Mirador sandstone - Belen (Oligocene of Peru)

Where: Piura, Peru (5.0° S, 80.2° W: paleocoordinates 7.5° S, 73.8° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Mancora Formation, Early/Lower Oligocene (33.9 - 28.4 Ma)

• basal Oligocene according to Higley 2004

•very similar to Mirador Conglomerates

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; coarse-grained conglomerate and brown, conglomeratic sandstone

• coarse conglomerates and sandstones

•plants typical of "humid, lowland tropics... not represnted at the present time at all"

•plants described by Berry (1924, 1927, 1929)

•no marine fossils found with them, but mollusks similar to Belen are found nearby

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: replaced with other

Primary reference: A. A. Olsson. 1931. Contributions to the Tertiary Paleontology of Northern Peru: Part 4, The Peruvian Oligocene. Bulletins of American Paleontology 17(63) [L. Ivany/L. Ivany]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 64545: authorized by Linda Ivany, entered by Linda Ivany on 10.09.2006

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• abundant fish remains, large whale vertebrae, fossil wood are also present
Show authors, comments, and common names
unclassified
  -
Sapinoides peruvianus
Carpolithes
  -
Carpolithes belensis, Carpolithes inusitatus, Carpolithes dicellaformis, Carpolithes cicciformis, Carpolithes olssoni, Carpolithes rutoides, Carpolithes peruvianus
Angiospermae
 Mesangiosperms - Arecaceae
Palmocarpon belensis, Palmocarpon bravoi, Palmocarpon cocoides
Palmocarpon belensis Berry 1929 palm
Palmocarpon bravoi Berry 1927 palm
Palmocarpon cocoides Berry 1929 palm
 Gentianales - Rubiaceae
Psychotria eogenica
Psychotria eogenica Berry 1929 coffee
 Boraginales - Boraginaceae
Lithospermites glabrum
Lithospermites glabrum Berry 1929 borage
 Dilleniales - Dilleniaceae
Tetracera belensis
Tetracera belensis Berry 1929
 Magnoliales - Myristicaceae
Virola tertiaria
Virola tertiaria Berry 1929 magnoliids
 Magnoliales - Annonaceae
Anona peruviana
Anona peruviana Berry 1927 custard apple
 Rosids - Moraceae
Ficus sphericus
Ficus sphericus Berry 1929 fig
 Sapindales - Rutaceae
Fagara piurana
Fagara piurana Berry 1929 citrus
 Sapindales - Anacardiaceae
Anacardium pervianus
 Malvales - Malvaceae
Malvacarpus octolocolus
 Cucurbitales - Cucurbitaceae
Cucurbites comprressus
 Malpighiales - Humiriaceae
Vantanea compressiformis
 Fabales - Fabaceae
Leguminosites mucunoides, Leguminosites belensis
Leguminosites belensis Berry 1929 legume
 Vitales - Vitaceae
Cissus willardi
Cissus willardi Berry 1929
Magnoliopsida
  -
Cupanoides peruvianus
Uragoga
  -
Uragoga tertiaria
Uragoga tertiaria Berry 1929
Jatropha
  -
Jatropha tertiaria
Jatropha tertiaria Berry 1929
Matayba
  -
Matayba belensis
Ampelocissus
  -
Ampelocissus bravoi
Saccoglottis
  -
Saccoglottis cipaconensis