Castillo Formation, Venezuela

{{Other uses|Castillo Formation (disambiguation){{!}}Castillo Formation}}

{{Infobox rockunit

| name = Castillo Formation

| image =

| caption =

| type = Geological formation

| age = Burdigalian (Colhuehuapian-Santacrucian)
~{{fossil range|19.2|17}}

| period = Burdigalian

| prilithology = Argillaceous marl

| otherlithology = Hardground, gypsum

| namedfor =

| namedby = Wheeler

| year_ts = 1960

| region = Falcón, Lara

| country = Venezuela

| coordinates = {{coord|10|33|50|N|69|43|42|W|display=inline,title}}

| paleocoordinates = {{coord|9.6|N|66.7|W|display=inline}}

| unitof = Falcón Basin

| subunits =

| underlies = Capadare Formation

| overlies = Matatere, Misoa, El Paují and Jarillal Formations

| thickness = {{convert|367|m|ft|abbr=on}}

| extent = From La Mesa to Siquisique

| area =

| map = Blakey 020Ma - COL.jpg

| map_caption = Paleogeography of Northern South America, 20 Ma
{{small|by Ron Blakey}}

}}

{{Location map | Venezuela

| relief = 1

| width = 330

| lat_deg = 10.563904

| lon_deg = -69.728501

| label =

| float = right

| position = right

| mark = Yellow pog.svg

| marksize = 12

| caption = Type locality of the Castillo Formation in Venezuela

}}

The Castillo Formation is an Early Miocene (Burdigalian, Colhuehuapian to Santacrucian in the SALMA classification) geologic formation in the Falcón Basin of Venezuela. The formation unconformably overlies the Matatere, Misoa, El Paují and Jarillal Formations.Urbani & Mendi, 2010, p.17 The Castillo Formation is overlain by Quaternary alluvium and in places by the Capadare Formation.Urbani & Mendi, 2010, p.19 The formation, deposited in a calm near-shore lagoonal brackish environment, with possibly fluvial influence, has provided a rich assemblage of fossil crocodylians, turtles, giant sloths and various types of fish.

Description

The Castillo Formation crops out cover a wide semicircular area that extends through the northwestern Venezuelan states of Falcón and Lara. During Oligocene to Miocene times, the formation formed the northwest to southeast edge of the Falcón Basin.Solórzano et al., 2018a, p.3 The formation, with a minimum thickness of {{convert|367|m|ft}},Rincón et al., 2014, p.510 has formerly been regarded as Late Oligocene in age (Wheeler, 1960), but more recent workers, regard it to be Early Miocene. The Castillo Formation at Cerro La Cruz comprises {{convert|87|m|ft}} of clayey marls, interbedded with numerous thin (less than {{convert|1|m|ft}}) hardground units. The strata are underlain and overlain by sandstones, and the upper {{convert|15|m|ft}} are gypsiferous.

The formation was deposited in a calm near-shore marine to brackish lagoonal environment with possibly fluvial influence.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?collection_no=43063 Cerro La Cruz] at Fossilworks.org Elements of the fauna are consistent with the hypothesis that a tributary and/or delta of the Orinoco existed in this area of northwestern Venezuela during Early Miocene times. Other authors did not find convincing results to support this hypothesis.Rincón et al., 2014, p.522

Fossil content

In the formation, apart from corals, fossils of the giant sloth Baraguatherium takumara, the turtle Chelus colombiana, the crocodylians Siquisiquesuchus venezuelensis,[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?collection_no=143603 Siquisique] at Fossilworks.org Purussaurus, Caiman,Solórzano et al., 2018a, p.12 Gryposuchus,Solórzano, 2018b, p.121 and indeterminate other crocodylians,Solórzano et al., 2018, p.1 and the pelican-like Pelagornis sp. have been found. The pelican-like fossil is the oldest of South America.{{in lang|es}} [http://rnv.gob.ve/tres-curiosos-animales-prehistoricos-emergen-del-subsuelo-venezolano/ Tres curiosos animales prehistóricos emergen del subsuelo venezolano] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816005607/http://rnv.gob.ve/tres-curiosos-animales-prehistoricos-emergen-del-subsuelo-venezolano/ |date=2017-08-16 }}{{in lang|es}} [http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/estilo-vida/hallan-restos-tres-animales-prehistoricos-lara_314610 Hallan restos de tres animales prehistóricos en Lara] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816015343/http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/estilo-vida/hallan-restos-tres-animales-prehistoricos-lara_314610 |date=2017-08-16 }}

