| class="wikitable" align="center" width="100%" |
| Site(s)
!Age
!Location
!Significance
!Notable fossils/organisms |
|---|
| Muzinho Shale
|latest Jurassic/earliest Cretaceous
|Parnaíba Basin, Brazil
|A black shale deposit containing articulated, three-dimensionally preserved fish skeletons.[{{Cite journal |last1=Cardoso |first1=Alexandre Ribeiro |last2=Romero |first2=Guilherme Raffaeli |last3=Osés |first3=Gabriel Ladeira |last4=Nogueira |first4=Afonso César Rodrigues |date=2020-03-15 |title=Taphonomy of lacustrine fish fossils of the Parnaíba Basin, northeastern Brazil: Spatial and causative relations of Konservat Lagerstätten in West Gondwana during Jurassic-Cretaceous |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018219309009 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=542 |pages=109602 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109602 |issn=0031-0182|url-access=subscription }}]
| |
| Angeac-Charente bonebed | ~141 Ma | Charente, France
|A lagerstätte preserving both vertebrate and invertebrate fossils from the poorly represented Berriasian stage known for its taphonomic and sedimentological ‘frozen scenes’.[{{cite journal |last1=Rozada |first1=Lee |last2=Allain |first2=Ronan |last3=Vullo |first3=Romain |last4=Goedert |first4=Jean |last5=Augier |first5=Dominique |last6=Jean |first6=Amandine |last7=Marchal |first7=Jonathan |last8=Peyre de Fabrègues |first8=Claire |last9=Qvarnström |first9=Martin |last10=Royo-Torres |first10=Rafael |date=23 January 2021 |title=A Lower Cretaceous Lagerstätte from France: a taphonomic overview of the Angeac-Charente vertebrate assemblage |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/let.12394 |journal=Lethaia |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=141–165 |doi=10.1111/let.12394 |s2cid=234299378 |access-date=29 June 2023}}]
| |
| El Montsec (La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation) | ~140-125 Ma | Catalonia, Spain
|Known from exceptional preservation of biota such as plants, fish, insects, crustaceans and even some tetrapods.[{{Cite journal |last1=Gil-Delgado |first1=Alejandro |last2=Delclòs |first2=Xavier |last3=Sellés |first3=Albert |last4=Galobart |first4=Àngel |last5=Oms |first5=Oriol |date=2023-04-17 |title=The Early Cretaceous coastal lake Konservat-Lagerstätte of La Pedrera de Meià (Southern Pyrenees) |url=https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/GEOACTA/article/view/41125 |journal=Geologica Acta |language=en |volume=21 |pages=1–XIII |doi=10.1344/GeologicaActa2023.21.3 |issn=1696-5728|hdl=2445/201820 |hdl-access=free }}]
|File:Montsecosuchus.jpg, atoposaurid crocodylomorph]] |
| Lebanese amber
|~130-125 Ma (Barremian)
|Lebanon
|Preserves a high diversity of insects from the Early Cretaceous, and is among the oldest known fossilized amber to contain a significant number of preserved organisms.[{{Cite journal |last1=Sánchez-García |first1=Alba |last2=Peñalver |first2=Enrique |last3=Delclòs |first3=Xavier |last4=Engel |first4=Michael S. |date=2019 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Andrew |title=Jumping bristletails (Insecta, Archaeognatha) from the Lower Cretaceous amber of Lebanon |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1261 |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |language=en |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=679–697 |doi=10.1002/spp2.1261 |hdl=2445/163385 |issn=2056-2799|hdl-access=free }}] Includes many of the oldest known members of modern insect groups, and many of the youngest known members for extinct insect groups.[{{Cite journal |last1=Sibelle |first1=Maksoud |last2=Dany |first2=Azar |date=2023 |title=Lebanese Amber: A Fantastic Journey into the Time of Dinosaurs |url=http://jogg.cug.edu.cn/en/article/doi/10.15964/j.cnki.027jgg.2023.04.012.pdf |journal=Journal of Gems & Gemmology |language=en |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=136–145 |doi=10.15964/j.cnki.027jgg.2023.04.012 |issn=2096-9120}}]
|File:Tragichrysa ovoruptora Lebanese amber fig1 a.jpg (Tragichrysa ovoruptora)]] |
| Grès du Liban Alloformation
|~125 Ma (early Barremian)
|Lebanon
|A deposit of dysodiles (sedimentary rocks with high organic matter content) representing a well-preserved freshwater ecosystem, including plants, pollen grains, invertebrates (including insects), turtles, and a diverse fish fauna.[{{Cite journal |last1=El Hajj |first1=Layla |last2=Baudin |first2=François |last3=Gèze |first3=Raymond |last4=Cavin |first4=Lionel |last5=Dejax |first5=Jean |last6=Garcia |first6=Géraldine |last7=Horne |first7=David J. |last8=Maksoud |first8=Sibelle |last9=Otero |first9=Olga |last10=Azar |first10=Dany |date=2021-04-01 |title=Dysodiles from the lower Barremian of Lebanon: Insights on the fossil assemblages and the depositional environment reconstruction |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667120304195 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=120 |pages=104732 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104732 |issn=0195-6671}}][{{Cite journal |last=Schädel |first=Mario |last2=Azar |first2=Dany |last3=El Hajj |first3=Layla |last4=Maksoud |first4=Sibelle |last5=Robin |first5=Ninon |date=2025-04-02 |title=A 125 million-year-old freshwater isopod shines new light on the origin of subterranean freshwater species |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.241512 |journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=241512 |doi=10.1098/rsos.241512 |pmc=11962533 |pmid=40177107}}]
| |
| Las Hoyas | about 125 Ma (Barremian) | Cuenca, Spain
|The site is mostly known for its exquisitely preserved dinosaurs, especially enantiornithines. The lithology of the formation mostly consists of lacustarine limestone deposited in a freshwater wetland environment.
