Villar del Arzobispo Formation

The Villar del Arzobispo Formation is a Late Jurassic to possibly Early Cretaceous geologic formation in eastern Spain. It is equivalent in age to the Lourinhã Formation of Portugal. It was originally thought to date from the Late Tithonian-Middle Berriasian, but more recent work suggests a Kimmeridigan-Late Tithonian, possibly dating to the Early Berriasian in some areas.^[2][3][4] The Villar del Arzobispo Formation's age in the area of Riodeva in Spain has been dated based on stratigraphic correlations as middle-upper Tithonian, approximately 145-141 million years old. In the area of Galve, the formation potentially dates into the earliest Cretaceous.^[2]

Villar del Arzobispo Formation
Stratigraphic range: Kimmeridgian-early Berriasian? PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
An ornithopod trackway at the Las Cerradicas site, Villar del Arzobispo Formation. Photographed around 2013.[1]
Type	Geological formation
Underlies	Aguilar del Alfambra Formation
Overlies	Oolitic limestones of the Higuerueles Formation
Thickness	Greatly variable;108–1,383 m (354–4,537 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Mudstone
Other	Limestone, sandstone, conglomerate
Location
Coordinates	40.5°N 0.8°W / 40.5; -0.8
Approximate paleocoordinates	31.4°N 8.6°E / 31.4; 8.6
Region	Aragón, Teruel, Valencia
Country	Spain
Extent	Maestrazgo Basin
Type section
Named for	Villar del Arzobispo
Villar del Arzobispo Formation (Spain)

Most of the unit consists of siliciclastic mudstone, however the lower portion of the formation is dominated by bioclastic, oolitic and peloidal limestone, while channelized sandstone and conglomerate is found in the middle portion of the unit. While the lower part of the formation was deposited in an inner carbonate platform, the upward gradation into mudstone in the middle and upper portions of the formation represents a change in depositional environment to paralic and alluvial plain conditions.^[3][5]

Dinosaur remains are found throughout the unit, but are more abundant and better preserved in the terrestrially deposited middle-upper sections. Remains of the stegosaurid Dacentrurus were recovered in the Barranco Conejero locality in this formation.^[6] Over the years, other stegosaurian remains have been discovered in this formation, but none have yet been referred to a specific genus.^[7] Turiasaurs and brachiosaurids are also known from the formation. The formation is also well known for its fossil footprints, representing many different taxa.

Fossil content

Dinosaurs

Ornithischians

Ornithopods

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Ornithischians of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation
Taxon	Species	Localities	Material	Notes	Images
aff. Camptosaurus[8]	C. sp.	Fuentecillas	fragmentary remains: an anterior cervical centrum; an anterior dorsal centrum; a dorsosacral centrum; four sacral centra; a caudosacral centrum; two anterior caudal centra; three medial caudal centra; and a distal fragment from the left humerus	An ornithopod. The Fuentecillas specimen is seen to be closer to Camptosaurus than to Draconyx, hence its tentative placement within the Camptosaurus genus.	Camptosaurus Oblitosaurus
Oblitosaurus[9]	O. bunnueli	Barrihonda-El Humero	"a dentary tooth, an ungual pollex of the manus, and an almost complete left hindlimb"	Basalmost ankylopollexian, sister taxon to Draconyx.

Stegosaurs

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Stegosaurs of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation
Taxon	Species	Localities	Material	Notes	Images
Dacentrurus[10]	D. armatus	Barrihonda–El Humero San Cristóbal Cerrito del Olmo	several different elements	Subjective senior synonym of Miragaia.	Dacentrurus
Dacentrurinae[11]	Indeterminate	Barranco del Curro El Balsón	two partial skeletons	Cannot be compared with Miragaia.
Deltapodus[12]	D. ibericus	El Castellar	trackway on tidal limestone	Belongs to a large stegosaur, possibly related to Dacentrurus.

