Escucha Formation

Escucha Formation Stratigraphic range: Late Aptian-mid Albian ~117–103 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
View of Escucha and surrounding rocks
Type	Geological formation
Sub-units	E1 to E3
Underlies
Overlies	Castrillo de la Reina, &
Thickness	~70 m (230 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Siltstone, mudstone (E1, E3) sandstone (E2)
Other	Coal (E1) siltstone (E2), amber
Location
Coordinates	42°36′N 2°42′W / 42.6°N 2.7°W / 42.6; -2.7Coordinates: 42°36′N 2°42′W / 42.6°N 2.7°W / 42.6; -2.7
Approximate paleocoordinates	30°24′N 1°24′E / 30.4°N 1.4°E / 30.4; 1.4
Region	Teruel, Aragón La Rioja
Country	Spain
Extent	, &
Type section
Named for	Escucha, Teruel
Escucha Formation (Spain)

The Escucha Formation is a geological formation in La Rioja and Teruel provinces of northeastern Spain whose strata date back to the late Aptian to middle Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.^[1]

The approximately 70 m (230 ft) thick formation underlies the and overlies Castrillo de la Reina, & . The Escucha Formation comprises siltstones, mudstones, sandstones, coal, siltstones and amber, in which several fossil insects were found. The formation was deposited in a variety of continental to paralic (deltaic environments.^[2]

Fossil content[]

The Escucha Formation has provided the following fossils, among others:^[3]

Dinosaurs[]

Dinosaurs
Taxa	Location	Notes	Images
Europelta carbonensis	La Rioja	[4]
Proa valdearinnoensis	La Rioja	[5]

Other dinosaurs

• Allosauroidea indet.
• Iguanodontia indet.
• Titanosauriformes indet.

Reptiles

• ^[6]
• Testudines indet.
• Anteophthalmosuchus escuchae
• Goniopholididae indet.
• Hulkepholis plotos

Fish

• Chondrichthyes indet.
• Osteichthyes indet.

Insects[]

Insects
Taxa	Location/site	Notes	Images
Alavaraphidia	Peñacerrada I amber	[7]
Amarantoraphidia	Peñacerrada I amber	[7]
Microcostaphron parvus	Peñacerrada I amber	[8]
Radiophron ibericus	Peñacerrada I amber	[9]
Styporaphidia? hispanica	Peñacerrada I amber	[7]

Other arthropods

Invertebrates

• Ostracoda indet.
• Bivalvia indet.
• Gastropoda indet.

Flora

• Pinophyta
• Angiospermae indet.

Correlation[]

Early Cretaceous stratigraphy of Iberia

Ma	Age	Paleomap \ Basins		Olanyà								Lusitanian
100	Cenomanian											Caranguejeira
125	Albian		-
			Monte Grande		Escucha		Escucha
			-
	Aptian		-		- Castrillo
					En Gp. -	Morella/			Morella
			-		En Gp. -	Forcall					Upper Bedoulian
	Barremian					Xert	Alacón	Xert		Huérguina
						Artoles				Collado		Papo Seco
				Rúbies	Tera Gp. -	Alacón/Blesa	Blesa	Camarillas
150	Hauterivian				Ur Gp. -			Castellar	Tera Gp. -
							hiatus
	Valanginian				Ur Gp. -				-
					-				- Piedrahita
	Berriasian		-			hiatus
					- Rupelo			Arzobispo	hiatus
					On Gp. -
	Tithonian		Lastres		Tera Gp. -		Higuereles			Tera Gp. -		Lourinhã
									Arzobispo
Legend		Major fossiliferous, oofossiliferous, ichnofossiliferous, coproliferous, minor formation
Sources

See also[]

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
• Monte Grande Formation, Albian formation of the
• Caranguejeira Conglomerate, Aptian to Cenomanian formation of the Lusitanian Basin
• Baltic, Burmese, Dominican and Mexican amber

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Kirkland, J.I.; L. Alcalá; M.A. Loewen; E. Espílez; L. Mampel, and J.P. Wiersma. 2013. The Basal Nodosaurid Ankylosaur Europelta carbonensis n. gen., n. sp. From the Lower Cretaceous (Lower Albian) Escucha Formation of Northeastern Spain. PLoS ONE 8. e80405. Accessed 2019-10-09.
• Ortega Blanco, J.; A.P. Rasnitsyn, and X. Delclòs. 2010. A new family of ceraphronoid wasps from Early Cretaceous Álava Amber, Spain. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 55. 265–276. Accessed 2019-10-09.
• Pérez de la Fuente, R.; E. Peñalver; X. Delclòs, and M.S. Engel. 2012. Snakefly diversity in Early Cretaceous amber from Spain (Neuropterida, Raphidioptera). ZooKeys 204. 1–40. doi:10.3897/zookeys.204.2740 PMID 22787417 PMC 3391719
• Pérez García, A.; E. Espílez; L. Mampel, and L. Alcalá. 2020. A new basal turtle represented by the two most complete skeletons of Helochelydridae in Europe. Cretaceous Research 107. Article 104291. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104291
• Peyrot, Daniel; Juan Pedro Rodríguez López; Luis Lassaletta; Nieves Meléndez, and Eduardo Barrón. 2007. Contributions to the palaeoenvironmental knowledge of the Escucha Formation in the Lower Cretaceous Oliete Sub-basin, Teruel, Spain. Comptes Rendus Palevol 6. 469–481. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2007.09.014ISSN 1631-0683
• Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka Osmólska (eds.). 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21.ISBN 0-520-24209-2

Further reading[]

• L. Alcalá, E. Espílez, L. Mampel, J. I. Kirkland, M. Ortiga, D. Rubio, A. González, D. Ayala, A. Cobos, R. Royo-Torres, F. Gascó and M. D. Pesquero. 2012. A new Lower Cretaceous vertebrate bonebed near Arino (Tereul, Aragon, Spain); found and managed in a joint collaboration between a mining company and a palaeontological park. Geoheritage 4:275-286
• J. I. Canudo, A. Cobos, C. Martín-Closas, X. Murelaga, X. Pereda-Suberbiola, R. Royo-Torres, J. I. Ruiz-Omeñaca and L. M. Sender. 2005. Sobre la presencia de dinosaurios ornitópodos en la Formación Escucha (Cretácico Inferior, Albiense): redescubierto “Iguanodon” en Utrillas (Teruel) [On the presence of ornithopod dinosaurs in the Escucha Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Albian): redescribing “Iguanodon” in Utrillas (Teruel)]. Fundamental 6:51-56
• E. Peñalver, D. A. Grimaldi, and X. Delclos. 2006. Early Cretaceous spider web with its prey. Science 312:1761