Biotic association and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the “Loma del Pterodaustro” fossil site (Early Cretaceous, Argentina)

Abstract

A sedimentological analysis of the basal section of the Early Cretaceous, lacustrine LagarcitoFormation at “Loma del Pterodaustro” (San Luis, Argentina) and a summary of its biological components are presented. Three sedimentological facies can be recognized in the basal sequence of the Lagarcito Formation. Fossil remains are particularly abundant in laminated claystones of a facies interpreted as deposits formed in offshore areas of the lake. The preservation of delicate structures allows recognition of these deposits as a Konservat Lagerstätte. Up to now, rocks at “Loma del Pterodaustro” have yielded plants, conchostracans, semionotid and pleuropholid fishes, pterodactyloid pterosaurs, and a variety of invertebrate traces. The chronology of the Lagarcito Formation is discussed and it is concluded that this unit is of Albian age. The palaeoenvironment of deposition of the basal sequence of the Lagarcito Formation at “Loma del Pterodaustro” is interpreted as a perennial, shallow lake developed within an alluvial plain, under semiarid climatic conditions.