Maria Farinha Formation

The Maria Farinha Formation is a geological formation of the Parnaíba Basin in Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil whose strata date back to the Danian stage of the Paleocene, or Tiupampan in the SALMA classification.

Maria Farinha Formation Stratigraphic range: Danian (Tiupampan) ~66–61 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Underlies	Tambaba Formation
Overlies	Gramame Formation
Thickness	14 m (46 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Limestone
Other	Dolostone, marly & sandy limestone
Location
Coordinates	7.9°S 34.9°W / -7.9; -34.9
Approximate paleocoordinates	11.8°S 20.9°W / -11.8; -20.9
Region	Pernambuco State
Country	Brazil
Extent	Parnaíba Basin
Maria Farinha Formation (Brazil)

The formation comprising limestones, dolostones, marly and sandy limestones has been deposited in a shallow marine platform environment.

The formation has provided fossils of reptiles and fish.

Description

The Maria Farinha Formation crops out in the Parnaíba Basin in the northeastern state of Pernambuco of Brazil. The formation registers the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary at the base of the formation, where it overlies the Maastrichtian Gramame Formation. The 14 metres (46 ft) thick formation is overlain by the Eocene Tambaba Formation which is overlain by the Plio-Pleistocene Barreiras Formation.[1]

Fossil content

The following fossils were reported from the formation:[2]

• Reptiles
  • Turtles
    • Inaechelys pernambucensis[3][4]
  • Tethysuchians
    • Guarinisuchus munizi[3][5]
    • Hyposaurus derbianus[6]
    • Dyrosauridae indet.[6]
• Fish
  • Chondrichthyes
    • Apocopodon sericeus[7]
    • Myliobatis dixoni[8]

See also

• South American land mammal ages
• Guabirotuba Formation, Late Eocene formation of the Curitiba Basin
• Itaboraí Formation, Early Eocene formation of the Itaboraí Basin
• Lefipán Formation, Danian formation of Argentina
• Santa Lucía Formation, Tiupampan type formation of Bolivia

References

1. Ribeiro de Santana et al., 2011, p.5
2. Maria Farinha Formation at Fossilworks.org
3. Barbosa et al., 2008
4. De Aráujo et al., 2016, p.495
5. Sena et al., 2017
6. Cope, 1885
7. Ribeiro de Santana et al., 2011, p.1
8. Silva et al., 2002

Bibliography

• Sena, M. V. A.; R. C. L. P. Andrade; R. A. M. Bantim; J. M. Sayão; J. A. Barbosa, and G. R. Oliveira. 2017. New dyrosaurid remains (Crocodyliformes, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Paleocene of the Paraíba Basin, NE Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 20. 345-354.
• De Araújo Carvalho, Anny Rafaela; Aline Marcele Ghilardi, and Alcina Magnólia Franca Barreto. 2016. A new side-neck turtle (Pelomedusoides: Bothremydidae) from the Early Paleocene (Danian) Maria Farinha Formation, Paraíba Basin, Brazil. Zootaxa 4126. 491–513. Accessed 2017-08-15.
• Ribeiro de Santana, Felipe; David J. Cicimurri, and José Antonio Barbosa. 2011. New material of Apocopodon sericeus cope, 1886 (myliobatiformes, myliobatidae) from the Paraíba Basin (Northeastern Brazil), and South Carolina (USA) with a reanalysis of the species. PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 8. 1-20. Accessed 2020-06-14.
• Barbosa, J. A.; A. W. A. Kellner, and M. S. S. Viana. 2008. New dyrosaurid crocodylomorph and evidences for faunal turnover at the K–P transition in Brazil. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 275. 1385-1391. Accessed 2020-06-14.
• Silva, E. M.; V. Gallo; A. P. Quintans, and S. A. K. Azevedo. 2002. New occurrence of Myliobatiformes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) in the Maria Farinha Formation, Paleocene of the Pernambuco-Paraiba Basin, Northeastern Brazil. Boletim do Museu Nacional 65. 1-11.
• Cope, E.D. 1885. A contribution to the vertebrate paleontology of Brazil. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 23. 1-21.