Cerro La Cruz, Castillo Formation, Unit C: Burdigalian, Venezuela

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Actinopteri - Scombriformes - Scombridae
MBLUZ-P-5049
Actinopteri - Istiophoriformes - Sphyraenidae
Sphyraena sp. Artedi 1793
MBLUZ-P-5063 to MBLUZ-P-5065
Reptilia - Testudines - Podocnemididae
MBLUZ-P-5045
Reptilia - Testudines
Trionychoidea indet. Fitzinger 1826
MBLUZ-P-5046
Mammalia - Orophodontidae
Rincón et al. 2014
IVIC-P-1828
Mammalia
Tardigrada indet. Latham and Davies 1795
MBLUZ-P-5043 and MBLUZ-P-5044
Mammalia - Cingulata - Pampatheriidae
Rincón et al. 2014
IVIC-P-1827
Mammalia - Panameriungulata
Litopterna indet. Ameghino 1889
Rincón et al. 2014
IVIC-P-1829
Chondrichthyes - Myliobatiformes - Rhinopteridae
Rhinoptera sp. Cuvier 1829
MBLUZ-P-5059 to MBLUZ-P-5062
Chondrichthyes - Carcharhiniformes - Carcharhinidae
MBLUZ-P-5047
Chondrichthyes - Squalidae
Squalidae indet. Bonaparte 1834
MBLUZ-P-5048
see common names

Geography
Country:Venezuela State/province:Lara
Coordinates: 10.4° North, 70.1° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:11.0° North, 64.5° West (Wright 2013)
Basis of coordinate:stated in text
Geographic resolution:local area
Time
Period: Neogene Epoch: Miocene
Stage: Burdigalian 10 m.y. bin: Cenozoic 5
Key time interval: Burdigalian
Age range of interval: 20.45 - 15.98 m.y. ago
Age estimate: 19.27 to 17.21 Ma (Sr isotope)
Stratigraphy
Formation:Castillo
Stratigraphic resolution:group of beds
Stratigraphy comments: Unit C (Rincon et al. 2014)

Rincon et al., 2014: Four isotopic dates using Strontium (87 Sr/86 Sr), from the Cerro La Cruz locality were obtained, which bracket of the sediments to between 17.21 to 19.27 Ma, confirming an Early Miocene age for this locality.
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: not reported
Includes fossils?Y
Environment:fluvial indet.
Geology comments: Earlier fossil discoveries from Cerro La Cruz indicated a near-shore marine environment; the latest discoveries indicate in addition fluvial and terrestrial (perhaps coastal) deposits. Elements of the fauna are consistent with the hypothesis that a tributary and/or delta of the Orinoco existed in this area of north-weastern Venezuela during early Miocene times.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:all macrofossils
Collection methods:field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Collection method comments: Specimens deposited in the Paleontology Section of the Museo de Biología de la Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo (MBLUZ-P)
Metadata
Database number:145379
Authorizer:C. Jaramillo Enterer:C. Suarez-Gomez, J. Carrillo
Modifier:M. Kouvari Research group:vertebrate
Created:2013-06-02 11:21:05 Last modified:2025-02-22 15:12:02
Access level:group members Released:2015-06-02 11:21:05
Creative Commons license:CC0
Reference information

Primary reference:
47006. M. R. Sánchez-Villagra, R. J. Asher, A. D. Rincón, A. A. Carlini, P. Meylan and R. W. Purdy. 2004. New faunal reports for the Cerro La Cruz locality (lower Miocene), north-western Venezuela. Special Papers in Palaeontology 71:105-112 [C. Jaramillo/C. Suarez-Gomez]

Secondary references:

54377 A. D. Rincón, A. Solórzano, M. Benammi, P. Vignaud, and H. G. McDonald. 2014. Chronology and geology of an Early Miocene mammalian assemblage in North of South America, from Cerro La Cruz (Castillo Formation), Lara State, Venezuela: implications in the "changing course of Orinoco River" hypothesis. Andean Geology 41(3):507-528 [C. Jaramillo/J. Carrillo]