Jagua Formation
The Jagua Formation is a Late Jurassic (middle to late Oxfordian) geologic formation in the Sierra de los Órganos and Sierra del Rosario mountain ranges in Pinar del Río Province, western Cuba.[1] Plesiosaur, pliosaur, pterosaur,[2] metriorhynchid, turtle and dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from its strata.
Jagua Formation Stratigraphic range: Mid-Late Oxfordian ~158–156 Ma | |
---|---|
Type | Geological formation |
Sub-units | Pan de Azúcar, Zacarías, Pimienta & Jagua Vieja Members |
Underlies | Guasasa Formation |
Overlies | San Cayetano Formation |
Thickness | 160 m (520 ft) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Shale, limestone |
Location | |
Coordinates | 22.7°N 83.6°W |
Region | Pinar del Río Province |
Country | ![]() |
Extent | Sierra de los Órganos, Sierra del Rosario |
Type section | |
Named for | Jagua |
![]() ![]() Jagua Formation (Cuba) |
Description
The formation comprises marine shales and limestones. The 60 metres (200 ft) thick Jagua Vieja Member consists of black shales and horizontally laminated marly micritic to biomicritic limestones. The latter contains calcareous concretions which the fossils are found in.[3] The formation overlies the San Cayetano Formation and is overlain by the Guasasa Formation. The bedding direction is steeply dipping towards the northwest.
Fossil content
Vertebrate paleofauna
Paleofauna of the Jagua Formation | |||||||
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Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Description | Notes | Image | |
Cacibupteryx | C. caribensis | Mogote Jagua Vieja | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A rhamphorhynchid pterosaur | [4] | ||
Caribemys | C. oxfordiensis | Viñales Valley | A pleurodiran turtle | [5] | |||
Cryptoclidus | C. vignalensis | Laguna de Piedra | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A sauropterygian | [6] | ||
Gallardosaurus | G. iturraldei | Sierra de Caiguanabo ~8 km (5.0 mi) east of Viñales | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A pliosaurid | [7] | ![]() | |
Nesodactylus | N. hesperius | Hoyo del Palmar 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Viñales | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A rhamphorhynchid pterosaur | [4] | ||
Notoemys | N. oxfordensis | Valle de Viñales | A pleurodiran turtle | ||||
Sphaerodontes | S. caroli | Laguna de Piedra | Jagua Vieja Mb. | An ichthyosaur | [6] | ||
Vinialesaurus | V. caroli | Viñales | A cryptoclidid plesiosaur | [8] | ![]() | ||
Geosaurus | Puerta de Ancón Sierra de Guasasa | Jagua Vieja Mb. | A Metriorhynchid | [9] | ![]() | ||
Ophthalmosauridae | Ophthalmosauridae indet. | [10] | |||||
Somphospondyli | Somphospondyli indet. | Material consists of a first or second metacarpal, now lost.[11] | ![]() | ||||
Other fossils
- Favreina
- Globochaete
- Gryphaea mexicana - Pan de Azúcar Mb.[12]
- Lepidotes gloriae[13]
- Liostrea mairei[14]
- L. sandalina - Zacarías Mb.[15]
- Nanogyra (Nanogyra) nana - Zacarías Mb.[15]
- Ostrea broughtoni - Zacarías Mb.[15]
- Plicatula cf. weymouthiana - Zacarías Mb.[15]
- Voltzia palmeri[16]
- Perisphinctes sp.[17]
References
- Jagua Formation at Fossilworks.org
- Barrett et al., 2008
- Iturralde Vinent & Norell, 1996
- Gasparini et al., 2004
- De la Fuente & Iturralde Vinent, 2001
- Laguna de Piedra at Fossilworks.org
- Gasparini, 2009
- Gasparini et al., 2002
- Gasparini & Iturralde Vinent, 2001, p.538
- Gasparini & Iturralde Vinent, 2001, p.542
- Apesteguía, S.; Ceballos Izquierdo, Y.; Iturralde-VINENT, M. (2019-09-02). "New taxonomic assignment for a dinosaur sauropod bone from Cuba". Historical Biology: 1–6. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1661406. ISSN 0891-2963.
- Sierra Ancón at Fossilworks.org
- Hoyo de San Antonio at Fossilworks.org
- Hoyo de la Sierra at Fossilworks.org
- Mogote La Mina at Fossilworks.org
- Jagua Vieja at Fossilworks.org
- Viñales at Fossilworks.org
Bibliography
- Barrett, P.M.; R.J. Butler; N.P. Edwards, and A.R. Milner. 2008. Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas - pp. 61–107, 1–264. Flugsaurier: Pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer - Hone, D.W.E., and Buffetaut, É. (eds). Zitteliana B, 28.. Accessed 2019-02-07.
- De la Fuente, M.S., and M. Iturralde Vinent. 2001. A new pleurodiran turtle from the Jagua Formation (Oxfordian) of western Cuba. Journal Information 75. 860–869. Accessed 2019-02-07.
- Gasparini, Zulma. 2009. A New Oxfordian Pliosaurid (Plesiosauria, Pliosauridae) in the Caribbean Seaway. Palaeontology 52. 661–669. Accessed 2019-02-07.
- Gasparini, Z.; M. Fernández, and M. De La Fuente. 2004. A new pterosaur from the Jurassic of Cuba. Palaeontology 47. 919–927. Accessed 2019-02-07.
- Gasparini, Z.; N. Bardet, and M. Iturralde Vinent. 2002. A new cryptoclidid plesiosaur from the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) of Cuba. Geobios 35. 201–211. Accessed 2019-02-07.
- Gasparini, Z., and M. Iturralde Vinent. 2001. Metriorhynchid crocodiles (Crocodyliformes) from the Oxfordian of Western Cuba. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 9. 534–542. Accessed 2019-02-07.
- Iturralde Vinent, Manuel, and Mark A. Norell. 1996. Synopsis of Late Jurassic Marine Reptiles from Cuba. American Museum Novitates . 1–17. Accessed 2019-02-07.
Further reading
- Bermúdez, Pedro J. 1961. Las formaciones geológicas de Cuba. Geología Cubana 1. 1–180. Accessed 2019-02-06.
- Colbert, Edwin H. 1969. A Jurassic pterosaur from Cuba. American Museum Novitates 2370. 1–26. Accessed 2019-02-07.
- Fernández, M., and M. Iturralde Vinent. 2000. An Oxfordian Ichthyosauria (Reptilia) from Vinales, western Cuba: paleobiogeographic significance. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20. 191–193. Accessed 2019-02-07.
- Pugaczewska, H. 1978. Jurassic pelecypods from Cuba. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 23. 163–186.
- Schevill, W.E. 1950. An Upper Jurassic sepioid from Cuba. Journal of Paleontology 24. 99–101.
- Thies, D. 1989. Lepidotes gloriae, sp. nov. (Actinopterygii: Semionotiformes) from the Late Jurassic of Cuba. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 9. 18–40. Accessed 2019-02-07.