Earth:Dorotea Formation
| Dorotea Formation Stratigraphic range: Late Campanian-Maastrichtian ~72–66 Ma | |
|---|---|
| Type | Geological formation |
| Underlies | Man Aike Formation |
| Overlies | Tres Pasos Formation |
| Thickness | 100–350 m (330–1,150 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Sandstone, claystone |
| Other | Conglomerate |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | [ ⚑ ] : 50°42′S 72°30′W / 50.7°S 72.5°W |
| Paleocoordinates | [ ⚑ ] 52°54′S 60°30′W / 52.9°S 60.5°W |
| Region | Magallanes Region |
| Country | Chile |
| Extent | Río de Las Chinas Valley, Magallanes Basin |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Sierra Dorotea |
| Named by | Katz |
| Year defined | 1963 |
The Dorotea Formation is a geological formation in the Río de Las Chinas Valley of the Magallanes Basin in Patagonian Chile whose strata date back to the Campanian to Maastrichtian of the Late Cretaceous.[1]
Description
The Dorotea Formation was first described by Katz in 1963. The formation comprises sandstones with frequent conglomerate lenses, concretionary levels and claystones. The Dorotea Formation includes calcareous sandstones with abundant marine invertebrate and fragmentary vertebrate fossils. Hervé et al. (2004) obtained a maximum radiometric age of 67.4 ± 1.5 Ma from detrital zircons contained in sandstones of the Dorotea Formation.[2]
The mudstones and sandstones of the formation were deposited in a fluvial environment. The formation conformably overlies the Tres Pasos Formation and is unconformably overlain by the Lutetian to Bartonian Man Aike Formation.[3] The thickness of the formation ranges from 100 metres (330 ft) in the Sierra Baguales in the north to 350 metres (1,150 ft) in the eponymous Sierra Dorotea in the south.[4]
Fossil content
The following fossils were reported from the formation:[5]
Amphibians
| Amphibians of Dorotea Formation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Species | Material | Notes | Images |
| Anura[6] | Indeterminate | A frog | ||
Reptiles
| Reptiles of Dorotea Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Species | Locality | Material | Notes | Images |
| Aristonectinae[7] | Indeterminate | ||||
| Aristonectes | A. sp.[7] | ||||
| Yaminuechelys | cf. Yaminuechelys sp.[6] | ||||
| Panchelidae[6] | Indeterminate | Saurópodo sector (Section SP-17). | Distal fragment of right humerus and distal end of right femur. | ||
| Elasmosauridae | Indeterminate | ||||
Dinosaurs
Ornithischians
| Ornithischians of Dorotea Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Species | Locality | Material | Notes | Images |
| Gonkoken[8] | G. nanoi | Several incomplete specimens belonging to individuals of different ages | A hadrosauroid | ||
| Ornithischia[6] | Indeterminate | ||||
| Stegouros | S. elengassen | CPAP-3165 (holotype), a holotype consists of a relatively complete skeleton with a skull and lower jaws. | A parankylosaur | ||
Saurischians
| Saurischians of Dorotea Formation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Species | Material | Notes | Images |
| Enantiornithes[9] | Indeterminate | |||
| Megaraptoridae[9] | Indeterminate | |||
| Ornithurae[9] | Indeterminate | |||
| Sauropoda[6] | Indeterminate | |||
| Unenlagiinae[9] | Indeterminate | |||
| Theropoda[6][9] | Indeterminate | |||
Mammals
| Mammals of Dorotea Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Species | Locality | Material | Notes | Images |
| Magallanodon[10] | M. baikashkenke[10] | Mammal quarry from the Río de Las Chinas valley | A first lower left molariform | A gondwanathere | |
| Orretherium | O. tzen[11] | Mammal quarry from the Río de Las Chinas valley | A fragmented lower jaw. | A mesungulatid mammal | |
| Mammalia[6] | Indeterminate | ||||
| Yeutherium | Y. pressor[12] | 'Black Bone' Locality | A left maxilla fragment with M1, roots of M2 and mesial roots of M3. | A subantarctic reigitheriidae mammal | |
Fish
| Fish of Dorotea Formation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Species | Material | Notes | Images |
| Ischyrhiza | I. chilensis[4] | |||
| Carcharias | C. sp.[4] | |||
| Serratolamna | Indeterminate[4] | |||
Invertebrates
| Invertebrates of Dorotea Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Species | Locality | Material | Notes | Images |
| Dorotheus | Dorotheus guidensis[13] | ||||
| Pterotrigonia | P. cazadoriana[2] | ||||
| Gunnarites | G. sp.[2] | ||||
| Pachydiscus | P. aff. gollevilensis[2] | ||||
See also
- List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
- Quiriquina Formation
- Chorrillo Formation
