Plottier Formation
Geologic formation in Argentina
title: "Plottier Formation" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["geologic-formations-of-argentina", "neuquén-group", "upper-cretaceous-series-of-south-america", "cretaceous-argentina", "coniacian-stage", "shale-formations", "sandstone-formations", "alluvial-deposits", "fluvial-deposits", "fossiliferous-stratigraphic-units-of-south-america", "paleontology-in-argentina", "geology-of-neuquén-province", "geology-of-río-negro-province"] description: "Geologic formation in Argentina" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plottier_Formation" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Geologic formation in Argentina ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox rockunit"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Plottier Formation |
| type | Geological formation |
| period | Coniacian |
| age | late Coniacian-early Santonian |
| ~ | |
| prilithology | Claystone |
| otherlithology | Sandstone |
| namedfor | Plottier |
| namedby | Fossa Mancini et al. |
| year_ts | 1938 |
| region | Mendoza, Neuquén & Río Negro Provinces |
| country | Argentina |
| coordinates | |
| paleocoordinates | |
| unitof | Neuquén Group |
| Río Neuquén Subgroup | |
| underlies | Río Colorado Subgroup |
| Bajo de la Carpa Formation | |
| overlies | Sierra Barrosa Formation |
| thickness | Up to 25 m |
| extent | Neuquén Basin |
| map | {{Location map+ |
| relief | 1 |
| width | 250 |
| float | center |
| lat_deg | -37.4 |
| lon_deg | -69.1 |
| mark | Lightgreen pog.svg |
| marksize | 12 |
| :: |
| name = Plottier Formation | image = | caption = | type = Geological formation | period = Coniacian | age = late Coniacian-early Santonian ~ | prilithology = Claystone | otherlithology = Sandstone | namedfor = Plottier | namedby = Fossa Mancini et al. | year_ts = 1938 | region = Mendoza, Neuquén & Río Negro Provinces | country = Argentina | coordinates = | paleocoordinates = | unitof = Neuquén Group Río Neuquén Subgroup | subunits = | underlies = Río Colorado Subgroup Bajo de la Carpa Formation | overlies = Sierra Barrosa Formation | thickness = Up to 25 m | extent = Neuquén Basin | area = | map = {{Location map+ | Argentina | relief = 1 | width = 250 | float = center | places = | lat_deg = -37.4 | lon_deg = -69.1 | mark = Lightgreen pog.svg | marksize = 12 | map_caption =
The Plottier Formation is a geologic formation that outcrops in the Argentine Patagonian provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén. It is the younger of two formations belonging to the Río Neuquén Subgroup within the Neuquén Group of the Neuquén Basin, with the oldest rocks dating from the late Coniacian and its youngest maybe from the very start of the Santonian. Formerly, that subgroup was treated as a formation, and the Plottier Formation was known as the Plottier Member.
Description
A section near the Neuquén City airport, north of the town of Plottier, is the type locality of the Plottier Formation. At its base, this formation grades into the Portezuelo Formation, and it is in turn overlain conformably by the Bajo de la Carpa Formation, a unit of the Río Colorado Subgroup.
The Plottier Formation is the thinnest formation within the Neuquén Group, with a maximum thickness of only 25 m. It is differentiated from the underlying Portezuelo Formation primarily by its higher content of argillites (mud deposits) and was deposited under fluvial conditions. In 2006, a detailed lithostratigraphic and paleoecological study of a section of the Plottier Formation was published. This section contained alluvial deposits laid down by what was essentially a low-gradient wandering river throughout the millions of years, but often was of a single-channel type with little meandering.
Fossil content
Few animal fossils are known from this formation, including:
Crocodyliformes
::data[format=table]
| Crocodyliformes reported from the Plottier Formation | Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| last1=Salgado | first1=Leonardo | last2=Canudo | first2=José I. | last3=Garrido | first3=Alberto C. | last4=Ruiz-Omeñaca |
| Lomasuchus | L. palpebrosus | Embalse Cerros Colorados | Skull and partial mandibular ramus | A peirosaurid, specimen originally claimed to originate from the Rio Colorado formation. | ||
| Mesoeucrocodylia indet. | Indeterminate | Yacimiento Narambuena | Partial skeleton (MAU-PV-N-280) | Subadult specimen showing both derived and primitive traits | ||
| Peirosauridae indet. | Indeterminate | Puesto Hernández | Partial skeleton (MAU-Pv-PH-437) | A peirosaurid | ||
| :: |
Dinosaurs
Ornithischians
A footprint track of an ornithopod is known from the Middle Loma de la Lata site. ::data[format=table]
| Ornithischians reported from the Plottier Formation | Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ornithopoda indet. | Indeterminate | El Anfiteatro | A pedal ungual phalanx (MPCA-AT 261) | An ornithopod roughly the size of Notohypsilophodon | ||
| Indeterminate | Puesto Hernández quarry | Partial dorsal neural arch (MAU-Pv-PH-458) | An ornithopod similar to Macrogryphosaurus, estimated to be 6 meters long | [[File:Macrogryphosaurus life reconstruction.png | center | 150 px]] |
| :: |
Sauropods
12 footprint tracks of a sauropod are known from the site of Proyecto Dino. ::data[format=table]
