La Venta: proximal outer ramp, Coral Faunas, Iberian Chain (Cretaceous of Spain)

Where: Spain (40.1° N, 0.2° E: paleocoordinates 28.6° N, 8.8° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Benassal Formation, Late/Upper Aptian (122.5 - 113.0 Ma)

• The succession studied belongs to the depositional sequence K.1.9 in which precise biozones were defined with orbitolines..., El Palasiet succession

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: deep subtidal ramp; lithified packstone

• Most of the corals are lamellar and sheet-like (2 to 30 cm width and 2–5 mm high). They are found in growth position and parallel to the substrate (horizontally) although corals orientated perpendicular to the substrate also occur. Coral species diversity is low. Most of the corals of this unit are

•veneered first by coralline algal crusts and then by stromatolites.

• This 4-m-thick level consists of packstones with sponge spicules, calcispheres, planktonic foraminifers and corals. Small pectinacean bivalves and fragments of echinoids are also present.

Size class: macrofossils

Primary reference: S. Tomás, H. Löser, and R. Salas. 2008. Low-light and nutrient-rich coral assemblages in an Upper Aptian carbonate platform of the southern Maestrat Basin (Iberian Chain, eastern Spain). Cretaceous Research 29:509-534 [W. Kiessling/A. Girndt/M. Nimke]more details

Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis

PaleoDB collection 82691: authorized by Wolfgang Kiessling, entered by Antje Girndt on 31.07.2008

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Anthozoa
 Scleractinia - Cyathophoridae
"Cryptocoenia aff. pygmaea" = Cryptocoenia fontserei
"Cryptocoenia aff. pygmaea" = Cryptocoenia fontserei Bataller 1947 stony coral
 Scleractinia - Dermosmiliidae
Calamophylliopsis fotisalensis
Calamophylliopsis fotisalensis Bendukidze 1961 stony coral
questionable assignment
 Scleractinia - Thamnasteriidae
Mesomorpha vaughani
Mesomorpha vaughani Wells 1932 stony coral