El Castellar Formation

The El Castellar Formation is a geological formation in La Rioja and Teruel, Spain whose strata date back to the possibly the Valanginian to the Barremian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[1]

El Castellar Formation Stratigraphic range: Valanginian-Barremian ~135–125 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Sub-units	Lower and Upper Members
Underlies	Camarillas Formation
Overlies	Galve Formation
Thickness	85–140 m (279–459 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Claystone, sandstone
Other	Marl, conglomerate
Location
Coordinates	40.7°N 0.9°W / 40.7; -0.9
Approximate paleocoordinates	31.1°N 8.8°E / 31.1; 8.8
Region	Aragón, Teruel
Country	Spain
El Castellar Formation (Spain)

Vertebrate paleofauna

Ornithopod tracks and dinosaur eggs are known from the formation.[2]

Amphibians

Amphibians
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Eodiscoglossus	E. santonjae				Frog
Galverpeton[3]	G. ibericum				A member of Caudata.

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Aragosaurus[2]	A. ischiaticus[2]
cf. Owenodon[4]	Indeterminate
cf. Paronychodon[5]	Indeterminate[5]				Possible indeterminate troodont remains.[2]
Styracosterna[6]	Indeterminate				Previously assigned to Mantellisaurus.[2]

Mammals

Mammals
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Crusafontia	C. cuencana				Dryolestid
Iberica	I. hahni				Multituberculate
Spalacotherium	S. henkeli				Spalacotheriidae

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Correlation

Early Cretaceous stratigraphy of Iberia

Ma	Age	Paleomap \ Basins	Cantabrian	Olanyà	Cameros	Maestrazgo	Oliete	Galve	Morella	South Iberian	Pre-betic	Lusitanian
100	Cenomanian		La Cabana	Sopeira	Utrillas		Mosquerela					Caranguejeira
			Altamira		Utrillas
			Eguino
125	Albian		Ullaga - Balmaseda	Lluçà						Traiguera
			Monte Grande		Escucha		Escucha			Jijona
			Itxina - Miono
	Aptian		Valmaseda - Tellamendi		Ol Gp. - Castrillo	Benassal		Benassal				Olhos
				Font	En Gp. - Leza	Morella/Oliete	Oliete	Villaroya	Morella	Capas Rojas		Almargem
			Patrocinio - Ernaga	Senyús	En Gp. - Jubela	Forcall				Villaroya	Upper Bedoulian	Figueira
	Barremian		Vega de Pas	Cabó	Abejar	Xert	Alacón	Xert		Huérguina		Assises
				Prada		Artoles				Collado	Moutonianum	Papo Seco
				Rúbies	Tera Gp. - Golmayo	Alacón/Blesa	Blesa	Camarillas	Mirambel
150	Hauterivian				Ur Gp. - Pinilla	Llacova		Castellar	Tera Gp. - Pinilla	Villares		Porto da Calada
							hiatus
						Huerva			Gaita
	Valanginian		Villaro		Ur Gp. - Larriba				Ped Gp. - Hortigüela
					Ped Gp. - Hortigüela				Ped Gp. - Piedrahita
					Peñacoba			Galve		Miravetes
	Berriasian		Cab Gp. - Arcera		Valdeprado	hiatus		Alfambra
					TdL Gp. - Rupelo			Arzobispo	hiatus	Tollo
					On Gp. - Huérteles Sierra Matute
	Tithonian		Lastres		Tera Gp. - Magaña		Higuereles			Tera Gp. - Magaña		Lourinhã
									Arzobispo
					Ágreda
Legend		Major fossiliferous, oofossiliferous, ichnofossiliferous, coproliferous, minor formation
Sources

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

References

1. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 556-563. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
2. "15.7 Provincia de la Rioja, Spain; 3. Castellar Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 560-561.
3. R. Estes and B. Sanchíz. 1982. Early Cretaceous lower vertebrates from Galve (Teruel), Spain. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 2(1)
4. Galton, P. M., 2012, Hypsilophodon foxii and other smaller bipedal ornithischian dinosaurs from the lower Cretaceous of southern England: In: Bernissart Dinosaurs and Early Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems, edited by Godefroit, P., Indiana University Press, Part 1, New investigations into the Iguanodon sinkhole at Bernissart and other Early Cretaceous localities in the Mons Basin (Belgium), p. 225-281.
5. Listed as "?Paronychodon sp." in "15.7 Provincia de la Rioja, Spain; 3. Castellar Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 560-561.
6. Listed as "Iguanodon cf. atherfieldensis" in "15.7 Provincia de la Rioja, Spain; 3. Castellar Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 560-561.

Bibliography

• Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka Osmólska (eds.). 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21. ISBN 0-520-24209-2