Primeros restos de vertebrados del Cretácico superior de Quecedo de Valdivielso (Burgos)

Abstract

Chelonian plates, fish scales and crocodilian remains from the uppermost Cretaceous of the Burgos Province are described for the first time. All the remains have been found in the argilites of the Sobrepeña Formation (Middle-to-Upper Maastrichtian). The fossil bones have been found dispersed all around the outcrop. The bothremydid turtle plates are well preserved and represent the most abundant elements. The solemyid turtle plates are eroded and only a few fragments have been discovered. The bony fishes are represented by one scale that could be referred to the family Lepisosteidae. The crocodilian remains consist of an isolated tooth and an osteoderm. The fossil assemblage is in agreement with the sedimentological interpretation of a lower energy lacustrine system. The bothremydid and solemyidid turtles, bony fishes and crocodrilians are common components of the continental vertebrate faunas of the Ibero-Armorican realm at the end of the Cretaceous