|File:Concornis lacustris 34.jpg, an early enantiornithean ]] |
| Yixian Formation | about 125–121 Ma (Barremian-Aptian) | Liaoning, China
|The Yixian Formation is well known for its great diversity of well-preserved specimens and its feathered dinosaurs, such as the large tyrannosauroid Yutyrannus, the therizinosaur Beipiaosaurus, and various small birds, along with a selection of other dinosaurs, such as the iguanodontian Bolong, the sauropod Dongbeititan and the ceratopsian Psittacosaurus. Other biota included the troodontid Mei, the dromaeosaurid Tianyuraptor, and the compsognathid Sinosauropteryx.
|File:Sinosauropteryxfossil.jpg, the first non-avain dinosaur with evidence of feathers to have been recognized]] |
| Jiufotang Formation | about 122-119 Ma (Aptian) | Liaoning, China
|This formation overlies the slightly older Yixian Formation and preserved very similar species, including a wide variety of dinosaurs such as the ceratopsian Psittacosaurus and the early bird Confuciusornis, both of which are also found in the Yixian Formation. Also notable are the very abundant specimens of the dromaeosaurid Microraptor, which is known from up to 300 specimens and is among the most common animals found here.
|File:Microraptor_gui_holotype.png independently of true birds.]] |
| Khasurty Fossil Site
|? (Aptian)
|Buryatia, Russia
|One of the largest fossil insect sites in northern Asia, with over 6000 fossilized insect specimens preserved in mudstones, representing over 16 orders and 130 families. Taxa have both Jurassic & Cretaceous affinities. Fossils of other invertebrates such as arachnids & crustaceans are also known, in addition to small plants and fragmentary vertebrate remains such as fish scales and bird feathers.[{{Cite journal |last1=Kopylov |first1=D. S. |last2=Rasnitsyn |first2=A. P. |last3=Aristov |first3=D. S. |last4=Bashkuev |first4=A. S. |last5=Bazhenova |first5=N. V. |last6=Dmitriev |first6=V. Yu. |last7=Gorochov |first7=A. V. |last8=Ignatov |first8=M. S. |last9=Ivanov |first9=V. D. |last10=Khramov |first10=A. V. |last11=Legalov |first11=A. A. |last12=Lukashevich |first12=E. D. |last13=Mamontov |first13=Yu. S. |last14=Melnitsky |first14=S. I. |last15=Ogłaza |first15=B. |date=2020-12-01 |title=The Khasurty Fossil Insect Lagerstätte |url=https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030120110027 |journal=Paleontological Journal |language=en |volume=54 |issue=11 |pages=1221–1394 |doi=10.1134/S0031030120110027 |issn=1555-6174|url-access=subscription }}]
| |
| Shengjinkou Formation | about 120 Ma | Xinjiang, China
|Part of the finds from this site consisted of dense concentrations of pterosaur bones, associated with soft tissues and eggs. The site represented a nesting colony that storm floods had covered with mud. Dozens of individuals could be secured from a total that in 2014 was estimated to run into the many hundreds.
|File:Hamititan skeletal.jpg, a large titanosaurian sauropod]] |
| Xiagou Formation | about 120–115? Ma | Gansu, China
|This site is known outside the specialized world of Chinese geology as the site of a lagerstätte in which the fossils were preserved of Gansus yumenensis, the earliest true modern bird.
|File:Gansus zheni - early cretaceous Liaoning IMG 5188 Beijing Museum of Natural History.jpg is among the earliest known modern birds ]] |
| Paja Formation | 130-113 Ma | Colombia
|This site is famous for its vertebrate fossils and is the richest Mesozoic fossiliferous formation of Colombia. Several marine reptile fossils of plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, ichthyosauras and turtles have been described from the formation and it hosts the only dinosaur fossils described in the country to date; the titanosauriform sauropod Padillasaurus.
|File:Desmatochelys padillai.jpg, a protostegid and one of the oldest known turtle fossils]] |
Koonwarra Fossil Bed[{{Cite journal |last1=Poropat |first1=Stephen F. |last2=Martin |first2=Sarah K. |last3=Tosolini |first3=Anne-Marie P. |last4=Wagstaff |first4=Barbara E. |last5=Bean |first5=Lynne B. |last6=Kear |first6=Benjamin P. |last7=Vickers-Rich |first7=Patricia |last8=Rich |first8=Thomas H. |date=2018-04-03 |title=Early Cretaceous polar biotas of Victoria, southeastern Australia—an overview of research to date |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03115518.2018.1453085 |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=157–229 |doi=10.1080/03115518.2018.1453085 |bibcode=2018Alch...42..157P |s2cid=133845914 |issn=0311-5518}}] | around 118-115 Ma | Victoria, Australia
|This site is composed of mudstone sediment thought to have been laid down in a freshwater lake. Arthropods, fish and plant fossils are known from this site.
