Lecho Formation

The Lecho Formation is a geological formation in the Salta Basin of the provinces Jujuy and Salta of northwestern Argentina. Its strata date back to the Early Maastrichtian, and is a unit of the Salta Group. The fine-grained bioturbated sandstones of the formation were deposited in a fluvial to lacustrine coastal plain environment.

Lecho Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early Maastrichtian ~70–68 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Salta Group
Underlies	Yacoraite Formation
Overlies	Los Blanquitos Formation
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Location
Coordinates	26.1°S 65.4°W / -26.1; -65.4
Approximate paleocoordinates	28.6°S 52.0°W / -28.6; -52.0
Region	Jujuy, Salta
Country	Argentina
Extent	Salta Basin
Lecho Formation (Argentina)

Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.^[1]

According to Frankfurt and Chiappe (1999), the Lecho Formation is composed of reddish sandstones. The Lecho is part of the Upper/Late Cretaceous Balbuena Subgroup (Salta Group), which is a near-border stratigraphic unit of the Andean sedimentary basin. Fossils from this formation include the titanosaur Saltasaurus along with a variety of avian and non-avian theropods.

Fossil content

Aves and Dinosaurs from the Lecho Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Elbretornis	E. bonapartei			Scapula, partial coracoid, humerus, partial radius, partial ulna[2]	Enantiornithes
Enantiornis[3]	E. leali[3]			"Postcranial elements"[4]	Enantiornithes
Lectavis[3]	L. bretincola[3]			"Tarsometatarsus and tibiotarsus"[4]	Enantiornithes
Martinavis	M. minor			Partial humerus[2]	Enantiornithes
	M. saltariensis			Humerus[2]
	M. vincei			Humeri[2]
	M. whetstonei			Partial humerus[2]
Noasaurus[3]	N. leali[3]			Isolated elements from the head and foot, as well as a verebral arch.[5] A putative oviraptorosaurian cervical vertebra [6] is likely to belong to this taxon.[7]	Noasaurid abelisaurs
Saltasaurus[3]	S. loricatus[3]			"Partial skeletons of at least [six] individuals, including jaws and armor."[8]	Saltasaurid titanosaurs
Soroavisaurus[3]	S. australis[3]			"Tarsometatarsus and phalanges."[9]	Avisaurid enantiornithes
Yungavolucris[3]	Y. brevipedalis[3]			"Tarsometatarsi"[9]	Enantiornithes

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
• Marília Formation