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Aguja Formation

Coordinates: 29°18′N 103°30′W / 29.3°N 103.5°W / 29.3; -103.5
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Aguja Formation
Stratigraphic range: Lower to Middle Campanian
~81.5–76.9 Ma
↓
Outcrops of the Aguja Formation, Big Bend National Park, Texas
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofTornillo Group
Sub-unitsUpper Shale, Terlingua Creek Sandstone, Rattlesnake Mt. Sandstone, Lower Shale & Basal Sandstone Members
UnderliesJavelina Formation
OverliesPen Formation
Lithology
PrimarySandstone, conglomerate, claystone
OtherMudstone, shale, limestone
Location
Coordinates29°18′N 103°30′W / 29.3°N 103.5°W / 29.3; -103.5
Approximate paleocoordinates35°48′N 77°00′W / 35.8°N 77.0°W / 35.8; -77.0
Region Texas
 Chihuahua
 Coahuila
Country USA
 Mexico
Aguja Formation is located in the United States
Aguja Formation
Aguja Formation (the United States)
Aguja Formation is located in Texas
Aguja Formation
Aguja Formation (Texas)
Paleogeography of the Campanian

The Aguja Formation is a geological formation in North America, exposed in Texas, United States and Chihuahua and Coahuila in Mexico, whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[1] Fossil palms have also been unearthed here.[2]

Age

The ages of the Aguja Formation and its primary fossil-bearing unit, the Upper Shale, are not well understood. Due to the presence of the ammonite Baculites mclearni, which only occurs from 80.67 - 80.21 Ma, in the underlying Rattlesnake Mountain Sandstone and the Terlingua Creek Sandstone, it is likely that the Upper Shale was younger than 80.2 Ma.[3] A radiometric date of 76.9 Ma was recovered in the Upper Shale, making it likely the formation wasn't younger than 76.9 Ma.[3] The contact with the overlying Javelina Formation has been estimated at about 70 Ma ago[4] but also as recently as 68.5 million years ago.[5] This is unlikely, however, due to the presence of Bravoceratops, more primitive than an unnamed chasmosaurine from the De-na-zin Member of the Kirtland Formation, in the lowermost section of the formation.[6] The age of the Basal Sandstone is constrained by the presence of Scaphites hippocrepis III in the overlying Pen Formation which has been dated as old as 81.53 Ma.[3][7]

Vertebrate paleofauna

A duckbilled dinosaur (Hadrosauridae) caudal vertebra from the Aguja Formation

Pseudosuchians

Crurotarsans of the Aguja Formation
Genus Species Location Member Material Notes Images
Deinosuchus[8] D. riograndensis[8] Texas,[8] Chihuahua, and Coahuila[9] osteoderm and mandible fragment
Phobosuchus[8] P. riograndensis[8] Texas,[8] Chihuahua, and Coahuila Reclassified as a Deinosuchus species

Ornithischians

Ornithischians of the Aguja Formation
Genus Species Location Member Material Notes Images
Agujaceratops[10] A. mariscalensis[10] Texas[10] Low Upper Shale[11] The type species, A. mariscalensis, was formerly considered a species of Chasmosaurus[10]
A. mavericus[12] Texas
Angulomastacator[13] A. daviesi[13] Texas[13]
Chasmosaurus[14] C. mariscalensis[15] Texas[15] [Twelve] disarticulated skull (sic), postcrania, juvenile."[16] Considered by paleontologists Lucas, Sullivan, and Hunt to be distinct enough from the Chasmosaurus type species, C. belli to warrant being split off to a new genus, Agujaceratops.[10]
Edmontonia[15] E. sp[17][18] Texas[15][18]
cf. Euoplocephalus[15] E. sp[15][18] Texas[15][18]
Panoplosaurus[18] P. mirus[18] Texas[18]
Aquilarhinus[19] A. palimentus Texas[15] Formerly referred to Kritosaurus and Gryposaurus.[20]
Kritosaurus[14] Indeterminate[14] Chihuahua[21]
Texacephale[22] T. langstoni[22] Texas[22] Low Upper Shale[11]
Yehuecauhceratops[23] Y. mudei[24] Coahuila[25]

Theropods

Indeterminate ornithomimid remains are known from the Upper Aguja Formation.[26] Indeterminate tyrannosaurid fossils are known from the Upper Aguja Formation of Texas and Mexico.[27]

Theropods of the Aguja Formation
Genus Species Location Member Material Notes Images
cf. Tyrannosauridae[27] Indeterminate[27] Texas[27]
cf. Dromaeosaurus[28] Indeterminate[28] Texas[15]
Leptorhynchos L. gaddisi Texas[29] A caenagnathid
Ricardoestesia[30] R. cf. gilmorei[31] Texas[30]
R. isosceles[30] Texas[30]
Saurornitholestes[15] S. cf. langstoni[32] Texas[15]
cf. Troodon[33] Indeterminate[33] Texas[15]

Turtles

Testudines of the Aguja Formation
Genus Species Location Member Material Notes
Terlinguachelys[8] T. fischbecki[8] Texas Rattlesnake Mountain Sandstone[8]

Invertebrates

Ammonites

Ammonites of the Aguja Formation
Genus Species Location Member Abundance Notes Images
Baculites B. mclearni
  • Rattlesnake Mountain Sandstone
  • Terlingua Creek Sandstone
Hoplitoplacenticeras H. plasticum Rattlesnake Mountain Sandstone
Pachydiscus P. paulsoni Rattlesnake Mountain Sandstone
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.

