Argiles et Grès à Reptiles Formation explained

Argiles et Grès à Reptiles Formation
Type:	Geological formation
Age:	Campanian-Early Maastrichtian,
Period:	Maastrichtian
Prilithology:	Clay, shale
Otherlithology:	Sandstone
Region:	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Bouches-du-Rhône
Coordinates:	43.5°N 5.5°W
Paleocoordinates:	36.1°N 4°W
Underlies:	Calcaire de Rognac
Thickness:	Over 40m (130feet)
Extent:	Aix-en-Provence Basin

Argiles et Grès à Reptiles Formation (meaning Reptile Clay and Sandstone) also known as the Argiles Rutilantes Formation^[1] is an early Maastrichtian^[2] French geologic formation in the département of Var preserving the remains of several types of dinosaurs and other extinct organisms.^[3]

Fossil content

An abelisaurid similar to Arcovenator is known from Département des Bouches-du-Rhone, while enantiornithean and indeterminate avialan remains are known from Département du Var.

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs of the Grès à Reptiles
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Abelisauridae	Indeterminate	Bouches du Rhône	Lower		A large abelisaurid that was similar to Arcovenator.
Arcovenator^[4]	A. escotae	Var	Lower		A large abelisaurid.
Atsinganosaurus^[5]	G. meridionalis	Bouches du Rhône	Lower		A titanosaur Lirainosaurinae.
Castignovolucris^[6]	C. sebei	Castigno valley, Villespassans, Hérault	Lower (i.e. continental red clays)		An enantiornithine bird.
Garrigatitan^[7]	A. velauciensis	Bouches du Rhône	Lower		A titanosaur Lirainosaurinae.
Gargantuavis^[8]	G. philoinos	Var
Hypselosaurus^[9]	H. priscus	Bouches-du-Rhône^[10] Var			Actually indeterminate sauropod remains.
Matheronodon	M. provincialis	Bouches-du-Rhône			A rhabdodontid ornithopod
Theropoda	Indeterminate	Var			Previously referred to "Megalosaurus" pannoniensis
Pyroraptor	P. olympius	Bouches-du-Rhône		"Fragmentary postcrania and teeth"^[11]
Rhabdodon	R. priscus	Bouches-du-Rhône Var
Rhodanosaurus	R. lugdunensis	Bouches-du-Rhône
Variraptor	V. mechinorum	Var Bouches-du-Rhône

Mammals of the Grès à Reptiles
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Mistralestes	M. arcensis	La Cairanne
Valentinella	V. vitrollense	Vitrolles-La Plaine

Crocodylians

• Acynodon iberoccitanus^[12]
• Allodaposuchus sp.^[13]
• Alligatoridae indet.^[14]
• Crocodylidae indet.^[14]

Turtles

• Foxemys mechinorum^[15]
• cf. Polysternon sp.^[16]
• cf. Solemys sp.^[16]

Pterosaurs

• Mistralazhdarcho maggii^[17]

Fish

• Hybodontiformes indet.^[16]
• Lepisosteidae indet.^[16]

Fossil eggs

• Megaloolithus aureliensis^[18]
• Megaloolithus petralta^[18]
• Megaloolithus sp.^[18]

Flora

• Peckichara cancellata^[16]
• P. pectinata^[16]
• Platychara caudata^[16]
• Saportanella maslovi^[16]
• ?Amblyochara begudiana^[16]

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing stratigraphic units
• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in France

References

Bibliography

Further reading

• R. Cousin, G. Breton, R. Fournier and J.-P. Watte. 1994. Dinosaur egglaying and nesting in France. K. Carpenter, K.F. Hirsch & J.R. Horner (eds.) Dinosaur Eggs and Babies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 56–74
• J. Le Loeuff, E. Buffetaut, P. Méchin and A. Méchin-Salessy. 1992. The first record of dromaeosaurid dinosaurs (Saurischia, Theropoda) in the Maastrichtian of southern Europe: palaeobiogeographical implications. Bulletin de la Société géologique de la France 163(3):337-343
• R. Dughi and F. Sirugue. 1958. Sur les oeufs de dinosaures du bassin fluvio-lacustre de Basse-Provence. Comptes Rendus du Congrès National des Sociétés Savantes, Section des Sciences, Paris 83:183-20

Notes and References

1. Tabuce et al., 2013
2. Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.588-593
3. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=displayStrata&geological_group=&formation=Argiles%20et%20Gr%E8s%20%E0%20Reptiles&group_formation_member=Argiles%20et%20Gr%E8s%20%E0%20Reptiles Argiles et Grès à Reptiles Formation
4. Tortosa. Thierry. Buffetaut. Eric. Vialle. Nicolas. Dutour. Yves. Turini. Eric. Cheylan. Gilles. 2014-01-01. A new abelisaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of southern France: Palaeobiogeographical implications. Annales de Paléontologie. en. 100. 1. 63–86. 10.1016/j.annpal.2013.10.003. 2014AnPal.100...63T . 0753-3969.
5. Díez Díaz. Verónica. Garcia. Géraldine. Pereda Suberbiola. Xabier. Jentgen-Ceschino. Benjamin. Stein. Koen. Godefroit. Pascal. Valentin. Xavier. 2020-12-21. A new titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Velaux-La-Bastide Neuve (southern France). Historical Biology. 33 . 11 . en. 2998–3017. 10.1080/08912963.2020.1841184. 234404741 . 0891-2963.
6. Buffetaut . E. . Angst . D. . Tong . H. . 2023 . A new enantiornithine bird from Upper Cretaceous non-marine deposits at Villespassans (Hérault, southern France) . Annales de Paléontologie . 109 . 1 . 102585 . 10.1016/j.annpal.2022.102585. 2023AnPal.10902585B . 257863645 . free .
7. B. Vila . A. Galobart . J.U. Canudo . J. Le Loeff . 2012 . The diversity of sauropod dinosaurs and their first taxonomic succession from the latest Cretaceous of southwestern Europe: Clues to demise and extinction . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 350-352 . 15 . 19–38 . 10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.06.008 . 2012PPP...350...19V .
8. "14.8 Département du Var, France; 2. Grès à Reptiles Formation," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.589
9. "14.8 Département du Var, France; 2. Grès à Reptiles Formation" and "14.38 Département des Bouches-du-Rhone, France; 1. Grès à Reptiles Formation," in Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.589-590
10. "14.38 Département des Bouches-du-Rhone, France; 1. Grès à Reptiles Formation," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.590
11. "Table 10.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.199
12. Martin, 2007
13. Blanco & Brochu, 2016
14. Le Loeuff & Buffetaut, 1998
15. Tong et al., 1998
16. Martin et al., 2016
17. Vullo et al., 2018
18. Viany-Liaud et al., 1994