|File:Fossil-flea-292224-large.jpg, a large sized stem-flea]] |
| Crato Formation | 113 Ma | northeast Brazil
|The Crato Formation earns the designation of lagerstätte due to an exceedingly well preserved and diverse fossil faunal assemblage. Some 25 species of fossil fishes are often found with stomach contents preserved, enabling paleontologists to study predator-prey relationships in this ecosystem. There are also fine examples of pterosaurs, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates (particularly insects), and plants. Also known from this site is Ubirajara, the first non-avian dinosaur from the southern hemisphere with evidence of feathers. Additionally, the formation abounds with evidence of plant-insect interaction.[{{Cite journal |last1=Filho |first1=Edilson Bezerra dos Santos |last2=Adami-Rodrigues |first2=Karen |last3=Lima |first3=Flaviana Jorge de |last4=Bantim |first4=Renan Alfredo Machado |last5=Wappler |first5=Torsten |last6=Saraiva |first6=Antônio Álamo Feitosa |date=9 August 2019 |title=Evidence of plant–insect interaction in the Early Cretaceous Flora from the Crato Formation, Araripe Basin, Northeast Brazil |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2017.1408611 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=31 |issue=7 |pages=926–937 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2017.1408611 |issn=0891-2963 |access-date=21 May 2024 |via=Taylor and Francis Online|url-access=subscription }}]
|File:Tupandactylus navigans skeleton.PNG, a fossil pterosaur that was preserved with feathers and other soft tissues intact ]] |
| Amargosa Bed (Marizal Formation) | ? (Aptian-Albian) | northeast Brazil
|Fluvial site which preserved fish, crustacean and plant fossils.[{{Cite journal |last1=Voltani |first1=Cibele Gasparelo |last2=Osés |first2=Gabriel Ladeira |last3=Freitas |first3=Bernardo Tavares |last4=Prado |first4=Gustavo Marcondes Evangelista Martins |last5=Rohn |first5=Rosemarie |last6=Pacheco |first6=Mírian Liza Alves Forancelli |last7=Anelli |first7=Luiz Eduardo |last8=de Almeida |first8=Renato Paes |last9=Simões |first9=Marcello Guimarães |last10=Caldeira do Prado |first10=Ludmila Alves |last11=Araripe |first11=Rilda Verônica Cardoso de |last12=Galante |first12=Douglas |last13=Rangel |first13=Elidiane Cipriano |date=2023 |title=Taphonomy of fish, invertebrates and plant remains in the first Tethyan-South Atlantic marine ingression along Cretaceous rift systems in NE-Brazil |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105508 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=147 |pages=105508 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105508 |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}]
| |
| Pietraroja Plattenkalk
|113-110 Ma
|Campania, Italy
|A konservat-lagerstätte famous for its diverse and well-preserved fish and plant fossils. Also known from this formation is Scipionyx, one of Europe's most well-preserved dinosaurs.[{{Cite web |title=Vertebrates from the uppermost stratigraphic sequence of the Pietraroja plattenkalk (Early Cretaceous, Southern Italy) |url=https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/151109 |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=iris.unito.it}}][{{Cite journal |last=Bartiromo |first=Antonello |date=2013-11-01 |title=Plant remains from the Lower Cretaceous Fossil-Lagerstätte of Pietraroja, Benevento, southern Italy |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667113001316 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=46 |pages=65–79 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2013.08.013 |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}]
|File:Scipionyx samniticus.JPG, a small dinosaur with preserved internal organs.]] |
| Jinju Formation | 112.4–106.5 Ma | South Korea
|The Jinju Formation is notable for the post-Jehol Group insect assemblage,[{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Soo Bin |last2=Li |first2=Yan-Da |last3=Cai |first3=Chenyang |last4=Engel |first4=Michael S. |last5=Nam |first5=Gi Soo |last6=Park |first6=Jong Kyun |last7=Nel |first7=André |last8=Jenkins Shaw |first8=Josh |last9=Jouault |first9=Corentin |last10=Legalov |first10=Andrei |last11=Kundrata |first11=Robin |date=June 2024 |title=Cretaceous beetles of the Jinju Formation (Coleoptera): An overview of the Jinju Formation, its coleopteran diversity, and past and future research |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1226861524000414 |journal=Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology |language=en |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=102236 |doi=10.1016/j.aspen.2024.102236 |access-date=8 June 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}] as well as other fauna such as isopods and fish.[{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Haang-Mook |last2=Chang |first2=Mee-Mann |last3=Wu |first3=Feixiang |last4=Kim |first4=Yang-Hee |date=2014-01-01 |title=A new ichthyodectiform (Pisces, Teleostei) from the Lower Cretaceous of South Korea and its paleobiogeographic implication |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667113001778 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=47 |pages=117–130 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2013.11.007 |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}][{{Cite journal |last1=Park |first1=Tae-Yoon |last2=Wilson |first2=George D. F. |last3=Lee |first3=Dong-Chan |last4=Choi |first4=Duck K. |date=2012 |title=Occurrence of the isopod Archaeoniscus coreaensis new species from the Lower Cretaceous Jinju Formation, Korea |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/abs/occurrence-of-the-isopod-archaeoniscus-coreaensis-new-species-from-the-lower-cretaceous-jinju-formation-korea/50CB97E8DA651B48F396B3F88FB8A79A |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=626–640 |doi=10.1666/11-131R.1 |issn=0022-3360|url-access=subscription }}] The site is also notable for its abundance and diversity of tetrapod trackways.[{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Kyung Soo |last2=Lockley |first2=Martin G. |last3=Lim |first3=Jong Deock |last4=Kim |first4=Dong Hee |date=April 2019 |title=The oldest known anuran (frog) trackways from the Jinju Formation, Lower Cretaceous, Korea |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195667118304166 |journal=Cretaceous Research |language=en |volume=96 |pages=142–148 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2018.12.008 |access-date=8 June 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}]
