratops ''Notoceratops'' (meaning "southern horned face") is a dubious genus of extinct ornithischian dinosaur based on an incomplete, toothless left dentary (now lost) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia (in Argentina), probably dating to the Campani ...

'' was also present. The apex predator was an unnamed

megaraptorid Megaraptora is a clade of carnivorous tetanuran theropod dinosaurs with controversial relations to other theropods. Its derived members, the Megaraptoridae are noted for their elongated hand claws and proportionally large arms, which are usually ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{ISBN, 0-520-24209-2 Geologic formations of Argentina Upper Cretaceous Series of South America Cretaceous Argentina Campanian Stage Maastrichtian Stage of South America Tuff formations Sandstone formations Fluvial deposits Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of South America Paleontology in Argentina Formations Geology of Patagonia Geology of Chubut Province Colhué Huapí

Vertebrate paleofauna

See also

References

Bibliography