Cerro La Cruz (Castillo Formation), Lara: Burdigalian, Venezuela

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Angiospermae - Arecaceae
Arecaceae indet. von Berchtold and Presl 1820
Bivalvia - Mytilida - Mytilidae
Bivalvia - Arcida - Arcidae
Bivalvia - Pectinida - Pectinidae
Bivalvia - Ostreida - Ostreidae
Bivalvia - Carditida - Carditidae
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Solecurtidae
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Semelidae
Semele cf. zuliana Hodson 1931
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Cardiidae
Trachycardium sp. Mörch 1853
Listed as Trachycardium sp. cf. 'Trachycardium' virile Dall, 1900
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Veneridae
Subspecies: Clementia (Clementia) dariena dariena
Cyclinella cyclica (Guppy 1866)
Bivalvia - Cardiida
Bivalvia - Nuculanida - Nuculanidae
Gastropoda - Neogastropoda - Melongenidae
Melongena venezuelana Gibson-Smith and Gibson-Smith 1983
Gastropoda - Turritellidae
Gastropoda - Turbinidae
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Portunidae
Actinopteri - Siluriformes - Ariidae
Aguilera et al. 2020
Reptilia - Testudines - Podocnemididae
genus indet. cf. "Podocnemis" venezuelensis
Reptilia - Gavialidae
Tomistominae indet. Eastman 1902
Sanchez-VIllagra et al. 2001 1 specimen
Brochu and Rincón 2004
MBLUZ 5054 (partial skull), MBLUZ-P-4685 (partial skull), MBLUZ-P-5051 (right femur), MBLUZ-P-5052 (proximal end of right humerus) and MBLUZ-P-5053 (partial right tibia)
Reptilia - Crocodylidae
Mammalia - Cetacea - Squalodontidae
Sanchez-Villagra et al. 2010
Mammalia - Cetacea
O'Leary 2004
not Notocetus vanbendini as listed by O'Leary
Sanchez-Villagra et al. 2010
Sanchez-VIllagra et al. 2001 1 specimen
aff. Prosqualodon australis
Mammalia - Cetacea - Iniidae
Sanchez-Villagra et al. 2010
Mammalia - Astrapotheria - Astrapotheriidae
Weston et al. 2004
MBLUZ-P-5021, 5022, 5023, 5024, 5028
Chondrichthyes - Carcharhiniformes - Hemigaleidae
Chondrichthyes - Carcharhiniformes - Carcharhinidae
see common names

Geography
Country:Venezuela State/province:Falcon
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:outcrop
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: The Castillo Formation has formely been regarded as late Oligocene in age (Wheeler, 1960), but more recent workers, including this reference regard it to be early Miocene. The Castillo Formation unconformably overlies Eocene rocks of the Misoa Formation, although neither upper or lower contacts can be viewed at the collection's section. The section comprises 87 m of clayey marls interbedded with numerous thin (<1 m) hardground units. The strata are underlain and overlain by sandstones, and the upper 15 m are gypsiferous. Most fossils were collected near the base of the exposures. The turtle skull was collected from the top, however.
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: argillaceous marl
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: Clayey marls
Environment:shallow subtidal indet.
Geology comments: A nearshore marine depositional environment. Calm water environment with fine-grained sediment. Corals may indicate mixed substrates in the region.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Articulated whole bodies:many
Disassociated major elements:some
Spatial resolution:autochthonous
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:all macrofossils
Collection methods:selective quarrying,field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Museum repositories:AMNH,USNM
Collection method comments: Collections deposited in the AMNH, MBLUZ (Museo de Biologia de la Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo), and USNM.
Taxonomic list comments:Exhaustive for most faunal grousp, including decapoda, sharks, fluvial reptiles, whales, and includes on floral taxon. Identifications made by group of co-authors.
Metadata
Database number:43063
Authorizer:A. Hendy, M. Uhen, C. Jaramillo, P. Mannion Enterer:A. Hendy, M. Uhen, P. Mannion, J. Carrillo
Modifier:P. Mannion Research group:marine invertebrate
Collections that are a subset of this one:46384
Created:2004-08-09 21:11:51 Last modified:2025-02-22 15:12:02
Access level:the public Released:2004-08-09 21:11:51
Creative Commons license:CC0
Reference information

Primary reference:
11413. M. R. Sanchez-Villagra, R. J. Burnham, D.C. Campbell, R.M. Feldmann, E.S. Gaffney, R.S. Kay, R. Lozsan, R. Purdy, and J.G.M. Thewissen. 2000. A new near-shore marine fauna and flora from the early Neogene of northwestern Venezuela. Journal of Paleontology 74(5):957-968 [A. Miller/A. Hendy/A. Hendy]

Secondary references:

73502 O. Aguilera, R. T. Lopes, F. Rodriguez, T. M. Santos, C. Rodrigues-Almeida, P. Almeida, A. S. Machado and T. Moretti. 2020. Fossil sea catfish (Siluriformes; Ariidae) otoliths and in-skull otoliths from the Neogene of the Western Central Atlantic. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 101:102619 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/P. Mannion]
46522 C. A. Brochu and A. D. Rincón. 2004. A gavialoid crocodylian from the Lower Miocene of Venezuela. Special Papers in Palaeontology 71:61-79 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
12878 M. A. O'Leary. 2004. A fragmentary odontocete cranium from the lower Miocene of Venezuela. Special Papers in Palaeontology 71:99-104 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
33268 M. R. Sanchez-Villagra, O. A. Agulera, R. Sanchez and A. A. Carlini. 2010. The fossil vertebrate record of Venezuela of the last 65 million years. In M. R. Sanchez-Villagra, O. A. Aguilera, A. A. Carlini (eds.), Urumaco and Venzuelan Paleontology: The Fossil Record of the Northern Neotropics 19-51 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
23774 M. R. Sanchez-VIllagra, Z. Gasparini, B. Lozsan, J. M. Moody, and M. D. Uhen. 2001. New discoveries of vertebrates from a near-shore marine fauna from the Early Miocene of northwestern Venezuela. Palaeontolgische Zeitschrift 75:227-232 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/P. Mannion]
54375 E. M. Weston, R. H. Madden, and M.R. Sánchez-Villagra. 2004. Early Miocene Astrapotheres (Mammalia) from northern South America. Special Papers in Palaeontology 71:81-97 [C. Jaramillo/J. Carrillo/P. Wagner]