The Vega Formation is a
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen ...
(
Kimmeridgian
In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age in the Late Jurassic Epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 154.8 ±0.8 Ma and 149.2 ±0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxfordian ...
) 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 secondary ...
of the
Ribadesella Group in
Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
[Vega Formation]
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 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 diagnostic to the
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
[Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.] The formation is around 150 metres thick and consists of "alternating white, pale grey and reddish sandstones, and red mudstones with several sporadic conglomeratic beds typically arranged in minor finnig-upward cycles within a major cycle of the same character". An isolated caudal theropod vertebra and a partial tooth are known from the formation, belonging to large
megalosaurids around 10 metres in length, comparable to ''
Torvosaurus
''Torvosaurus'' () is a genus of large Megalosaurinae, megalosaurine Theropoda, theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 165 to 148 million years ago during the Callovian to Tithonian ages of the late Middle Jurassic, Middle and Late Jurassi ...
.'' Other remains known from the formation include fragmentary turtle remains, crocodylomorph teeth, as well as a sauropod caudal vertebra (MUJA-0650). Dinosaur tracks are also known from the formation, including large theropod footprints and poorly preserved quadrupedal dinosaur footprints.
Paleofauna
* ''
Megalosaurus sp.'' (Theropoda indet.)
*
Stegosauria indet.[Ruiz Omeñaca et al., 2013]
* ''
Torvosaurus sp.''? (
indet.) - "cervical vertebrae"
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 ...
*
Lastres Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of Asturias
References
Bibliography
*
* {{cite book , editor-last=
Weishampel , editor-first=David B. , editor-last2=
Dodson , editor-first2=Peter , editor-last3=
Osmólska , editor-first3=Halszka , year=2004 , title=The Dinosauria, edition=2nd , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZFDb_iw40C , location=Berkeley, publisher= University of California Press , pages=1–880 , accessdate=2019-02-21, isbn=0-520-24209-2
Geologic formations of Spain
Jurassic System of Europe
Jurassic Spain
Kimmeridgian Stage
Ichnofossiliferous formations
Paleontology in Spain
Formations