Nova Olinda quarries: Late Aptian, Brazil

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
unclassified
Araripia florifera n. gen., n. sp. axis, flower Mohr and Eklund 2003
axes with attached leaves and some with flower buds
Amphibia - Temnospondyli
Pipimorpha indet. Ford and Cannatella 1993
Báez et al. 2021 2 individuals
MPSC-Am 138, MPSC-Am 892
Moura et al. 2021
GP/2E-9497
Reptilia - Testudines - Araripemydidae
Ribeiro de Oliveira and Kellner 2005 1 specimen
MN 6745-V, an incomplete left plastron, composed of the hyoplastron and the hypoplastron of the left side
Fielding et al. 2005 1 specimen
SMNK-PAL 3979; partial skeleton with associated soft tissues on a slab of laminated, cream-coloured limestone.
Reptilia
Figueiredo et al. 2011 1 specimen
MPSC-R1136 (partially articulated postcranial remains comprising cervical and dorsal vertebrae, bones of the pectoral girdle including the right forelimb, and osteoderms from the dorsal shield); preserved on a limestone plate
Reptilia - Pterosauria
Frey et al. 2003 1 specimen
SMNK PAL 3828, skull
Reptilia - Pterosauria - Ornithocheiridae
Unwin and Martill 2007 6 specimens
MN 4798-V, tooth. SMNK PAL 3854, postcranial skeleton. MPSC R-739, MPSC R-779, partial wings.
Sayao and Kellner 2000 1 specimen
MN 4797-V, partial skull
Unwin and Martill 2007
Elgin and Frey 2011
Frey and Martill 1994 1 specimen
SMNK 1132 PAL, skeleton lacking skull
Reptilia - Pterosauria - Chaoyangopteridae
Witton 2008 1 specimen
SMNK PAL 4325, incomplete skull
Reptilia - Pterosauria - Tapejaridae
Martill and Frey 1999 5 specimens
SMNK 2342 PAL, partial wing finger
Unwin and Martill 2007
MN 6527-V, SMNK PAL 2342, MPSC R-868, MPSC R-771
Unwin and Martill 2007 2 specimens
SMNK 3830 PAL, partial skeleton
Campos and Kellner 1997 3 specimens
DNPM MCT 1622-R, complete skull. SMNK PAL 2839, skull. Additional privately opened specimen is known
Frey et al. 2003 2 specimens
SMNK 2344 (holotype), 2343, skulls
Pegas et al. 2016 1 specimen
MN 7596-V - holotype (lower mandible)
Witton 2008 2 specimens
MN 4729-V, SMNK PAL 3855
Reptilia
Martill et al. 2015 1 specimen
BMMS BK 2-2 - holotype (complete skeleton)
Simões et al. 2015 1 specimen
MN 7234-V - holotype (skull, limbs, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, and body outline)
see common names

Geography
Country:Brazil State/province:Ceara
Coordinates: 7.1° South, 39.7° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:5.0° South, 2.6° East (Wright 2013)
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Altitude:56 meters
Geographic resolution:local area
Time
Period: Cretaceous Epoch: Early Cretaceous
10 m.y. bin: Cretaceous 2-3
Key time interval: Late Aptian
Age range of interval: 119.57 - 113.2 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Santana Formation:Crato Member:Nova Olinda
Stratigraphic resolution:group of beds
Stratigraphy comments: in the lower 20m of the section
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:planar lamination lime mudstone
Secondary lithology: mudstone
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: organic rich mudstones and millimeter-laminated micritic plattenkalk limestones
Environment:lacustrine - large
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body,replaced with pyrite,replaced with limonite
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Preservation of anatomical detail:good
Articulated whole bodies:some
Disassociated major elements:some
Spatial resolution:parautochthonous
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:all macrofossils,some macrofossils
Collection methods:mechanical,survey of museum collection,observed (not collected)
Reason for describing collection:general faunal/floral analysis
Museum repositories:SMNS
Metadata
Database number:77891
Authorizer:D. Smith, M. Uhen, P. Mannion, M. Carrano, R. Butler Enterer:E. Leckey, M. Carrano, R. Butler, L. Barcelos, N. Visalden, P. Mannion
Modifier:G. Varnham Research group:paleobotany,paleoentomology
Created:2008-01-22 08:53:08 Last modified:2025-02-22 15:12:02
Access level:the public Released:2008-01-22 08:53:08
Creative Commons license:CC0
Reference information