|File:Larva of Coptoclava.jpg beetle larva preserved at this locality]] |
| Tlayúa Formation | 110 Ma | Puebla, Mexico
|A marine lagerstätte preserving Albian actinopterygians and lepidosaurs.[{{cite journal |last1=Than-Marchese |first1=Bruno Andrés |last2=Alvarado-Ortega |first2=Jesús |date=October 2022 |title=Armigatus felixi sp. nov. An Albian double armored herring (Clupeomorpha, Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Tlayúa lagerstätte, Mexico |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981122001948 |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |volume=118 |page=103905 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2022.103905 |bibcode=2022JSAES.11803905T |access-date=29 June 2023|url-access=subscription }}]
|File:Cipactlichthys_scutatus_holotype.png, example of fish from this site]] |
| Romualdo Formation | 108–92 Ma | northeast Brazil
|The Romualdo Formation is a part of the Santana Group and has provided a rich assemblage of fossils; flora, fish, arthropods insects, turtles, snakes, dinosaurs, such as Irritator, and pterosaurs, including the genus Thalassodromeus. The stratigraphic units of the group contained several feathers of birds, among those the first record of Mesozoic birds in Brazil.
|File:Cast of Tapejara wellnhoferi - Pterosaurs Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs.jpg, a common pterosaur in Brazil during the Early Cretaceous ]] |
| Muhi Quarry (El Doctor Formation) | ? (Albian to Cenomanian, probably Late Albian)[{{Cite journal |last1=López-Palomino |first1=Isabel |last2=González-Rodríguez |first2=Katia Adriana |last3=Schultze |first3=Hans-Peter |last4=Palma-Ramírez |first4=Arturo |last5=Contreras-Cruz |first5=Diana |date=2021-11-01 |title=Ammonites from the La Negra Facies (El Doctor Formation, late Albian) of the Muhi Quarry, Hidalgo, central Mexico |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895981121002479 |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |volume=111 |pages=103400 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103400 |issn=0895-9811|url-access=subscription }}] | Hidalgo, Mexico
|While this site produced limestones for construction, rocks in that locality contain a diverse Cretaceous marine biota such as fish, ammonites and crustaceans.
|File:Motlayoichthys_sergioi.jpg, a member of Pachyrhizodontidae]] |
| Puy-Puy Lagerstätte | 100.5 Ma | France
|A paralic site preserving a variety of ichnofossils,[{{cite journal |last1=Néraudeau |first1=Didier |last2=Vullo |first2=Romain |last3=Bénéfice |first3=Pierre |last4=Breton |first4=Gérard |last5=Dépré |first5=Éric |last6=Gaspard |first6=Danièle |last7=Girard |first7=Vincent |last8=Le Couls |first8=Matthieu |last9=Moreau |first9=Jean-David |last10=Nel |first10=André |last11=Perrichot |first11=Vincent |last12=Solórzano-Kraemer |first12=Mónica M. |last13=Wappler |first13=Torsten |date=July 2020 |title=The paralic Albian–Cenomanian Puy-Puy Lagerstätte (Aquitaine Basin, France): An overview and new data |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667118304038 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=111 |page=104124 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2019.03.022 |bibcode=2020CrRes.11104124N |s2cid=133649140 |access-date=18 June 2023}}] along with some vertebrate remains.[{{cite journal |last1=Vullo |first1=Romain |last2=Néraudeau |first2=Didier |last3=Dépré |first3=Eric |date=October 2013 |title=Vertebrate remains from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) plant-bearing Lagerstätte of Puy-Puy (Charente-Maritime, France) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667113001043 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=45 |pages=314–320 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2013.06.002 |bibcode=2013CrRes..45..314V |access-date=18 June 2023|url-access=subscription }}] The site preserves evidence of plant-insect interaction.[{{cite journal |last1=Santos |first1=Artai A. |last2=Xiao |first2=Lifang |last3=Labandeira |first3=Conrad C. |last4=Néraudeau |first4=Didier |last5=Dépré |first5=Eric |last6=Moreau |first6=Jean-David |last7=Perrichot |first7=Vincent |last8=Wappler |first8=Torsten |date=1 July 2022 |title=Plant–insect interactions from the mid-Cretaceous at Puy-Puy (Aquitaine Basin, western France) indicates preferential herbivory for angiosperms amid a forest of ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23818107.2022.2092772 |journal=Botany Letters |volume=169 |issue=4 |pages=568–587 |doi=10.1080/23818107.2022.2092772 |s2cid=250241945 |access-date=18 June 2023}}] |
| Burmese amber | 101-99 Ma (latest Albian/earliest Cenomanian) | Myanmar
|More than 1,000 species of taxa have been described from ambers from Hukawng Valley. While it is important for understanding the evolution of biota, mainly insects, during the Cretaceous period, it is also extremely controversial by facing ethical issues due to its association with conflicts and labor conditions.
