Vălioara-Fântânele 1 (VF): Early/Lower Maastrichtian, Romania
collected 1995–

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Charales - Characeae
Characeae indet. Agardh 1824
Ostracoda
Ostracoda indet. Latreille 1802
Gastropoda
Gastropoda indet. Cuvier 1795
Reptilia
Magyarosaurus dacus (Nopcsa 1915)
1 specimen
Reptilia - Rhabdodontidae
Rhabdodon robustus (Nopcsa 1900)
1 specimen
recombined as Zalmoxes robustus
Zalmoxes shqiperorum Weishampel et al. 2003
Weishampel et al. 2003 1 individual
FGGUB R.1087-1133, 1355-1357
Reptilia
? Theropoda indet. (Marsh 1881)
Csiki and Grigorescu 1998 1 specimen
FGGUB R.1583, tooth
Choi et al. 2020
Reptilia - Dromaeosauridae
Velociraptorinae indet. Barsbold 1983
13 specimens
Reptilia
Ornithurae indet. (Haeckel 1866)
Wang et al. 2011 1 specimen
FGGUB R.1902
Theriosuchus sp. Owen 1878
Martin et al. 2014
cf. Allodaposuchus precedens Nopcsa 1928
2 specimens
Doratodon sp. Seeley 1881
1 specimen
Kallokibotion bajazidi Nopcsa 1923
Scincomorpha indet. Camp 1923
2 specimens
Reptilia - Madtsoiidae
Nidophis insularis Vasile et al. 2013
Vasile et al. 2013
LPB [FGGUB] v.529, v.797
Mammalia - Multituberculata
Multituberculata indet. Cope 1884
1 specimen
FGGUB M.1614
Mammalia - Multituberculata - Kogaionidae
? Paracimexomys sp. Archibald 1982
1 specimen
"= Barbatodon transylvanicum"
    = Hainina informal sp. B Vianey-Liaud 1979
Csiki and Grigorescu 2000
FGGUB M.1613
Hainina informal sp. A Vianey-Liaud 1979
Csiki and Grigorescu 2000 3 specimens
FGGUB M.1610, 1611, 1615
Barbatodon oardaensis Codrea et al. 2014
Solomon et al. 2022
UBB Vă-Mt-1
Mammalia - Multituberculata
cf. Ptilodontoidea indet. (Sloan and Van Valen 1965)
Csiki and Grigorescu 2000 1 specimen
FGGUB M.1612
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Albanerpetontidae
Albanerpeton sp. Estes and Hoffstetter 1976
24 specimens
Celtedens sp. McGowan and Evans 1995
1 specimen
Amphibia - Temnospondyli
Anura informal indet. 1 (Fischer von Waldheim 1813)
Venczel et al. 2016
LPB(FGGUB) v. 435
Anura informal indet. 2 (Fischer von Waldheim 1813)
Venczel et al. 2016
LPB(FGGUB) v. 864
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Pelobatidae
? Pelobatidae indet. Lataste 1879
Venczel et al. 2016
LPB(FGGUB) v. 865 and 866
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Bombinatoridae
Eodiscoglossus sp. Villalta 1957
86 specimens
    = Hatzegobatrachus grigorescui n. gen., n. sp. Venczel and Csiki 2003
Venczel and Csiki 2003
FGGUB v. 433 - type (a partial left ilium) and referred specimens: FGGUB v. 437 and 451 (partial left and right prearticulars)
Actinopteri - Lepisosteiformes - Lepisosteidae
Lepisosteus sp. Agassiz 1843
3 elements
Actinopteri
Teleostei indet. Müller 1846
see common names

Geography
Country:Romania State/province:Hunedoara
Coordinates: 45.6° North, 22.8° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:32.7° North, 21.0° East
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Geographic resolution:small collection
Time
Period:Cretaceous Epoch:Late/Upper Cretaceous
Stage:Maastrichtian 10 m.y. bin:Cretaceous 8
Key time interval:Early/Lower Maastrichtian
Age range of interval:70.60000 - 66.00000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:Densuş-Ciula Member:Middle
Stratigraphic resolution:bed
Stratigraphy comments: Close to the base of the Densuș-Ciula succession, in the basal part of the ‘middle member’, and are thus most probably of earliest to early Maastrichtian in age (Csiki-Sava et al., 2016). This age assessment is congruent with the 71.3+/-1.6 Ma K-Ar radiometric age reported by Bojar et al. (2011) from a tuff layer situated slightly to the west (Botfalvai et al. 2021)
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:gray,green silty mudstone
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: "grey-greenish, massive, compact silty mudstones, locally slightly variegated"
Environment:wet floodplain
Geology comments: "poorly drained floodplain deposits"
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Disassociated major elements:many
Disassociated minor elements:many
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:bulk,sieve,field collection
Rock censused:300 kg
Reason for describing collection:general faunal/floral analysis
Collection dates:1995–
Metadata
Also known as:Valioara-Fantanele; Valiora
Database number:67817
Authorizer:M. Carrano, P. Mannion Enterer:M. Carrano, J. Tennant, P. Mannion
Modifier:M. Carrano Research group:vertebrate
Created:2006-12-12 05:59:06 Last modified:2023-10-26 13:49:52
Access level:the public Released:2006-12-12 05:59:06
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:

