The Vega Formation is a Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) geologic formation of the Ribadesella Group in Asturias, Spain.[1] Dinosaur remains diagnostic to the genus level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[2] The formation is around 150 metres thick and consists of "alternating white, pale grey and reddish sandstones, and red mudstones with several sporadic conglomeratic beds typically arranged in minor finnig-upward cycles within a major cycle of the same character". An isolated caudal theropod vertebra and a partial tooth are known from the formation, belonging to large megalosaurids around 10 metres in length, comparable to Torvosaurus. Other remains known from the formation include fragmentary turtle remains, crocodylomorph teeth, as well as a sauropod caudal vertebra (MUJA-0650). Dinosaur tracks are also known from the formation, including large theropod footprints and poorly preserved quadrupedal dinosaur footprints.[3]
| Vega Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Kimmeridgian ~ | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Ribadesella Group |
| Underlies | Tereñes Formation |
| Overlies | Rodiles Formation |
| Thickness | 150 metres |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Sandstone, Mudstone |
| Other | Conglomerate |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 43°30′N 5°18′W / 43.5°N 5.3°W |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 35°42′N 7°00′E / 35.7°N 7.0°E |
| Region | Asturias |
| Country |  Spain |
  Vega Formation (Spain)  Vega Formation (Asturias) | |
Paleofauna
edit- Megalosaurus sp. (Theropoda indet.)
- Stegosauria indet.[4]
- Torvosaurus sp.? (Theropoda indet.) - "cervical vertebrae"
See also
edit- List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
- Lastres Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of Asturias
References
edit- ^ Vega Formation at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.
- ^ Rauhut, Oliver W. M.; Piñuela, Laura; Castanera, Diego; García-Ramos, José-Carlos; Cela, Irene Sánchez (2018-07-05). "The largest European theropod dinosaurs: remains of a gigantic megalosaurid and giant theropod tracks from the Kimmeridgian of Asturias, Spain". PeerJ. 6: e4963. doi:10.7717/peerj.4963. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6035862. PMID 30002951.
- ^ Ruiz Omeñaca et al., 2013
Bibliography
edit- Ruiz Omeñaca, J.I.; Pereda Suberbiola, X.; Piñuela, L.; García Ramos, J.C. (2013). "First evidence of stegosaurs (Dinosauria: Thyreophora) in the Vega Formation, Kimmeridgian, Asturias, N Spain". Geogaceta. 53: 37–40.
- Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka, eds. (2004). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 1–880. ISBN 0-520-24209-2. Retrieved 2019-02-21.