Sauropods

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Sauropods of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation
Taxon	Species	Localities	Material	Notes	Images
Aragosaurus[13]	A. ischiaticus	Las Zabacheras	partial postcranial skeleton	A basal macronarian previously thought to come from the El Castellar Formation.	Aragosaurus Turiasaurus
Diplodocidae[14]	Indeterminate	Pino de Jarque 2	ilium	Similar to Diplodocus and Barosaurus.
Diplodocinae[14]	Indeterminate	El Carrillejo	anterior caudal vertebra
Galvesaurus[15]	G. herreroi	Cuesta Lonsal-1	partial skeleton	Was once thought to be a turiasaur or basal macronarian, but now known to be a brachiosaurid. Possibly a junior synonym of Lusotitan.[16]
Losillasaurus[17]	L. giganteus	La Cañada San Lorenzo	caudal vertebrae, and two partial skeletons	A large turiasaur closely related to Turiasaurus.
Macronaria[14]	Indeterminate	La Quineta 1 Las Viñas San Lorenzo	caudal vertebrae
Turiasaurus[18][17]	T. riodevensis	Barrihonda–El Humero Corral de la Cautiva	several postcranial and cranial elements	A large turiasaur, similar to Losillasaurus.
Turiasauria[14]	Indeterminate	Puntal de Santa Cruz	several postcranial elements	Indeterminate turiasaur material originally referred to Turiasaurus, but does not share any unique features with the genus[19]

Theropods

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Theropods of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation
Taxon	Species	Localities	Material	Notes	Images
Allosauridae[20]	Indeterminate	Barrihonda-El Humero	5 teeth	Typical allosaurid teeth.
Dromaeosauridae[20]	Indeterminate	Barrihonda-El Humero Puntal de Santa Cruz	7 teeth	Possibly belonging to a velociraptorine.
Iberosauripus[21]	I. grandis	El Castellar	trackway	Likely belonged to a megalosaurid.
Megalosauridae[20][21]	Indeterminate	Carretera La Fonseca Masía de la Hoya Alta RD-39	teeth	Tentatively referred to the Megalosauridae. Some of the largest theropod teeth of Spain.

Reptiles

Turtles of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation
Taxon	Species	Localities	Material	Notes	Images
Riodevemys	R. inumbragigas	Barrihonda–El Humero		A pleurosternid freshwater turtle

Correlation

Early Cretaceous stratigraphy of Iberia

Ma	Age	Paleomap \ Basins	Cantabrian	Olanyà	Cameros	Maestrazgo	Oliete	Galve	Morella	South Iberian	Pre-betic	Lusitanian
100	Cenomanian		La Cabana	Sopeira	Utrillas		Mosquerela					Caranguejeira
			Altamira		Utrillas
			Eguino
125	Albian		Ullaga - Balmaseda	Lluçà						Traiguera
			Monte Grande		Escucha		Escucha			Jijona
			Itxina - Miono
	Aptian		Valmaseda - Tellamendi		Ol Gp. - Castrillo	Benassal		Benassal				Olhos
				Font	En Gp. - Leza	Morella/Oliete	Oliete	Villaroya	Morella	Capas Rojas		Almargem
			Patrocinio - Ernaga	Senyús	En Gp. - Jubela	Forcall				Villaroya	Upper Bedoulian	Figueira
	Barremian		Vega de Pas	Cabó	Abejar	Xert	Alacón	Xert		Huérguina		Assises
				Prada		Artoles				Collado	Moutonianum	Papo Seco
				Rúbies	Tera Gp. - Golmayo	Alacón/Blesa	Blesa	Camarillas	Mirambel
150	Hauterivian				Ur Gp. - Pinilla	Llacova		Castellar	Tera Gp. - Pinilla	Villares		Porto da Calada
							hiatus
						Huerva			Gaita
	Valanginian		Villaro		Ur Gp. - Larriba				Ped Gp. - Hortigüela
					Ped Gp. - Hortigüela				Ped Gp. - Piedrahita
					Peñacoba			Galve		Miravetes
	Berriasian		Cab Gp. - Arcera		Valdeprado	hiatus		Alfambra
					TdL Gp. - Rupelo			Arzobispo	hiatus	Tollo
					On Gp. - Huérteles Sierra Matute
	Tithonian		Lastres		Tera Gp. - Magaña		Higuereles			Tera Gp. - Magaña		Lourinhã
									Arzobispo
					Ágreda
Legend		Major fossiliferous, oofossiliferous, ichnofossiliferous, coproliferous, minor formation
Sources

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
  • List of stratigraphic units with few dinosaur genera