19377.ETE D. Grigorescu, M. Venczel, Z. Csiki and R. Limberea. 1999. New latest Cretaceous microvertebrate fossil assemblages from the Haţeg Basin (Romania). Geologie en Mijnbouw 78:301-314 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/P. Mannion]

Secondary references:

76067 G. Botfalvai, Z. Csiki-Sava, L. Kocsis, G. Albert, J. Magyar, E. R. Bodor, D. Tabără, A. Ulyanov, and L. Makádi. 2021. ‘X’ marks the spot! Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeontological investigations of upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) vertebrate fossil localities from the Vălioara valley (Densuş-Ciula Formation, Hațeg basin, Romania). Cretaceous Research 104781 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion/M. Carrano]
81824 S. Choi, M. Moreno-Azanza, Z. Csiki-Sava, E. Prondvai, and Y.-N. Lee. 2020. Comparative crystallography suggests maniraptoran theropod affinities for latest Cretaceous European ‘geckoid’ eggshell. Papers in Palaeontology 6(2):265-292 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
46349 Z. Csiki and D. Grigorescu. 1998. Small theropods from the Late Cretaceous of the Hateg Basin (Western Romania) - an unexpected diversity at the top of the food chain. Oryctos 1:87-104 [P. Mannion/J. Tennant]
33903ETE Z. Csiki and D. Grigorescu. 2000. Teeth of multituberculate mammals from the Late Cretaceous of Romania. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 45(1):85-90 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
77788 Z. Csiki, D. Grigorescu, V. Codrea and F. Therrien. 2010. Taphonomic modes in the Maastrichtian continental deposits of the Haţeg Basin, Romania—palaeoecological and palaeobiological inferences. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 293(3-4):375-390 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
76092 Z. Csiki-Sava, M. Vremir, S. Vasile, S. L. Brusatte, G. Dyke, D. Naish, M. A. Norell and R. Totoianu. 2016. The East Side Story – The Transylvanian latest Cretaceous continental vertebrate record and its implications for understanding Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary events. Cretaceous Research 57:662-698 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
52039 J. D. Gardner and M. Böhme. 2008. Review of the Albanerpetontidae (Lissamphibia), with comments on the paleoecological preferences of European Tertiary albanerpetontids. In J. T. Sankey & S. Baszio (ed.), Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography 178-218 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
80599 E. Isasmendi, A. Torices, J. I. Canudo, P. J. Currie, and X. Pereda-Suberbiola. 2022. Upper Cretaceous European theropod palaeobiodiversity, palaeobiogeography and the intra‐Maastrichtian faunal turnover: new contributions from the Iberian fossil site of Laño. Papers in Palaeontology 8(1):e1419:1-38 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
51121 J. E. Martin, M. Rabi, Z. Csiki-Sava and S. Vasile. 2014. Cranial morphology of Theriosuchus sympiestodon (Mesoeucrocodylia, Atoposauridae) and the widespread occurrence in the Late Cretaceous of Europe. Journal of Paleontology 88(3):444-456 [P. Mannion/J. Tennant/J. Tennant]
86182 E. Prondvai. 2014. Comparative bone histology of rhabdodontid dinosaurs. Palaeovertebrata 38(2):e1:1-31 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
82420 A. A. Solomon, V. A. Codrea, M. Venczel and T. Smith. 2022. New data on Barbatodon oardaensis Codrea, Solomon, Venczel & Smith, 2014, the smallest Late Cretaceous multituberculate mammal from Europe. Comptes Rendus Palevol 21(13):253-271 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
48072 S. Vasile, Z. Csiki-Sava, and M. Venczel. 2013. A new madtsoiid snake from the Upper Cretaceous of the Haţeg Basin, Western Romania. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(5):1100-1119 [P. Mannion/J. Tennant/P. Mannion]
37358 M. Venczel and Z. Csiki. 2003. New frogs from the latest Cretaceous of Haţeg Basin, Romania. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 48(4):609-616 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
65862 M. Venczel, J. D. Gardner, V. A. Codrea, Z. Csiki-Sava, S. Vasile and A. A. Solomon. 2016. New insights into Europe’s most diverse Late Cretaceous anuran assemblage from the Maastrichtian of western Romania. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 96(1):61-95 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
35399ETE X. Wang, Z. Csiki, A. Osi and G. J. Dyke. 2011. The first definitive record of a fossil bird from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the Haţeg Basin, Romania. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31(1):227-230 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
13939ETE D. B. Weishampel, C.-M. Jianu, Z. Csiki and D. B. Norman. 2003. Osteology and phylogeny of Zalmoxes (n. g.), an unusual euornithopod dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of Romania. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 1(2):65-123 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]