3 km south of Agrio del Medio (Cretaceous to of Argentina)

Where: Neuquén, Argentina (38.4° S, 69.9° W: paleocoordinates 40.1° S, 37.5° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Pichi Neuquén Member (Rayoso Formation), Aptian to Aptian (125.0 - 109.0 Ma)

• The fossiliferous layer corresponds to wacke sandstones of the Pichi Neuquén Member of the Rayoso Formation, Lower Cretaceous. The fossiliferous level with the dinosaur remains is located in the middle part of the Pichi Neuquén Member, 44.5 m from its base. Our own measurements taken at the locality itself give a total thickness of 604 m for this unit.

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•Regarding the age of the Pichi Neuquén Member, there is as yet no consensus. Musacchio and Vallati (2000) place the unit within the Aptian, whereas Leanza (2003) ascribes it to the early Albian.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: lacustrine; lithified, fine-grained, red wackestone and burrowed, bioturbated, muddy sandstone

• More recently, Zavala et al. (2006) interpreted the levels of the psammitic units as deposits from sandy hyperpycnal flows, developed in shallow lacustrine bodies of variable salinity. This psammitic succession (hyperpycnites) would have originated during the expansion of the lacustrine system, whereas during its contraction the pelites and evaporites that make up the rest of the sequence would have been deposited (Zavala and Ponce, 2011).
• The fossil-bearing level comprises deposits of pale red color, thinly laminated fine-grained wacke [poorly sorted] sandstones, with the presence of slight bioturbation in the form of Skolithos-type and Planolites-type perforations, as well as desiccation cracks at the top. Fine, slightly muddy sandstones, characterized by the presence of climbing ripples, cover this level. Both levels exhibit tabular geometry of great continuity, providing smooth, clean contacts.

Size class: macrofossils

Collected by L. Salgado et al. in 2009–2011

Collection methods: quarrying, surface (in situ), mechanical,

• MOZ-Pv, Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales ‘Prof. Dr. Juan A. Olsacher’ (Zapala, Neuquén, Argentina), Paleovetebrates Collection. Collected as part of the Program of international cooperation between the ‘Prof. Dr. Juan A. Olsacher’ Natural Sciences Museum (Zapala, Neuquén, Argentina), the National University of Comahue (Neuquén, Argentina), and the University of Zaragoza (Spain)

Primary reference: L. Salgado, J. I. Canudo, A. C. Garrido and J. L. Carballido. 2012. Evidence of gregariousness in rebbachisaurids (Dinosauria, Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea) from the Early Cretaceous of Neuquén (Rayoso Formation), Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(3):603-613 [R. Benson/R. Benson]more details

Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis

PaleoDB collection 127363: authorized by Roger Benson, entered by Roger Benson on 10.05.2012, edited by Philip Mannion and Matthew Carrano

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Reptilia
 Saurischia - Rebbachisauridae
Lavocatisaurus agrioensis n. gen. n. sp.
Lavocatisaurus agrioensis n. gen. n. sp. Canudo et al. 2018 sauropod
adult (MOZ-Pv 1232); juvenile 1 (MOZ-Pv 1233, 1236–1247, 1250); juvenile 2 (MOZ-Pv 1248–1249, 1251–1258)