The Marnes d’Auzas Formation (Auzas Marls Formation) is a geological Formation in southwestern France (departments of Ariège and Haute-Garonne) whose strata date back to the Late Maastrichtian.[1] It is about 100 metres thick and consists primarily of marls with some interbeds of sandstones.[1] It corresponds to sediments whose depositional environment evolved from the paralic domain (coastal lagoons, tidal marsh, tidal muddy channel) at the base of the formation, towards a more continental domain (alluvial plain, fluvial channels) in its upper part.[1] The Marnes d’Auzas Formation was deposited in the west coast of the former Ibero-Armorican Island, which included much of France and Spain.[2]
| Marnes d’Auzas Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Late Cretaceous (Late Maastrichtian) ~ | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Underlies | Aurignac Formation |
| Overlies | Jadet Calcarenites Formation |
| Thickness | About 100 m |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Marls |
| Other | Sandstones |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 43°25′N 1°30′E |
| Region | Europe |
| Country |  France |
  Marnes d'Auzas Formation (France) | |
Vertebrate paleofauna
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- Theropods:
- Theropoda indet. (a medium-sized form only known by a tooth)[1]
- Dromaeosauridae indet.[4][1]
- Hadrosaurs:
- Sauropods:
- Titanosauria indet.[4][1] (compared to the Ibero-Armorican titanosaurs from the Campanian and early Maastrichtian times, the teeth of this form are more like those of Atsinganosaurus than those of Ampelosaurus or Lirainosaurus.[5]
- Bird:
- Enantiornithes indet.[4][1]
- Mammals:
- Pterosaurs:
- Azhdarchidae indet. (only known by a very large cervical vertebra suggesting an individual with a wing-span of 9 m) [6][1]
- Turtle:
- Squamata:
- Mosasauroidea indet.[4][1] (only known by a vertebra first attributed to a Varanoidea, would actually be a freshwater mosasaur)[8]
- ? Amphisbaenia indet.[4][1]
- cf. Teiidae indet.[1]
- Crocodylia:
- Thoracosaurus neocesariensis[9][4][1] (according to Christopher Brochu, the species from the Marnes d'Auzas represents a distinct taxon from T. neocesariensis)[10]
- cf. Musturzabalsuchus sp.[4][1]
- Amphibia:
- Fish:
- Palaeogaleus sp.[1]
- Rhinobatos sp.[1]
- Rhombodus binkhorsti[1]
- Coupatezia sp.[1]
- cf. Pycnodus sp.[1]
- Lepisosteidae indet.[4][1]
- Phyllodontidae indet.[4][1]
- Sparidae indet.[4][1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Laurent, Y. (2003). "Les faunes de vertébrés continentaux du Maastrichtien supérieur d'Europe : systématique et biodiversité". Strata (41): 1–81.
- ^ Csiki-Sava, Z.; Buffetaut, E.; Ősi, A.; Pereda-Suberbiola, X.; Brusatte, S.L. (2015). "Island life in the Cretaceous-faunal composition, biostratigraphy, evolution, and extinction of land-living vertebrates on the Late Cretaceous European archipelago". ZooKeys (469): 1–161. doi:10.3897/zookeys.469.8439. PMC 4296572. PMID 25610343.
- ^ a b c d Prieto-Márquez, A.; Dalla Vecchia, F.M.; Gaete, R.; Galobart, À. (2013). "Diversity, Relationships, and Biogeography of the Lambeosaurine Dinosaurs from the European Archipelago, with Description of the New Aralosaurin Canardia garonnensis". PLOS ONE. 8 (7): e69835. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...869835P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069835. PMC 3724916. PMID 23922815.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Laurent, Y.; Bilotte, M.; Le Loeuff, J. (2002). "Late Maastrichtian continental vertebrates from southwestern France: correlation with marine fauna" (PDF). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 187 (1–2): 121–135. Bibcode:2002PPP...187..121L. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(02)00512-6.
- ^ Garcia, G.; Amicot, S.; Fournier, F.; Thouand, E.; Valentin, X. (2010). "A new Titanosaur genus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of southern France and its paleobiogeographic implications". Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France. 181 (3): 269–277. doi:10.2113/gssgfbull.181.3.269.
- ^ Buffetaut, E.; Laurent, Y.; Le Loeuff, J.; Bilotte, M. (1997). "A terminal Cretaceous giant pterosaur from the French Pyrenees". Geological Magazine. 134 (4): 553–556. Bibcode:1997GeoM..134..553B. doi:10.1017/S0016756897007449. S2CID 140631899.
- ^ Pérez-García, A.; Ortega, F.; Murelaga, X. (2012). "A new genus of Bothremydidae (Chelonii, Pleurodira) in the Cretaceous of southwestern Europe". Geobios. 45 (2): 219–229. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2011.03.001.
- ^ Garcia, G.; Bardet, N.; Houssaye, A.; Pereda-Suberbiola, X.; Valentin, X. (2015). "Mosasauroid (Squamata) discovery in the Late Cretaceous (Early Campanian) continental deposits of Villeveyrac-L'Olivet, Southern France – Découverte de Mosasauroidea (Squamata) dans le Crétacé supérieur (Campanien inférieur) continental de Villeveyrac – L'Olivet, sud de la France". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 14 (6–7): 495–505. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2015.05.002.
- ^ Laurent, Y.; Buffetaut, E.; Le Loeuff, J. (2000). "Un crâne de Thoracosaurine (Crocodylia, Crocodylidae) dans le Maastrichtien supérieur du sud de la France". Oryctos (3): 19–27.
- ^ Brochu, C.A. (2004). "A new Late Cretaceous gavialoid crocodylian from eastern North America and the phylogenetic relationships of Thoracosaurs" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (3): 610–633. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0610:ANLCGC]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 131176447.