The Villalba de la Sierra Formation is a

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campanian s ...

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval from ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Fossil

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

eggs have been reported from the formation, that comprises gypsiferous, grey,

argillaceous Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates (e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4), sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations found on or near some planetary surfaces. Clay minerals ...

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. ...

s and

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) ...

s, deposited in a

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

environment 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 ...

Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.517-607 characterised by high seasonality and variability in water availability.

Fossil content

The formation has provided abundant titanosaurian remains, including '' Lohuecotitan'' were found in the formation.Díez Díaz et al., 2016 More than 10,000 fossil remains of various fishes, amphibians, lizards, dinosaurs ('' Ampelosaurus sp.'', '' Rhabdodon sp.''), turtles ('' Foxemys mechinorum'', '' Iberoccitanemys convenarum''), and crocodiles ('' Lohuecosuchus megadontos'', '' Agaresuchus fontisensis'', '' Musturzabalsuchus sp.'') are also known from the site, one of the richest for the Late Cretaceous in Europe.Ortega et al., 2015

References

Bibliography

* * * {{ISBN, 0-520-24209-2 Geologic formations of Spain Upper Cretaceous Series of Europe Cretaceous Spain Campanian Stage Maastrichtian Stage Mudstone formations Sandstone formations Fluvial deposits Ooliferous formations Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Europe Paleontology in Spain

Fossil content

See also

References

Bibliography