Other fossils reported from the formation are:[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?collection_no=145379 Cerro La Cruz, Unit C] at Fossilworks.org[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?taxon_no=36831 Cerro La Cruz] at Fossilworks.org

silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis)
wahoo (Acanthocybium sp.)
barracuda (Sphyraena sp.)
Carcharhinus cf. obscurus
Carcharhinus cf. perezi
Hemipristis serra
aff. Prosqualodon australis
Bairdemys sp.
Rhinoptera sp.
Scirrotherium sp.
Arecaceae indet.
Astrapotheriidae indet.
Iniidae indet.
Litopterna indet.
Mylodontidae indet.
Platanistoidea indet.
Squalidae indet.
Tardigrada indet.
Trionychoidea indet.

class="wikitable sortable"

! SALMA

! Group

! Fossils

! class=unsortable | Notes

style="background-color: {{period color|chattian}};" | Deseadan

Corals

Acropora saludensis, Alveopora tampae, Agathiphyllia antiguensis, A. tenuis, Antiguastrea cellulosa, Astrocoenia portoicensis, Colpophyllia willoughbiensis, Diploastrea crassolamellata, Goniastrea canalis, Montastrea canalis, Montastrea cavernosa, Montastrea imperatoris, Pocillopora arnoldi, Porites baracoaensis, Porites portoricensis, Porites trinitatis, Porites waylandi, Siderastrea conferta, Stephanocoenia duncani, Stylophora affinis, S. granulata

{{center|[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?collection_no=87067 Cerro Guariro] at Fossilworks.org}}

References

= Bibliography =

{{citation |last1=Johnson |first1=Kenneth G. |last2=Sánchez Villagra |first2=Marcelo R. |last3=Aguilera |first3=Orangel A. |year=2009 |title=The Oligocene-Miocene transition on coral reefs in the Falcón Basin (NW Venezuela) |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.617.9079&rep=rep1&type=pdf

|journal=PALAIOS |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=59–69 |doi=10.2110/palo.2008.p08-004r |bibcode=2009Palai..24...59J |citeseerx=10.1.1.617.9079 |accessdate=2017-08-15}}

{{citation |last1=Rincón |first1=Ascanio D. |last2=Solórzano |first2=Andrés |last3=McDonald |first3=H. Gregory |last4=Núñez Flores |first4=Mónica |year=2017 |title=Baraguatherium takumara, gen. et sp. nov., the earliest mylodontoid sloth (early Miocene) from northern South America |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300000528 |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=179–191 |doi=10.1007/s10914-016-9328-y |accessdate=2019-02-12}}
{{citation |last1=Rincón |first1=Ascanio D. |last2=Solórzano |first2=Andrés |last3=Benammi |first3=Mouloud |last4=Vignaud |first4=Patrick |last5=McDonald |first5=H. Gregory |year=2014 |title=Chronology and geology of an Early Miocene mammalian assemblage in North of South America, from Cerro La Cruz (Castillo Formation), Lara State, Venezuela: implications in the 'changing course of Orinoco River' hypothesis |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/pdf/andgeol/v41n3/art02.pdf |journal=Andean Geology |volume=41 |pages=507–528 |accessdate=2018-09-07}}
{{citation |last1=Solórzano |first1=Andrés |last2=Rincón |first2=Ascanio D. |last3=Cidade |first3=Giovanne M. |last4=Núñez Flores |first4=Mónica |last5=Sánchez |first5=Leonardo |year=2018a |title=Lower Miocene alligatoroids (Crocodylia) from the Castillo Formation, northwest of Venezuela |url=http://www.paleolab.com.br/assets/uploads/files/Solorzano_et_al.%2C_2018._Crocodilos_de_castillo.pdf |journal=Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments |volume= 99|issue=2 |pages=1–19 |doi=10.1007/s12549-018-0332-5 |bibcode=2019PdPe...99..241S |accessdate=2018-09-07}}
{{citation |last1=Solórzano |first1=Andrés |last2=Núñez Flores |first2=Mónica |last3=Rincón |first3=Ascanio D. |year=2018b |title=Gryposuchus (Crocodylia, Gavialoidea) from the early Miocene of Venezuela |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320214077 |journal=PalZ |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=121–129 |doi=10.1007/s12542-017-0383-3 |bibcode=2018PalZ...92..121S |accessdate=2018-09-07}}
{{citation |last1=Urbani |first1=Franco |last2=Mendi |first2=David |year=2010 |title=Notas sobre la discordancia del margen sur de la cuenca Oligo-Miocena de Falcón estados Lara, Falcón y Yaracuy, Venezuela |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289375537 |journal=Boletín de la Academia de Ciencias Físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales |volume=LXX |pages=9–25 |accessdate=2017-08-15}}

Castillo Formation, Venezuela

Description

Fossil content

See also

References

= Bibliography =

Further reading