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The La Colonia Formation is a geological formation in Argentina whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[1]
Originally thought to be Campanian (c.73-72 million years ago) in age or earlier, studies of underlying formations have made a Maastrichtian (72–66 million years ago) age more likely.[2]
Description
It is divided up into three distinct facies, the first is up to 16 metres (52 ft) thick and consists of conglomerate, the second is by far the thickest at over 100 metres (330 ft), consists of siltstone and claystone, with interbeds of claystone/shale and sandstone, the third is less than 10 metres (33 ft) thick and consists of clay, and probably represents a nearshore marine environment.[3]
The paleoflora was known for its aquatic components, Paleoazolla and Regnellidium. However, recent paleobotanical discoveries at the Cañadón del Irupé locality have revealed the presence of a more diverse range of plants associated with these water bodies, including pteridophytes, gymnosperms, and various angiosperms. Among these are fossil leaves and fruits assignable to Nelumbonaceae.[4]
"an incomplete mandible, nine cervical vertebrae, 14 dorsal vertebrae, three sacral vertebrae and five caudal vertebrae, and almost complete left fore limb, the isolated right humerus, both femora, ilia, pubes and the right ischium"
^ abcdefghijkGasparini, Zulma; Sterli, Juliana; Parras, Ana; O'Gorman, José Patricio; Salgado, Leonardo; Varela, Julio; Pol, Diego (May 2015). "Late Cretaceous reptilian biota of the La Colonia Formation, central Patagonia, Argentina: Occurrences, preservation and paleoenvironments". Cretaceous Research. 54: 154–168. Bibcode:2015CrRes..54..154G. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2014.11.010. hdl:11336/19244.
^Gandolfo, Maria A.; Cuneo, Ruben N. (February 2005). "Fossil Nelumbonaceae from the La Colonia Formation (Campanian–Maastrichtian, Upper Cretaceous), Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina". Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 133 (3–4): 169–178. Bibcode:2005RPaPa.133..169G. doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2004.09.007.
^Carolina Oriozabala; Juliana Sterli; Marcelo S. De La Fuente (2020). "New species of the long-necked chelid Yaminuechelys from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) of Chubut, Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 106: Article 104197. Bibcode:2020CrRes.10604197O. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104197. S2CID201336536.
^Karen M. Panzeri; Soledad Gouiric Cavalli; Nahuel A. Muñoz; Alberto L. Cione (2020). "Metaceratodus baibianorum, a new dipnoan species from the Upper Cretaceous of southern South America supported by traditional and geometric morphometric analyses". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (2): e1769640. Bibcode:2020JVPal..40E9640P. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1769640. S2CID222210313.
^Lawver, Daniel R.; Debee, Aj M.; Clarke, Julia A.; Rougier, Guillermo W. (January 1, 2011). "A New Enantiornithine Bird from the Upper Cretaceous La Colonia Formation of Patagonia, Argentina". Annals of Carnegie Museum. 80 (1): 35–42. doi:10.2992/007.080.0104. S2CID85015365.
^ abGurovich, Y.; Beck, R. (2009). "The phylogenetic affinities of the enigmatic mammalian clade Gondwanatheria". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 16 (1): 25–49. doi:10.1007/s10914-008-9097-3. S2CID42799370.
^Rougier, G. W.; Turazzinni, G. F.; Cardozo, M. S.; Harper, T.; Lires, A. I.; Canessa, L. A. (2021). "New Specimens of Reigitherium bunodontum from the Late Cretaceous La Colonia Formation, Patagonia, Argentina and Meridiolestidan Diversity in South America". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 28 (4): 1051–1081. doi:10.1007/s10914-021-09585-2. S2CID254704047.
A. M. Albino. 2000. New record of snakes from the Cretaceous of Patagonia (Argentina). Geodiversitas 22(2):247-253
N. R. Cúneo, E. J. Hermsen, and M. A. Gandolfo. 2013. Regnellidium (Salviniales, Marsileaceae) macrofossils and associated spores from the Late Cretaceous of South America. PloSOne 174(3):340-349
J. P. O'Gorman, L. Salgado, I. A. Cerda and Z. Gasparini. 2013. First record of gastroliths associated with elasmosaur remains from La Colonia Formation (Campanian–Maastrichtian), Chubut, Patagonia Argentina, with comments on the probable depositional palaeoenvironment of the source of the gastroliths. Cretaceous Research 40:212-217
J. O'Gorman and Z. Gasparini. 2013. Revision of Sulcusuchus erraini (Sauropterygia, Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. Alcheringa 37(2):163-176
T. Harper, A. Parras, and G. W. Rougier. 2018. Reigitherium (Meridiolestida, Mesungulatoidea) an Enigmatic Late Cretaceous Mammal from Patagonia, Argentina: Morphology, Affinities, and Dental Evolution. Journal of Mammalian Evolution
Z. Kielan-Jaworowska, E. Ortiz-Jaureguizar, C. Vieytes, R. Pascual, and F. J. Goin. 2007. First cimolodontan multituberculate mammal from South America. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52(2):257-262