El Espinal Quarry (Cretaceous of Mexico)

Where: Chiapas, Mexico (16.7° N, 93.5° W: paleocoordinates 14.4° N, 51.1° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Sierra Madre Formation, Aptian (125.0 - 113.0 Ma)

• "lowermost lithofacies" of formation

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: paralic; claystone and dolomitic limestone

• "an environment with high oxygen concentration and high primary productivity... a mixture of marine elements... with continental forms..."; sedimentary structures suggest "sporadic influence of strong waves and/or currents..." so sediments "were deposited in a brackish marginal marine environment... shallow lagoon or estuary"
• "fossils found on finely laminated clay layers interbedded with dolomitic limestone... thin orange clay, interbedded with relatively thick layers of cream limestone that range from 5 to 10 cm... some layers show ripples, dessication marks, algal mats, and flat-pebble conglomerates"

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Preservation: adpression

Collection methods: quarrying,

• material from "a series of shallow excavations exploited by locals"

Primary reference: F. J. Vega, P. García-Barrera, M. Carmen Perrilliat, M. A. Coutiño, and R. Mariño-Pérez. 2006. El Espinal, a new plattenkalk facies locality from the Lower Cretaceous Sierra Madre Formation, Chiapas, southeastern Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas 23(3):323-333 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 68835: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 09.02.2007, edited by Matthew Carrano and Patricia Holroyd

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• at least two fish species described previously in an abstract and a thesis are present
Show authors, comments, and common names
unclassified
  -
Cerithidae indet., Classopolis sp., Retinomocolpites sp., Normapolles sp., Ulmacaceae indet., Lilidae indet., Fungi indet.
Cerithidae indet.
"cerithids"
Fungi indet. Jahn and Jahn 1959
"fungospores"
Insecta
 Odonata -
Zygoptera indet.
Zygoptera indet. Selys-Longchamps 1854 damselfly
 Hemiptera - Belostomatidae
? Belostomatidae indet.
? Belostomatidae indet. Leach 1815 giant water bug
Malacostraca
 Decapoda -
Roemerus robustus
Roemerus robustus Bishop 1983 crab
 Decapoda - Palinuridae
Palinurus palaciosi n. sp.
Palinurus palaciosi n. sp. Vega et al. 2006 spiny lobster
 Eumalacostraca -
Tanaidacea indet.
Tanaidacea indet. Dana 1849
"tanaidaceans"
 Isopoda - Sphaeromatidae
Sphaeromatidae indet.
Sphaeromatidae indet. Latreille 1825 isopod
 Isopoda - Cirolanidae
Cirolanidae indet.
Cirolanidae indet. Dana 1852 pill bug
Deuteropoda
  -
Ostracoda indet.
Ostracoda indet. Latreille 1802 ostracod
Gastropoda
 Sorbeoconcha - Aporrhaidae
? Perissoptera sp.
? Perissoptera sp. Tate 1865 snail
Bivalvia
  -
Bivalvia indet.
Bivalvia indet. Linnaeus 1758 clam
"bivalves"
Actinopteri
 Semionotiformes - Macrosemiidae
Macrosemiocotzus sp.2
Macrosemiocotzus sp.2 González-Rodríguez et al. 2004
 Teleostei -
Teleostei indet.1, Gonorhynchiformes indet.1, Ellimmichthyiformes indet.1
 Ellimmichthyiformes - Paraclupeidae
Paraclupeidae "genus and species unnamed"2, "Triplomystus applegatei n. sp." = Scutatoclupea applegatei1
Paraclupeidae "genus and species unnamed"2 Chang and Chou 1977
"Paraclupea-like"
"Triplomystus applegatei n. sp." = Scutatoclupea applegatei1 Alvarado-Ortega and Ovalles-Damián 2008
INAH 1941
 Teleostei -
Alepisauriformes indet.1
Alepisauriformes indet.1 Regan 1911
"Saurorhamphus-like"
 Aulopiformes - Eurypholidae
Saurorhamphus sp.2
Saurorhamphus sp.2 Heckel 1850
 Aulopiformes - Enchodontidae
Enchodontidae indet.1
Enchodontidae indet.1 Woodward 1901
 Teleostei -
Ichthyodectiformes indet.1
Ichthyodectiformes indet.1 Bardack and Sprinkle 1969
 Pycnodontiformes - Pycnodontidae
Pycnodontidae indet.2
Pycnodontidae indet.2 Agassiz 1833
Echinoidea
  -
Echinoidea indet.
Echinoidea indet. Leske 1778 sea urchin
"echinoid plates"
Angiospermae
 Malvales - Bombacaceae
Bombacaceae indet.
 Rosids - Moraceae
Moraceae indet.
Moraceae indet. Link 1835 mulberry
 Laurales - Lauraceae
Lauraceae indet.
Lauraceae indet. Jussieu 1789 laurel
 Mesangiosperms - Arecaceae
Arecipites sp.
Arecipites sp. Nichols et al. 1973 palm
Lycopodiopsida
 Selaginellales - Selaginellaceae
Selaginella sp.
Selaginella sp. Beauvois 1804 spikemoss
Sphagnum
  - Sphagnaceae
Sphagnum sp.
Sphagnum sp. Linnaeus 1753 peat moss
Polypodiopsida
  - Osmundaceae
Osmundaceae indet., Osmunda sp.
Osmundaceae indet. Berchtold and Presl
Osmunda sp. Linnaeus 1753
Ginkgoopsida
 Ephedrales - Ephedraceae
Ephedra sp.
Ephedra sp. Linnaeus 1753 jointfir
 Life -
Acritarcha indet.
Acritarcha indet. Evitt 1963 acritarchs
"acritarcs" [sic]
 Dinoflagellata -
Dinoflagellata indet.
Dinoflagellata indet.
"dinoflagellates"
Pseudoplicapollis
  -
Pseudoplicapollis sp.
Pseudoplicapollis sp. Krutzsch 1967
1Alvarado-Ortega and Ovalles-Damián 2008; 2Alvarado-Ortega et al. 2009