Primary reference:
26290. B. A. R. Mohr and H. Eklund. 2003. Araripia florifera, a magnoliid angiosperm from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation (Brazil). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 126:279-292 [D. Smith/E. Leckey]

Secondary references:

84866 A. M. Báez, P. Muzzopappa, and G. J. B. Moura. 2021. The earliest records of pipimorph frogs from South America (Aptian, Crato Formaton, Brazil): a critical evaluation. Cretaceous Research 121 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
32111 D. A. Campos and A. W. A. Kellner. 1997. Short note on the first occurrence of Tapejaridae in the Crato Member (Aptian), Santana Formation, Araripe Basin, northeast Brazil. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 69:83-87 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
36271 R. A. Elgin and E. Frey. 2011. A new ornithocheirid, Barbosania gracilirostris gen. et sp. nov. (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Santana Formation (Cretaceous) of NE Brazil. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 130(259) [R. Butler/R. Butler/S. Bruning]
41977 S. Fielding, D. M. Martill, and D. Naish. 2005. Solhofen-style soft-tissue preservation in a new species of turtle from the Crato Formation (Early Cretaceous, Aptian) of North-East Brazil. Palaeontology 48(6):1301-1310 [R. Benson/R. Benson]
39435 R. G. Figueiredo, J. K. R. Moreira, A. A. F. Saraiva and A. W. A. Kellner. 2011. Description of a new specimen of Susisuchus anatoceps (Crocodylomorpha: Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Crato Formation (Santana Group) with comments on Neosuchia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163:S273-S288 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
32077 E. Frey and D. M. Martill. 1994. A new pterosaur from the Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) of Brazil. Neues Jahrbuch für Paläontologie und Geologie, Abhandlungen 194:379-412 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
32115 E. Frey, D. M. Martill, and M.-C. Buchy. 2003. A new crested ornithocheirid from the Lower Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil and the unusual death of an unusual pterosaur. In E. Buffetaut, J.-M. Mazin (eds.), Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs, Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217:55-63 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
32116 E. Frey, D. M. Martill, and M.-C. Buchy. 2003. A new species of tapejarid pterosaur with soft-tissue head crest. In E. Buffetaut, J.-M. Mazin (eds.), Evolution and Palaeobiology of Pterosaurs, Geological Society of London, Special Publications 217:65-72 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
32113 D. M. Martill and E. Frey. 1999. A possible azhdarchid pterosaur from the Crato Formation (Early Cretaceous, Aptian) of northeast Brazil. Geologie en Mijnbouw 78:315-318 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
55874 D. M. Martill, H. Tischlinger, and N. R. Longrich. 2015. A four-legged snake from the Early Cretaceous of Gondwana. Science 349:416-419 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
84391 P.H.A.G. Moura, F.R. Costa, L.E. Anelli and I. Nunes. 2021. A new genus of fossil frog (Anura) from lower Cretaceous deposits in South America. Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences 93(e20191560):1-14 [P. Mannion/L. Barcelos]
63770 R. V. Pegas, M. E. C. Leal, and A. W. A. Kellner. 2016. A Basal Tapejarine (Pterosauria; Pterodactyloidea; Tapejaridae) from the Crato Formation, Early Cretaceous of Brazil. Plos One [M. Uhen/N. Visalden]
41979 G. Ribeiro de Oliveira and A. W. A. Kellner. 2005. Note on a plastron (Testudines, Pleurodira) from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Member, Santana Formation, Brazil. Arquivos do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro 63(3):523-528 [R. Benson/R. Benson]
32114 J. M. Sayao and A. W. A. Kellner. 2000. Description of a pterosaur rostrum from the Crato Member, Santana Formation (Aptian-Albian), northeastern Brazil. Boletim do Museu Nacional, Geologia 54:1-8 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
52646 T. R. Simões, M. W. Caldwell, and A. W. A. Kellner. 2015. A new Early Cretaceous lizard species from Brazil, and the phylogenetic position of the oldest known South American squamates. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 13(7):601-614 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
32118 D. M. Unwin and D. M. Martill. 2007. Pterosaurs of the Crato Formation. In D. M. Martill, G. Bechly, R. F. Loveridge (eds.), The Crato Fossil Beds of Brazil: Window into an Ancient World, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 475-524 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
32119 M. P. Witton. 2008. A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian?) of Brazil. Palaeontology 51:1289-1300 [R. Butler/R. Butler]