Lourinhã Formation
Encyclopedia
The Lourinhã Formation is a geological formation in West Portugal, named for the municipality of Lourinhã
, from which a wide array of fossils comes. The formation is Late Jurassic
in age (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian) and is notable for containing a fauna similar to that of the Morrison Formation
in the United States and the Tendaguru
beds in Tanzania.
The subdivisions are the Amoreira-Porto Novo Members and the Sobral Unit.
Lourinhã
Lourinhã is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 147.2 km² and a total population of 24,601 inhabitants. The seat of the municipality is the village of Lourinhã, with a population of 8,800 inhabitants....
, from which a wide array of fossils comes. The formation is Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 161.2 ± 4.0 to 145.5 ± 4.0 million years ago , which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age...
in age (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian) and is notable for containing a fauna similar to that of the Morrison Formation
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and limestone and is light grey, greenish...
in the United States and the Tendaguru
Tendaguru
The Tendaguru Beds are a fossil-rich formation in Tanzania. It has been considered the richest of Late Jurassic strata in Africa. Continental reconstructions show Tendaguru to have been in the southern hemisphere during the Late Jurassic. Tendaguru is similar to the Morrison Formation except in...
beds in Tanzania.
The subdivisions are the Amoreira-Porto Novo Members and the Sobral Unit.
Fauna of the Lourinhã Formation
- Allosaurus europaeusAllosaurusAllosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period . The name Allosaurus means "different lizard". It is derived from the Greek /allos and /sauros...
- Ceratosaurus dentisulcatusCeratosaurusCeratosaurus meaning "horned lizard", in reference to the horn on its nose , was a large predatory theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period , found in the Morrison Formation of North America, in Tanzania and Portugal...
- Dacentrurus armatusDacentrurusDacentrurus , originally known as Omosaurus, was a large stegosaur of the Late Jurassic Period .-Description:...
- Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensisDinheirosaurusDinheirosaurus is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur. It has been found in the upper section of the Late Jurassic strata of the Camadas de Alcobaça Formation located in central-western Portugal at Porto Dinheiro, Lourinhã...
- Draconyx loureiroiDraconyxDraconyx is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. It was an ornithopod which lived in what is now Portugal. It was found in Lourinhã, in 1991, and described by Octávio Mateus and Miguel Telles Antunes in 2001.-Etymology:...
- Dracopelta zbyszewskiiDracopeltaDracopelta was an ankylosaurian dinosaur from Portugal, described by Peter Galton in 1980. When Galton described the only known specimen, he referred it to the Kimmeridgian age of the locality of Ribamar...
- Lourinhanosaurus antunesiLourinhanosaurusLourinhanosaurus was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur genus that lived during the Late Jurassic Period . Its first remains were found at Peralta, near Lourinhã, Portugal in 1982, but were not described until 1998, by Portuguese paleontologist Octávio Mateus.Its type species is L...
- Lourinhasaurus alenquerensisLourinhasaurusLourinhasaurus was a sauropod dinosaur genus hailing from Late Jurassic strata from two localities in Estremadura, Portugal. It was described by Dantas et al. in 1998. Its type species is L...
- Lusotitan atalaiensisLusotitanLusotitan is a genus of herbivorous brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period of Portugal.In 1947 by Manuel de Matos, collector of the Geological Survey of Portugal, fossils of a large sauropod were found in the Portuguese Lourinhã Formation dating to the Tithonian stage of the...
- Miragaia longicollumMiragaia (dinosaur)Miragaia is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in Upper Jurassic rocks in Portugal...
Flora of the Lourinhã Formation
- Pterophyllum mondeguensis
- Pterophyllum sp.
- Sphenolepis choffati
See also
- Alcobaça Formation
- GuimarotaGuimarotaGuimarota is a disused coal mine that contains a diverse array of fossil animals and plants from the Upper Jurassic, Kimmeridgian period. It is located in central Portugal, near the city of Leiria....
- List of fossil sites
- Museu da LourinhãMuseu da LourinhãMuseu da Lourinhã is a museum in the town of Lourinhã, west Portugal. It was founded in 1984 by GEAL - Grupo de Etnologia e Arqueologia da Lourinhã ....
Other references
- Antunes, M.T. and Mateus, O. (2003). Dinosaurs of Portugal. C. R. Palevol, 2:77-95
- Mateus, O. (2006). "Late Jurassic dinosaurs from the Morrison Formation, the Lourinhã and Alcobaça Formations (Portugal), and the Tendaguru Beds (Tanzania): a comparison," in Foster, J.R. and Lucas, S. G. R.M., eds., 2006, "Paleontology and Geology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation." New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 36