See also

References

  1. ^ Weishampel et al., 2004, "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America).", pp.574-588
  2. ^ Manchester, Steven R.; Lehman, Thomas M.; Wheeler, Elisabeth A. (2010-07). "Fossil Palms (Arecaceae, Coryphoideae) Associated with Juvenile Herbivorous Dinosaurs in the Upper Cretaceous Aguja Formation, Big Bend National Park, Texas". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 171 (6): 679–689. doi:10.1086/653688. ISSN 1058-5893. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b c Fowler, Denver Warwick (2017-11-22). "Revised geochronology, correlation, and dinosaur stratigraphic ranges of the Santonian-Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) formations of the Western Interior of North America". PLOS ONE. 12 (11): e0188426. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1288426F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188426. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5699823. PMID 29166406.
  4. ^ Woodward, H. N. (2005). Bone histology of the sauropod dinosaur Alamosaurus sanjuanensis from the Javelina Formation, Big Bend National Park, Texas.
  5. ^ Sankey, J. (2010). Faunal composition and significance of high–diversity, mixed bonebeds containing Agujaceratops mariscalensis and other dinosaurs, Aguja Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Big Bend, Texas. In New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium (pp. 520-537).
  6. ^ Fowler, Denver W.; Fowler, Elizabeth A. Freedman (2020-06-05). "Transitional evolutionary forms in chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaurs: evidence from the Campanian of New Mexico". PeerJ. 8: e9251. doi:10.7717/peerj.9251. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 7278894. PMID 32547873.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  7. ^ Prieto-Márquez, Albert; Wagner, Jonathan R.; Lehman, Thomas (2020-03-18). "An unusual 'shovel-billed' dinosaur with trophic specializations from the early Campanian of Trans-Pecos Texas, and the ancestral hadrosaurian crest" (PDF). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (6): 461–498. doi:10.1080/14772019.2019.1625078. ISSN 1477-2019. S2CID 202018197.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Aguja Formation (Upper Shale Member), Big Bend Region, Texas," in Sullivan and Lucas (2006). Page 16.
  9. ^ "The first mandible fragment of Deinosuchus (Eusuchia: Alligatoroidea) discovered in Coahuila, Mexico". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Abstract," Lucas, Sullivan, and Hunt (2006)
  11. ^ a b Longrich, N. R.; Sankey, J.; Tanke, D. (2010). "Texacephale langstoni, a new genus of pachycephalosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the upper Campanian Aguja Formation, southern Texas, USA". Cretaceous Research. 31 (2): 274. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2009.12.002.
  12. ^ Lehman, T.M.; Wick, S.L.; Barnes, K.R. (2016). "New specimens of horned dinosaurs from the Aguja Formation of West Texas, and a revision of Agujaceratops". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Online edition. doi:10.1080/14772019.2016.1210683.
  13. ^ a b c Wagner and Lehman (2009).
  14. ^ a b c "Dinosaur distribution (Texas and Chihuahua)." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 582 and 588.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous; North America; Texas)." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 582.
  16. ^ "Table 23.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 496.
  17. ^ Listed as Edmontonia cf. rugosidens in "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous; North America; Texas).", Weishampel et al., 2004, p.582
  18. ^ a b c d e f g West, Bryanna (2020). Campanian-Maastrictian Ankylosaurs of West Texas (PDF) (Thesis). Texas Tech University.
  19. ^ Listed as ?Gryposaurus sp. in "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous; North America; Texas)." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 582.
  20. ^ Prieto-Márquez, A. (2013). "Skeletal morphology of Kritosaurus navajovius (Dinosauria:Hadrosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of the North American south-west, with an evaluation of the phylogenetic systematics and biogeography of Kritosaurini." Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, (advance online publication) doi:10.1080/14772019.2013.770417
  21. ^ "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous; North America; Chihuahua)." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 588.
  22. ^ a b c "Abstract," Longrich, Sankey, and Tanke (2010).
  23. ^ Rivera-Sylva, H.E.; Hendrick, B.P.; Dodson, P. (2016). "A Centrosaurine (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) from the Aguja Formation (Late Campanian) of Northern Coahuila, Mexico". PLOS ONE. 11 (4): e0150529. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1150529R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150529. PMC 4830452. PMID 27073969.
  24. ^ Rivera-Sylva, H.E.; Hendrick, B.P.; Dodson, P. (2016). "A Centrosaurine (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) from the Aguja Formation (Late Campanian) of Northern Coahuila, Mexico". PLOS ONE. 11 (4): e0150529. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1150529R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150529. PMC 4830452. PMID 27073969.
  25. ^ Rivera-Sylva, H.E.; Frey, E.; Stinnesbeck, W.; Guzman-Gutirrez, J.R.; Gonzalez-Gonzalez (2017). "Mexican ceratopsids: Considerations on their diversity and evolution". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2017.01.008.
  26. ^ Sullivan, R.M., and Lucas, S.G. 2006. "The Kirtlandian land-vertebrate "age" – faunal composition, temporal position and biostratigraphic correlation in the nonmarine Upper Cretaceous of western North America[permanent dead link‍]." New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 35:7-29.
  27. ^ a b c d Mortimer, M (2004). "Tyrannosauroidea". The Theropod Database. Archived from the original on 2013-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  28. ^ a b Listed as cf. Dromaeosaurus sp. in "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous; North America; Texas)." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 582.
  29. ^ Longrich, N. R.; Barnes, K.; Clark, S.; Millar, L. (2013). "Caenagnathidae from the Upper Campanian Aguja Formation of West Texas, and a Revision of the Caenagnathinae". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 54: 23. doi:10.3374/014.054.0102. edit
  30. ^ a b c d "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous; North America; Texas)." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 581.
  31. ^ Listed as R. cf. gilmorei in "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous; North America; Texas)." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 581.
  32. ^ Listed as Saurornitholestes cf. langstoni in "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous; North America; Texas)." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 582.
  33. ^ a b Listed as cf. Troodon sp. in "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous; North America; Texas)." Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 582.

Bibliography

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