|File:Oculudentavis_naga_specimen.jpg, small-sized lizard]] |
| El Chango Lagerstätte
|Earliest Cenomanian
|Chiapas
|A site from the beginning of the Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution containing early evidence of insect predation on angiosperms.[{{Cite journal |last1=Santos |first1=Artai A. |last2=McLoughlin |first2=Stephen |last3=Rubalcava-Knoth |first3=Marco A. |last4=Hernández-Damián |first4=Ana L. |last5=Villanueva-Amadoz |first5=Uxue |last6=Cevallos-Ferriz |first6=Sergio R. S. |date=10 July 2024 |title=Plant-insect interactions in the mid-Cretaceous paleotropical El Chango Lagerstätte (Cintalapa Fm., Mexico)—patterns of herbivory during the Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=12 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2024.1381539 |doi-access=free |issn=2296-701X }}]
| |
| English Chalk
|100-90 Ma (Cenomanian to Turonian)
|England
|Two subsections of England's famous chalk formation, the Grey Chalk Subgroup and the lower sections of the White Chalk Subgroup, yield three-dimensionally preserved fossils of marine fishes. This exquisite level of preservation is unlike fish fossils from other deposits from around the same time, which are only preserved as two-dimensional compression fossils.[{{Cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Matt |last2=Beckett |first2=Hermione T. |last3=Close |first3=Roger A. |last4=Johanson |first4=Zerina |date=2016 |title=The English Chalk and London Clay: two remarkable British bony fish Lagerstätten |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP430.18 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |language=en |volume=430 |issue=1 |pages=165–200 |doi=10.1144/SP430.18 |issn=0305-8719|url-access=subscription }}]
|File:Aulolepis (36908826841).jpg]] |
| Haqel/Hjoula/al-Nammoura | 95-94 Ma | Lebanon
|Famous Lebanese konservat-lagerstätten of the Late Cretaceous (middle to late Cenomanian) age, which contain a well-preserved variety of different fossils. Small animals like shrimp, octopus, stingrays, and bony fishes are common finds at these sites. Some of the rarest fossils from this locality include those of octopuses.[{{Cite journal |last1=George |first1=Hady |last2=Bazzi |first2=Mohamad |last3=Hossny |first3=Tamara El |last4=Ashraf |first4=Nida |last5=Saad |first5=Pierre Abi |last6=Clements |first6=Thomas |date=2024-04-29 |title=The famous fish beds of Lebanon: the Upper Cretaceous Lagerstätten of Haqel, Hjoula, Nammoura, and Sahel Aalma |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |volume=181 |issue=5 |language=en |doi=10.1144/jgs2023-210 |issn=0016-7649|doi-access=free }}]
|File:Ichthyoceros_fossil.jpg, a pycnodont actinopterygian]] |
| Ein Yabrud (Amminadav Formation or Bet-Meir Formation) | Cenomanian | West Bank, Palestine
|The marine fossil site with well-preserved marine vertebrate fossils, especially fossils of early legged snakes like Haasiophis and Pachyrhachis has quality of preservation rivals that of other famous Lagerstatten.[{{Cite journal |last1=Rieppel |first1=Olivier |last2=Zaher |first2=Hussam |last3=Tchernov |first3=Eitan |last4=Polcyn |first4=Michael J. |date=2003 |title=The anatomy and relationships of Haasiophis terrasanctus, a fossil snake by well-developed hind limbs from the Mid-Cretaceous of the Middle East |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/abs/anatomy-and-relationships-of-haasiophis-terrasanctus-a-fossil-snake-by-welldeveloped-hind-limbs-from-the-midcretaceous-of-the-middle-east/7241E4CCA42E98D8C3747A74146F1C1B |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |volume=77 |issue=3 |pages=536–558 |doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2003)077<0536:TAAROH>2.0.CO;2 |issn=0022-3360|url-access=subscription }}]
|File:Image_of_SMNK-PAL._8613.jpg, a pycnodont actinopterygian]] |
| Komen Limestone
|95-94 Ma
|Komen, Slovenia
|A Late Cenomanian locality in the Karst of Slovenia with a high diversity of articulated fossil fish, in addition to small reptiles and invertebrates.[{{Cite journal |last1=Palci |first1=Alessandro |last2=Jurkovšek |first2=Bogdan |last3=Kolar-Jurkovšek |first3=Tea |last4=Caldwell |first4=Michael W. |date=2008 |title=New palaeoenvironmental model for the Komen (Slovenia) Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) fossil lagerstätte |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2007.05.003 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=316–328 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2007.05.003 |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}]
|File:Abhandlungen der Geologischen Bundesanstalt (1892) (16142481744).jpg]] |
| Hesseltal Formation
|94–93 Ma
|Saxony & North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
|Deposited during the anoxic conditions of the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event, this formation has a high number of well-preserved, articulated fish skeletons, in addition to exceptionally preserved ammonites with soft parts.[{{Cite journal |last1=Cawley |first1=John |last2=Lehmann |first2=Jens |last3=Wiese |first3=Frank |last4=Kriwet |first4=Jürgen |date=2020 |title=Njoerdichthys dyckerhoffi gen. et sp. nov. (Pycnodontiformes, lower Turonian) northward migration caused by the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104590 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=116 |pages=104590 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104590 |issn=0195-6671 |pmc=7611863 |pmid=34690488}}][{{Cite journal |last1=Klug |first1=Christian |last2=Riegraf |first2=Wolfgang |last3=Lehmann |first3=Jens |date=2012 |title=Soft–part preservation in heteromorph ammonites from the Cenomanian–Turonian Boundary Event (OAE 2) in north–west Germany |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01196.x |journal=Palaeontology |language=en |volume=55 |issue=6 |pages=1307–1331 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01196.x |issn=0031-0239}}]
|File:Rhamphoichthys flipped.jpg-like Rhamphoichthys]] |
| Vallecillo (Agua Nueva Formation) | 94–92 Ma | Nuevo León, Mexico
|The site is noted for its qualities as a konservat-lagerstätte, with notable finds including the plesiosaur Mauriciosaurus and the possible shark Aquilolamna.
