The Meng-Yin or Mengyin Formation () is a geological
formation in
Shandong
Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, whose strata date back to the
Berriasian
In the geological timescale, the Berriasian is an age/ stage of the Early/Lower Cretaceous. It is the oldest subdivision in the entire Cretaceous. It has been taken to span the time between 143.1 ±0.6 Ma and 137.05 ± 0.2 (million years ago) ...
and
Valanginian
In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 137.05 ± 0.2 Ma and 132.6 ± 0.2 Ma (million years ago). The Valanginian Stage succeeds the Berriasian Stage of the Lower Cretac ...
stages of the
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...
.
[Mengyin 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[Wilson & Upchurch, 2009]
Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
[Weishampel et al., 2004, "Dinosaur distribution (Late Jurassic, Asia).", pp.550–552] The type material for the titanosauriform dinosaur ''
Euhelopus
''Euhelopus'' is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived between 145 and 133 million years ago during the Berriasian and Valanginian ages of the Early Cretaceous in what is now Shandong Province in China. It was a large quadrupedal herbivore. Lik ...
'' was excavated at this formation by Otto Zdansky in 1923, in green/yellow sandstone and green/yellow siltstone that were deposited during the
Barremian
The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 125.77 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma (Historically, this stage was placed at 129.4 million to approximately 125 million years ago) It is a ...
or
Aptian
The Aptian is an age (geology), age in the geologic timescale or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), S ...
stages
Stage, stages, or staging may refer to:
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* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
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of the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
period, approximately 129 to 113 million years ago.
[T'an, 1923]
Both the genus and species of ''
Mengyinaia mengyinensis'' were named after the formation.
Vertebrate paleofauna
Indeterminate stegosaurid remains have been found in Shandong, China.
Other fossils
* ''
Mengyinaia mengyinensis''
[Fang et al., 2009]
;Fish
* ''
Sinamia zdanskyi''
* ''
Paralycoptera wui''
* ''
Lycoptera sp.''
;Reptiles
* ''
Ordosemys leios''
* ''
Shantungosuchus chuhsienensis''
[Young, 1961]
* ''
Sinemys lens''
* ''
Sinochelys applanata''
*
?Dsungaripteridae indet.
*
Stegosauria indet.
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
** ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
* {{citation , last=T'an , first=H. C. , year=1923 , title=New research on the Mesozoic and early Tertiary geology in Shantung , journal=
Geological Survey of China Bulletin , volume=5 , pages=95–135
Geologic formations of China
Lower Cretaceous Series of Asia
Cretaceous China
Berriasian Stage
Valanginian Stage
Sandstone formations
Siltstone formations
Paleontology in Shandong