The Puerto Yeruá Formation is a
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent 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 ''cre ...
geologic
formation in the
Paraná Basin
The Paraná Basin (, ) is a large cratonic sedimentary basin situated in the central-eastern part of South America. About 75% of its areal distribution occurs in Brazil, from Mato Grosso to Rio Grande do Sul states. The remainder area is distribu ...
, pertaining to
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a Center Region, Argentina, central provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires (so ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation,
[Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.517-607] as well as
egg fragments and
fossilized wood.
Description
The formation comprises red
claystone
Mudrocks are a class of fine-grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. The varying types of mudrocks include siltstone, claystone, mudstone and shale. Most of the particles of which the stone is composed are less than and are too small to ...
s and grey sandstones, medium-thick, well silicified, partly conglomeratic, whitish and reddish color thanks to the presence of
iron oxides
An iron oxide is a chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. Often they are nonstoichiometric, non-stoichiometric. Ferric oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which is ...
and frequently calcareous cement. It was deposited in a
lacustrine
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...
to
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
humid environment with seasonal rainfall. Fossils of ''
cf. Sphaerovum erbeni'' (
Faveoloolithidae
Faveoloolithidae is an oofamily of dinosaur eggs. It contains '' Faveoloolithus'', '' Hemifaveoloolithus'', '' Parafaveoloolithus'', and probably '' Sphaerovum''. However, unlike the other Faveoloolthids, ''Sphaerovum'' has compactituberculate ...
),
[De Valais et al., 2003, p.509] Theropoda indet.,
[De Valais et al., 2003, p.508] and
Ankylosauria indet. are reported from the formation.
[De Valais et al., 2003, p.507]Ita-i-cora
at Fossilworks
Fossilworks was a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world.
History
Fossilworks was cr ...
.org The formation has been correlated with the Guichón Formation of eastern Uruguay.[Soto et al., 2009, p.13]
Paleofauna
* '' Argyrosaurus superbus'' (lithostrotia
Lithostrotia is a clade of derived titanosaur sauropods that lived during the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous. The group was defined by Upchurch ''et al.'' in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of ''Malawisaurus'' and ''Saltasaurus'' an ...
indet.)
* '' Paraperseoxylon septatum''[Franco et al., 2015]
See also
* List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
This list of dinosaur-bearing rock formations is a list of geologic formations in which dinosaur fossils have been documented.
* List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur body fossils
* List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur trace fossils
** ...
** List of stratigraphic units with few dinosaur genera
This is a list of stratigraphic units from which dinosaur body fossils have been recovered. Although Dinosauria is a clade which includes modern birds, this article covers only Mesozoic stratigraphic units. Units listed are all either formation ...
* Guichón Formation
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Puerto Yerua Formation
Geologic formations of Argentina
Upper Cretaceous Series of South America
Cretaceous Argentina
Sandstone formations
Shale formations
Fluvial deposits
Lacustrine deposits
Ichnofossiliferous formations
Ooliferous formations
Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of South America
Paleontology in Argentina
Formations
Formations