|File:Mauriciosaurus fernandezi.jpg, a short-necked plesiosaur ]] |
| Conulus Bed
|Turonian
|Poland
|A crinoid konzentrat-lagerstätte.[{{Cite journal |last1=Salamon |first1=Mariusz A. |last2=Gorzelak |first2=Przemyslaw |last3=Borszcz |first3=Tomasz |last4=Gajerski |first4=Artur |last5=Kaźmierczak |first5=Jolanta |date=May–June 2009 |title=A crinoid concentration Lagerstätte in the Turonian (Late Cretaceous) Conulus Bed (Miechów-Wolbrom area, Poland) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016699509000229 |journal=Geobios |language=en |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=351–357 |doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2008.10.008 |access-date=9 March 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}]
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| Akrabou Formation (Gara Sbaa/Agoult & Goulmima) | ? (Turonian) | Asfla, Morocco
|Marine site known for exceptionally preserved, three-dimensional fish fossils.[{{Cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Samuel L. A. |last2=Martill |first2=David M. |date=2020-12-01 |title=Pycnodont fishes (Actinopterygii, Pycnodontiformes) from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Turonian) Akrabou Formation of Asfla, Morocco |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=116 |pages=104607 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104607 |issn=0195-6671 |pmc=7442934 |pmid=32863512 |doi-access=free}}][{{Cite journal |last1=Martill |first1=David M. |last2=Ibrahim |first2=Nizar |last3=Brito |first3=Paulo M. |last4=Baider |first4=Lahssen |last5=Zhouri |first5=Samir |last6=Loveridge |first6=Robert |last7=Naish |first7=Darren |last8=Hing |first8=Richard |date=2011 |title=A new Plattenkalk Konservat Lagerstätte in the Upper Cretaceous of Gara Sbaa, south-eastern Morocco |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2011.01.005 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=433–446 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2011.01.005 |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}]
|File:Grandemarinus.jpg, an early gar]] |
| Orapa diamond mine
|Turonian
|Botswana
|An insect lagerstätte known for being one of the few entomofaunas from southern Africa, containing a variety of insects,[{{Cite journal |last1=Brothers |first1=D. J. |last2=Rasnitsyn |first2=A. P. |date=1 September 2003 |title=Diversity of Hymenoptera and other insects in the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) deposits at Orapa, Botswana : a preliminary review |url=https://journals.co.za/content/ento/11/2/EJC32559 |journal=African Entomology |language=en |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=221–226 |issn=1021-3589 |access-date=8 June 2024 |via=Sabinet}}] particularly beetles.[{{Cite journal |last=Woolley |first=Christopher |date=6 June 2016 |title=The first scarabaeid beetle (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Melolonthinae) described from the Mesozoic (Late-Cretaceous) of Africa |url=http://africaninvertebrates.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=8416 |journal=African Invertebrates |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=53–66 |doi=10.3897/AfrInvertebr.57.8416 |doi-access=free |issn=2305-2562 |access-date=8 June 2024}}][{{Cite journal |last1=Mnguni |first1=Sandiso |last2=McKay |first2=Ian James |last3=Badenhorst |first3=Shaw |date=29 April 2024 |title=A Fossil Paederinae from a Lacustrine Deposit at Orapa Diamond Mine in Botswana1 |url=https://meridian.allenpress.com/jes/article/doi/10.18474/JES23-99/500466/A-Fossil-Paederinae-from-a-Lacustrine-Deposit-at |journal=Journal of Entomological Science |volume=59 |issue=4 |language=en |doi=10.18474/JES23-99 |issn=0749-8004 |access-date=8 June 2024}}]
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| New Jersey amber
|91-89 Ma
|New Jersey, US
|Turonian-aged amber from the Raritan & Magothy Formations of New Jersey, with a high diversity of well-preserved insects, plants and fungi.[{{Cite journal |last1=Grimaldi |first1=David |last2=Agosti |first2=Donat |date=2000-12-05 |title=A formicine in New Jersey Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and early evolution of the ants |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=97 |issue=25 |pages=13678–13683 |doi=10.1073/pnas.240452097 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=17635 |pmid=11078527}}]
|File:Sphecomyrma freyi AMNH-NJ943A.jpg, an early ant]] |
| Lower Idzików beds
|87-86 Ma (Coniacian)
|Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
|An exposure of these beds near Stary Waliszów contains a konzentrat-lagerstätte of numerous Cretaceous marine invertebrates in concretions, including decapods, molluscs and echinoderms, as well as well-preserved plant fossils that indicate a nearshore environment. Very well-preserved phosphatized decapod remains are known.[{{Cite journal |last1=Trzęsiok |first1=Dawid |last2=Krzykawski |first2=Tomasz |last3=Niedźwiedzki |first3=Robert |last4=Brom |first4=Krzysztof |last5=Gorzelak |first5=Przemysław |last6=Salamon |first6=Mariusz A. |date=2014-05-01 |title=Palaeoenvironment of the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian) concretion-bearing Lagerstätten from Poland |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018214001047 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=401 |pages=154–165 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.02.030 |issn=0031-0182|url-access=subscription }}]
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| Smoky Hill Chalk | 87–82 Ma | Kansas and Nebraska, US
|A Cretaceous konservat-lagerstätte known primarily for its exceptionally well-preserved marine reptiles. Also known from this site are fossils of large bony fish such as Xiphactinus, mosasaurs, flying reptiles or pterosaurs (namely Pteranodon), flightless marine birds such as Hesperornis, and turtles.