- Allen Formation, Campanian to Maastrichtian fossiliferous formation of the Neuquén Basin
- Angostura Colorada Formation, Campanian to Maastrichtian fossiliferous formation of the North Patagonian Massif
- La Colonia Formation, Campanian to Maastrichtian formation of the Cañadón Asfalto Basin
- Colorado Formation, Campanian to Maastrichtian fossiliferous formation of the Colorado Basin
- Lago Colhué Huapí Formation, Campanian to Maastrichtian fossiliferous formation of the Golfo San Jorge Basin
- Lopez de Bertodano Formation
- Snow Hill Island Formation
- Sobral Formation
References
- ↑ Dorotea Formation at Fossilworks.org
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Otero et al., 2009
- ↑ Goin et al., 2020, p.9
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Otero et al., 2015, p.240
- ↑ Río de las Chinas Valley at Fossilworks.org
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Alarcón Muñoz et al., 2020
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Otero et al., 2015
- ↑ Alarcón-Muñoz, Jhonatan; Vargas, Alexander O.; Püschel, Hans P.; Soto-Acuña, Sergio; Manríquez, Leslie; Leppe, Marcelo; Kaluza, Jonatan; Milla, Verónica et al. (2023-06-16). "Relict duck-billed dinosaurs survived into the last age of the dinosaurs in subantarctic Chile" (in en). Science Advances 9 (24). doi:10.1126/sciadv.adg2456. ISSN 2375-2548. PMID 37327335. Bibcode: 2023SciA....9G2456A.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Davis, Sarah N.; Soto-Acuña, Sergio; Fernández, Roy A.; Amudeo, Jared; Leppe, Marcelo A.; Rubilar-Rogers, David; Vargas, Alexander O.; Clarke, Julia A. (December 2022). "New records of Theropoda from a Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) locality in the Magallanes-Austral Basin, Patagonia, and insights into end Cretaceous theropod diversity" (in en). Journal of South American Earth Sciences 122. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2022.104163.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Goin et al., 2020
- ↑ Martinelli, A. G.; Soto-Acuña, S.; Goin, F. J.; Kaluza, J.; Bostelmann, J. E.; Fonseca, P. H. M. F.; Reguero, M. A.; Leppe, M. et al. (2021). "New cladotherian mammal from southern Chile and the evolution of mesungulatid meridiolestidans at the dusk of the Mesozoic era". Scientific Reports 11 (7594): 7594. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-87245-4. PMID 33828193. Bibcode: 2021NatSR..11.7594M.
- ↑ Püschel Hans P., Martinelli Agustin G., Soto-Acuña Sergio, Ortiz Héctor, Leppe Marcelo and Vargas Alexander O. 2025A subantarctic reigitheriid and the evolution of crushing teeth in these enigmatic Mesozoic mammalsProc. R. Soc. B.29220251056 http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.1056
- ↑ Kuschel, 1959
Bibliography
- Alarcón Muñoz, J., S. Soto-Acuña, L. M. E. Manríquez, R. A. Fernández, D. Bajor, J. P. Guevara, F. Suazo Lara, M. A. and A. O. Vargas (2020), "Freshwater turtles (Testudines: Pleurodira) in the Upper Cretaceous of Chilean Patagonia", Journal of South American Earth Sciences 102, doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102652, Bibcode: 2020JSAES.10202652A, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341499196, retrieved 2020-06-12
- Goin, Francisco J.; et, al (2020), "First Mesozoic Mammal from Chile: the southernmost record of a Late Cretaceous Gondwanatherian", Boletín del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Chile 69 (1): 5–31, doi:10.54830/bmnhn.v69.n1.2020.8, http://publicaciones.mnhn.gob.cl/668/articles-96021_archivo_01.pdf, retrieved 2020-06-12
- Otero, R.A.; Soto Acuña, S.; Salazar, C.; Oyarzún, J.L. (2015), "New elasmosaurids (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of the Magallanes Basin, Chilean Patagonia: Evidence of a faunal turnover during the Maastrichtian along the Weddellian Biogeographic Province", Andean Geology 42: 237–267, doi:10.5027/andgeoV42n2-a05, http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/133415, retrieved 2020-06-12
- Otero, R.A.; Suarez, M.E.; Roux, J.P. (2009), "First record of elasmosaurid plesiosaurs (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) in upper levels of the Dorotea Formation, Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), Puerto Natales, Chilean Patagonia", Andean Geology 36: 342–350, https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0718-71062009000200008&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=en, retrieved 2020-06-12
- Kuschel, G (1959), "Un curculionido del Cretácico Superior - primer insecto fósil de Chile", Investigaciones Zoológicas Chilenas 5: 49–54
Template:Sedimentary formations and groups in Chile


