Quebrada Cucuruchu: Tortonian, Venezuela
List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
unclassified
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cf. Eunectes sp.
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Reptilia
- Gavialidae
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Gavialidae indet.
Adams 1854
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Reptilia
- Testudines
- Chelidae
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Chelus sp.
Duméril 1806
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One of the fragments (MTT-V-80, Fig. 3r) corresponds to a carapace fragment preserving the posterior costals 6–8, while the other fragment (MTT-V-80A, Fig. 3s) corresponds to the posterior plastral lobe (xiphiplastra), where portions (most posterior regions) of both hypoplastra are preserved too | ||||||||||
Mammalia
- Cingulata
- Pampatheriidae
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Scirrotherium sp.
Edmund and Theodor 1997
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Actinopteri
- Acanthopteri
- Sphyraenidae
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Sphyraena sp.
Artedi 1793
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Actinopteri
- Lutjanidae
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Lutjanidae indet.
Gill 1861
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Actinopteri
- Tetraodontiformes
- Balistidae
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Balistes sp.
Linnaeus 1758
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Actinopteri
- Tetraodontiformes
- Diodontidae
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Diodontidae indet.
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Actinopteri
- Siluriformes
- Pimelodidae
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Pimelodidae indet.
Eigenmann and Eigenmann 1918
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Actinopteri
- Characiformes
- Serrasalmidae
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Serrasalmidae indet.
Günther 1864
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Chondrichthyes
- Odontaspidida
- Jaekelotodontidae
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Anotodus sp.
Le Hon 1871
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Chondrichthyes
- Carcharhiniformes
- Hemigaleidae
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Hemipristis serra
Agassiz 1835
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Chondrichthyes
- Carcharhiniformes
- Sphyrnidae
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Sphyrna mokarran
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Chondrichthyes
- Carcharhiniformes
- Galeocerdidae
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Galeocerdo aduncus
(Agassiz 1835)
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Chondrichthyes
- Carcharhiniformes
- Carcharhinidae
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Negaprion sp.
Whitley 1940
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Carcharhinus leucas
(Valenciennes 1839)
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Chondrichthyes
- Lamniformes
- Otodontidae
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Carcharocles megalodon
(Agassiz 1835)
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recombined as Otodus megalodon | ||||||||||
Chondrichthyes
- Myliobatiformes
- Dasyatidae
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Dasyatidae indet.
Jordan 1888
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Chondrichthyes
- Myliobatiformes
- Myliobatidae
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Aetomylaeus sp.
Garman 1908
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see common names |
Geography
Country: | Venezuela |
Coordinates: | 11.5° North, 69.5° West (view map) |
Paleocoordinates: | 11.2° North, 67.9° West |
Basis of coordinate: | stated in text |
Geographic resolution: | small collection |
Time
Period: | Neogene | Epoch: | Miocene |
Stage: | Tortonian | 10 m.y. bin: | Cenozoic 6 |
Key time interval: | Tortonian | ||
Age range of interval: | 11.62000 - 7.24600 m.y. ago |
Stratigraphy
Formation: | Caujarao | Member: | El Muaco | ||
Stratigraphy comments: Kavanagh de Petzall (1959) divided the Caujarao Formation into three members: El Muaco (lower), Mataruca (middle) and Taratara (upper), where the latter one is underlying La Vela Formation (Miocene–Pliocene). The fossiliferous localities here studied belong to the El Muaco Member (Fig. 2), which is 690 m thick and with a lithology characterized mainly by mudstones and clays with some limestones and sandstones well developed at the basal section of the member (Kavanagh de Petzall 1959; Vallenilla 1961). |
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: | gray mudstone |
Includes fossils? | Y |
Lithology description: The fossiliferous locality in Quebrada Cucuruchu corresponds to a dark-gray mudstone layer of 50 cm with abundant molluscan, ichnofossils and vertebrates remains, which underlay a hard coquinoid layer. | |
Environment: | estuary/bay |
Geology comments: The mixture of marine and freshwater/terrestrial fauna observed in these fossiliferous layers of the Quebrada Cucuruchu and Puerto Chavez localities, which includes amber fragments (Fig. 5a–d) and carbonized vegetation, could be inferred as the result of the input of streams and rivers from the backshore to the littoral marine environment, evidence of mixed coastal marine and fluvial–estuarine environments. The presence of freshwater and continental faunal (e.g., terrestrial sloths and pampatherids) surrounding the littoral area where the Muaco Member was deposited could suggest the presence of rivers with savanna and forest areas. |
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation: | body |
Size of fossils: | macrofossils,mesofossils |
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes: | some macrofossils,some microfossils |
Collection methods: | surface (in situ),mechanical,field collection,survey of museum collection,observed (not collected) |
Collection size: | 26 specimens |
Reason for describing collection: | taxonomic analysis |
Collection method comments: The specimens were extracted from the sediment/rocks mechanically, and these are housed in the paleontological collection of the Museo Angel Segundo Lopez, Taratara, Falcon State, Venezuela, with the acronym MTT-V. |
Metadata
Database number: | 200110 | ||
Authorizer: | E. Vlachos | Enterer: | E. Vlachos |
Modifier: | M. Kouvari | ||
Created: | 2019-03-14 12:32:11 | Last modified: | 2020-11-30 13:10:14 |
Access level: | the public | Released: | 2019-03-14 12:32:11 |
Creative Commons license: | CC BY |
Reference information
Primary reference:
68161. | J. D. Carrillo-Briceño, A. E. Reyes-Cespedes, R. Salas-Gismondi and R. Sanchez. 2018. A new vertebrate continental assemblage from the Tortonian of Venezuela. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 1-12 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos/G. Varnham] |