|File:Xiphactinus in Denver Museum.jpg is famous for being found with another fish (Gillicus) preserved in its stomach. ]] |
| Ingersoll Shale | 85 Ma | Alabama, US
|A Late Cretaceous (Santonian) informal geological unit in eastern Alabama. Fourteen theropod feathers assigned to birds and possibly dromaeosaurids have been recovered from the unit.
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| Sahel Alma
|~84 Ma
|Lebanon
|A Late Cretaceous (Santonian) konservat-lagerstätte with similar excellent preservation of marine organisms as the nearby, older Sannine Lagerstätte, but in a deep-water environment. Includes a high number of well-preserved shark body fossils, in addition to cephalopods and deepwater arthropods.
|File:Pristiophorus tumidens Sahel Alma Santonian.jpg, an early sawshark]] |
| Calcare di Aurisina
|~80-70.6 Ma
|Italy & Slovenia
|A late cretaceous shallow marine series of carbonate platforms dominated by rudists, with fossils of invertebrates and vertebrates, specially fishes.[{{Cite journal |last1=Dalla Vecchia |first1=F.M |last2=Tentor |first2=M. |date=2004 |title=Il Carso 85 milioni di anni fa: Gli straordinari fossili di Polazzo |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/51467252/Il_Carso_85_milioni_di_anni_fa_gli_strao20170122-22471-vnp25m.pdf |journal=Gruppo Speleologico Monfalconese A.d.F |pages=1–75}}] Its best known outcrop is the Villaggio del Pescatore site, that yielded the holotype of Tethyshadros, as well other exceptionally preserved taxa like Acynodon adriaticus.[{{Cite journal |last1=Chiarenza |first1=Alfio Alessandro |last2=Fabbri |first2=Matteo |last3=Consorti |first3=Lorenzo |last4=Muscioni |first4=Marco |last5=Evans |first5=David C. |last6=Cantalapiedra |first6=Juan L. |last7=Fanti |first7=Federico |date=2021-12-02 |title=An Italian dinosaur Lagerstätte reveals the tempo and mode of hadrosauriform body size evolution |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=23295 |bibcode=2021NatSR..1123295C |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-02490-x |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=8640049 |pmid=34857789}}][{{Cite journal |last1=Marco |first1=Muscioni |last2=Chiarenza |first2=Alfio Alessandro |last3=Delfino |first3=Massimo |last4=Fabbri |first4=Matteo |last5=Milocco |first5=Kevin |last6=Fanti |first6=Federico |date=2023 |title=Acynodon adriaticus from Villaggio del Pescatore (Campanian of Italy): Anatomical and chronostratigraphic integration improves phylogenetic resolution in Hylaeochampsidae (Eusuchia) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105631 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=151 |pages=105631 |bibcode=2023CrRes.15105631M |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105631 |issn=0195-6671 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11093/5418}}]
|File:Tethyshadros_insularis.JPG]] |
| Auca Mahuevo | 80 Ma | Patagonia, Argentina
|A Cretaceous lagerstätte in the eroded badlands of the Patagonian province of Neuquén, Argentina. The sedimentary layers of the Anacleto Formation at Auca Mahuevo were deposited between 83.5 and 79.5 million years before the present and offers a view of a fossilized titanosaurid nesting site.
