Quebrada Cucuruchu: Tortonian, Venezuela

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
unclassified
cf. Eunectes sp.
Reptilia - Gavialidae
Gavialidae indet. Adams 1854
Reptilia - Testudines - Chelidae
Chelus sp. Duméril 1806
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
Scirrotherium sp. Edmund and Theodor 1997
Actinopteri - Acanthopteri - Sphyraenidae
Sphyraena sp. Artedi 1793
Actinopteri - Lutjanidae
Lutjanidae indet. Gill 1861
Actinopteri - Tetraodontiformes - Balistidae
Balistes sp. Linnaeus 1758
Actinopteri - Tetraodontiformes - Diodontidae
Diodontidae indet.
Actinopteri - Siluriformes - Pimelodidae
Pimelodidae indet. Eigenmann and Eigenmann 1918
Actinopteri - Characiformes - Serrasalmidae
Serrasalmidae indet. Günther 1864
Chondrichthyes - Odontaspidida - Jaekelotodontidae
Anotodus sp. Le Hon 1871
Chondrichthyes - Carcharhiniformes - Hemigaleidae
Hemipristis serra Agassiz 1835
Chondrichthyes - Carcharhiniformes - Sphyrnidae
Sphyrna mokarran
Chondrichthyes - Carcharhiniformes - Galeocerdidae
Galeocerdo aduncus (Agassiz 1835)
Chondrichthyes - Carcharhiniformes - Carcharhinidae
Negaprion sp. Whitley 1940
Carcharhinus leucas (Valenciennes 1839)
Chondrichthyes - Lamniformes - Otodontidae
Carcharocles megalodon (Agassiz 1835)
recombined as Otodus megalodon
Chondrichthyes - Myliobatiformes - Dasyatidae
Dasyatidae indet. Jordan 1888
Chondrichthyes - Myliobatiformes - Myliobatidae
Aetomylaeus sp. Garman 1908
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]