Some recent papers not yet mentioned...
Recently the gigantic sauropod femur fossils have been first discovered in Zhumapu Formation of Upper Cretaceous in Xinrong area of Shanxi Province. Through the observation of preservation occurrence,remaining length and proximal end of the femur,the authors estimated the real length of the femur and the body length of this sauropod. It turns out that the real length of this femur is probably 1. 9 m and the body length of the sauropod may reach more than 30. 0 m. Furthermore,based on the analysis of sedimentary facies and paleocurrent directions, the authors discussed the burial environment of the femur fossils. The results show that Zhumapu Formation belongs to the meandering river deposit with grand scale,high degree of curvature and strong hydrodynamic force.This sauropod has been buried in the meandering river after a short-medium distance transportation. Discovery of the gigantic sauropod in this area has not only expanded the distribution range of gigantic sauropods in Late Cretaceous in North China, but also is of great significance to Cretaceous paleoclimate and paleoenvironment research in Zuoyun-Xinrong areas.
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J. Marcelo Krause, Jahandar Ramezani, Aldo M. Umazano, Diego Pol, Josà L. Carballido, Juliana Sterli, Pablo Puerta, N. RubÃn CÃneo & Eduardo S. Bellosi (2019)
The Cerro Barcino vertebrates fall within a ~118â110 Ma time interval in the latest Early Cretaceous, which makes them the oldest documented component of the âmid-Cretaceousâ faunal assemblage of Gondwana.
The paleobiologic analyses of the Cerro Barcino vertebrate fauna suggests a ~10 m.y. period of faunistic stability characterized by only minor evolutionary novelties or faunal turnovers.
High-precision U-Pb geochronology on tuffaceous beds in the Chubut Group, constrain the deposition of the Puesto La Paloma and Cerro CastaÃo members, respectively, to the Aptian and the Albian stages of Early Cretaceous, with the overlying Las Plumas member extending into the Cenomanian.
Abstract
The Cretaceous Cerro Barcino Formation (Chubut Group) of Central Patagonia, Argentina has yielded a remarkable fossil vertebrate fauna, which form important components of the South American "mid-Cretaceous" fauna, including titanosauriform sauropod dinosaurs, theropod dinosaurs, crocodyliforms, turtles, and lepidosauromorphs. However, a lack of robust chronostratigraphic framework for its fossil occurrences has so far hampered a full realization of their paleobiologic significance. This contribution presents new stratigraphic, sedimentologic, and U-Pb isotopic age data from 11 localities throughout the Patagonian SomuncurÃ-CanadÃn Asfalto Basin and analyzes the evolutionary characteristics of the Cerro Barcino fauna within the biostratigraphic context of the Cretaceous of Gondwana.
Four new high-precision 206Pb/238U zircon dates by the CA-ID-TIMS method range from 118.497âÂâ0.063âMa to 98.466âÂâ0.048âMa (2Ï internal errors) and limits the Puesto La Paloma, Cerro CastaÃo and Las Plumas members of the Cerro Barcino Formation largely to the Aptian, Albian and Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous, respectively. Accordingly, the majority of the Cerro Barcino vertebrates fall within a ~118â110âMa time interval in the latest Early Cretaceous, which makes them the oldest documented component of the "mid-Cretaceous" faunal assemblage of Gondwana. Paleobiologic analyses of the latter assemblage suggests a ~10âm.y. period of faunistic stability characterized by only minor evolutionary novelties or faunal turnovers.
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This paper clarifies the structure of the Bolâshoi Ilek section (height up to 83 m), which is composed by the deposits of Cretaceous and Quaternary systems, in the southeastern part of Western Siberia. The major volume of the section comprises the Lower Cretaceous rocks of the delta complex, reaching a thickness of 80 m and characterizing the Ilek Formation stratotype. The remains of fishes, lizards, turtles, crocodiliforms, dinosaurs, and mammals typical for the BarremianâEarly Albian were found for the first time when screen-washing the sand fraction. The Mesozoic rocks are superposed by Quaternary eolianâdeluvial and eluvial deposits with a thickness of 3â13.5 m or more. This sequence consists of three layers with mammoth fauna remains, the middle of which is dated at 14C ~ 22 500 years ago. In addition, according to the investigation data, Bolâshoi Ilek is a huge landslide with an area of more than 1 km2. All these facts make it possible to draw an analogy with the even-aged section of the Shestakovo high bank which also partially exposes the giant landslide. Such landslides are triggered by earthquakes with a magnitude of more than nine points, which is indicative of a powerful seismic event that occurred in the southeastern part of the study region at the very end of the Pleistocene.