|File:Sauropod egg Auca Mahuevo Museum of Anchient Life.jpg |
| Ellisdale Fossil Site
|79-76 Ma
|New Jersey, US
|A middle Campanian konzentrat-lagerstätte from the Marshalltown Formation with one of the most diverse Mesozoic vertebrate faunas of eastern North America, likely originating from a flood event. A high number of disarticulated bones of dinosaurs, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals is known, most of which are microfossils.[{{Cite journal |last=Brownstein |first=Chase Doran |date=2019-04-01 |title=First Record of a Small Juvenile Giant Crocodyliform and its Ontogenetic and Biogeographic Implications |url=https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-peabody-museum-of-natural-history/volume-60/issue-1/014.060.0104/First-Record-of-a-Small-Juvenile-Giant-Crocodyliform-and-its/10.3374/014.060.0104.full |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=81 |doi=10.3374/014.060.0104 |issn=0079-032X|url-access=subscription }}]
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| Coon Creek Formation
|76.8-76.0 Ma[{{Cite journal |last1=Self-Trail |first1=Jean M. |last2=Gardner |first2=Kristina F. |last3=O'Keefe |first3=Jennifer |last4=Mason |first4=Patricia H. |last5=Puckett |first5=Mark |last6=Gibson |first6=Michael A. |last7=McCarty |first7=M. Maeve |date=2024 |title=Microfossils and biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation Lagerstätte, Mississippi Embayment, USA |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP545-2023-137 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |language=en |volume=545 |issue=1 |pages=717–738 |doi=10.1144/SP545-2023-137 |issn=0305-8719|url-access=subscription }}]
|Tennessee and Mississippi, US
|This late Campanian formation has some of the world's best-preserved remains of Cretaceous marine invertebrates (primarily mollusks and decapod crustaceans), with many retaining their original aragonitic shells and exoskeletons.[{{Cite journal |last1=Vrazo |first1=M. B. |last2=Diefendorf |first2=A. F. |last3=Crowley |first3=B. E. |last4=Czaja |first4=A. D. |date=2018 |title=Late Cretaceous marine arthropods relied on terrestrial organic matter as a food source: Geochemical evidence from the Coon Creek Lagerstätte in the Mississippi Embayment |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gbi.12270 |journal=Geobiology |language=en |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=160–178 |doi=10.1111/gbi.12270 |issn=1472-4677 |pmid=29350453}}]
|File:Avitelmessus grapsoides.JPG Avitelmessus grapsoides, which occurs in great numbers at Coon Creek]] |
| Baumberge Formation
|~75-72 Ma
|North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
|A Late Campanian formation in the Baumberge of Germany with a high number of articulated fossil fish remains, in addition to shark body fossils.[{{Cite web |title=PBDB |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displaySearchStrataResults?group_formation_member=Baumberge |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=paleobiodb.org}}]
|File:Sphenocephalus fissicaudus 349.jpg fish Sphenocephalus]] |
Nardò (Calcari di Melissano)[{{Cite journal |last1=Paparella |first1=Ilaria |last2=Palci |first2=Alessandro |last3=Nicosia |first3=Umberto |last4=Caldwell |first4=Michael W. |date=2018 |title=A new fossil marine lizard with soft tissues from the Late Cretaceous of southern Italy |journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=172411 |doi=10.1098/rsos.172411 |issn=2054-5703|doi-access=free |pmid=30110414 |pmc=6030324 }}] | ~72-70 Ma (upper Campanian-lower Maastrichtian) | Apulia, Italy
|This site is especially famous for its limestones containing abundant fossil fish remains.
|File:Nardovelifer_altipinnis.jpg, the earliest lampriform]] |
| Harrana (Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation) | 66.5-66.1 Ma (Late Maastrichtian)[{{Cite journal |last1=Jagt |first1=John W.M. |last2=Jagt-Yazykova |first2=Elena A. |last3=Kaddumi |first3=Hani F. |last4=Lindgren |first4=Johan |date=2018-10-02 |title=Ammonite dating of latest Cretaceous mosasaurid reptiles (Squamata, Mosasauroidea) from Jordan—preliminary observations |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03115518.2017.1308011 |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=587–596 |doi=10.1080/03115518.2017.1308011 |issn=0311-5518|url-access=subscription }}] | Jordan
| Phosphatic deposits formed in this site are known to preserve vertebrate fossils with soft tissue, such as mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, sharks, bony fish, turtles and crocodylians.[{{Cite journal |last1=Lindgren |first1=Johan |last2=Kaddumi |first2=Hani F. |last3=Polcyn |first3=Michael J. |date=2013-09-10 |title=Soft tissue preservation in a fossil marine lizard with a bilobed tail fin |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=2423 |doi=10.1038/ncomms3423 |issn=2041-1723|doi-access=free |pmid=24022259 }}]
|File:Postredectes_harranaensis.jpg, an example of fish fossil from this site]] |
Tanis[{{Cite journal |title=A seismically induced onshore surge deposit at the KPg boundary, North Dakota |last=DePalma |first=Robert |display-authors=etal |date=2 April 2019 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=116 |issue=17 |pages=8190–8199 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1817407116 |pmid=30936306 |pmc=6486721 |bibcode=2019PNAS..116.8190D |doi-access=free}}]
|66.0 Ma
|North Dakota, US
|Tanis is part of the heavily studied Hell Creek Formation, a group of rocks spanning four states in North America renowned for many significant fossil discoveries from the Upper Cretaceous and lower Paleocene. Tanis is a significant site because it appears to record the events from the first minutes until a few hours after the impact of the giant Chicxulub asteroid in extreme detail. This impact, which struck the Gulf of Mexico 66.043 million years ago, wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs and many other species (the so-called "K-Pg" or "K-T" extinction).
|File:Goddard Scientific Colloquium, Tanis fish fossils.jpg from the Tanis site]] |