| Sauropods reported from the Plottier Formation | Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aeolosaurini indet. | Indeterminate | Yacimiento Narambuena | Four articulated caudal vertebrae (MAU-Pv-N-414) | A titanosaur | ||
| Antarctosaurus | A. giganteus | Aguada del Caño | Partial skeleton (MLP 26-316) | A titanosaur | ||
| Muyelensaurus | M. pecheni | Loma del Lindero | Partial skeleton & additional vertebrae | A titanosaur, specimens originally thought to be from the Portezuelo Formation | ||
| Notocolossus | N. gonzalezparejasi | Cerro Guillermo | Two partial skeletons (UNCUYO-LD 301 & UNCUYO-LD 302) | A titanosaur | [[File:Notocolossus NT small.jpg | center |
| Petrobrasaurus | P. puestohernandezi | Rincón de los Sauces | Partial skeleton | A titanosaur | [[Image:Petrobrasaurus puestohernandezi.jpg | center |
| Sauropoda indet. | Indeterminate | 5 kilometers north of Plottier | Partial right tibia (MCF-PVPH-899) | A sauropod | ||
| Indeterminate | Cerro Guillermo | Incomplete skeleton (IANIGLA-PV.113) | A sauropod | |||
| Titanosauria indet. | Indeterminate | El Anfiteatro | Incomplete dorsal vertebra (MPCA-AT 024) | A large titanosaur | ||
| Indeterminate | 5 kilometers north of Plottier | Remains of titanosaurs | ||||
| :: |
Theropods
::data[format=table]
| Theropods reported from the Plottier Formation | Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abelisauridae indet. | Indeterminate | Cañadon Amarillo | Tooth | An abelisaur tooth formerly thought to be part of the holotype specimen of Aerosteon | ||
| Indeterminate | El Anfiteatro | Tooth (Endemas-PV 16) | An abelisaur, tooth originally reported as that of a carcharodontosaurid in 2009 but reclassified in 2021 | |||
| Alvarezsauria indet. | Indeterminate | Rincón de los Sauces | Right femur (MAU-Pv-PH-453) | An alvarezsaur | ||
| Brachyrostra indet. | Indeterminate | Loma del Lindero | Vertebrae, teeth and possible sacrum (MAU-Pv-LL-75) | An abelisaur | ||
| cf. Carcharodontosauridae | Indeterminate | El Anfiteatro | Tooth (Endemas-PV 16) | Reclassified as an abelisaur tooth in 2021 | ||
| Coelurosauria indet. | Indeterminate | El Anfiteatro | Two teeth (MPCA-AT 263 & 269) | A coelurosaur | ||
| Maniraptoriformes indet. cf. Unenlagiinae | Indeterminate | El Anfiteatro | Tooth (Endemas-PV 15) | Possible unenlagiine tooth, though more material is needed to confirm this | ||
| Theropoda indet. | Indeterminate | El Anfiteatro | Incomplete caudal vertebra (MPCA-AT 082) | A "moderately sized" theropod | ||
| :: |
Pterosaurs
::data[format=table]
| Pterosaurs reported from the Plottier Formation | Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thanatosdrakon | T. amaru | Agua del Padrillo | An azhdarchid | [[File:Thanatosdrakon.png | center | |
| :: |
Turtles
::data[format=table]
| Turtles reported from the Plottier Formation | Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelidae? indet. | Indeterminate | El Anfiteatro | Plastron plate (MPCA-AT 089) | A chelid | ||
| Linderochelys | L. rinconensis | Loma de Lindero | Partial skeleton (MAU-PV-LL-69) | A chelid, locality originally assigned to the Rio Neuquén Subgroup with no specific formation. | ||
| last1=de la Fuente | first1=Marcelo | last2=Maniel | first2=Ignacio | last3=Jannello | first3=Juan | last4=Sterli |
| :: |
Ichnofossils
- Scoyenia sp.
- Taenidium sp. There are also ichnofossils left on the river's mudflats, as well as fossil freshwater bivalves.
Ostracods
::data[format=table]
| Ostracods reported from the Plottier Formation | Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| last1=Díaz Martínez | first1=Enrique | title=4th european meeting on the palaeontology and stratigraphy of Latin America | last2=Rábano | first2=Isabel | date=2007 | publisher=Instituto geológico y minero de España |
| Ilyocypris | I. aff. bauruensis | Zampal | A few molts | An ilyocypridid | ||
| I. cf. riograndensis | Zampal | An ilyocypridid | ||||
| I. wichmanni | Zampal | An ilyocypridid | ||||
| Neocyprideis | N.? sp. | Zampal | An ilyocypridid | |||
| N. zampalensis | Babilonia | 4 valves | An ilyocypridid | |||
| Neuquenocypris | N. calfucurensis | Babilonia | 3 valve fragments | An ilyocypridid | ||
| N. cf. minor | Zampal | An ilyocypridid | ||||
| N. nahuelniyuensis | Babilonia | 6 valves | An ilyocypridid | |||
| N. tenuipunctata | Babilonia | 5 adult and 3 juvenile valves | An ilyocypridid | |||
| Paralimnocythere | P.? sp. | Zampal | Several carapaces and valves | A limnocytherid | ||
| Talicyprideinae sp. | Indeterminate | Zampal | Very scarce number of carapaces | An ilyocypridid | ||
| Vecticypris | V. sp. | Babilonia | 2 valves | A limnocytherid | ||
| Wolburgiopsis | W. cf. neocretacea | Zampal | A limnocytherid | |||
| :: |
Plants
::data[format=table]
| Plants reported from the Plottier Formation | Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angiospermae? indet. | Indeterminate | Zampal | A few seeds | A possible angiosperm | ||
| Henrisporites | H. sp. | Zampal | Abundant megaspores | A lycopod | ||
| Lychnothamnus | L. barbosai | Zampal | Over 400 microfossils | A stonewort | ||
| Nitella | N. sp. | Zampal | 21 microfossils | A stonewort | ||
| Spermatites | S. sp. 1 | Zampal | Seeds | An angiosperm | ||
| S. sp. 2 | Zampal | Seeds | An angiosperm | |||
| :: |
References
Bibliography
- (1993): Enantiornithine (Aves) Tarsometatarsi from the Cretaceous Lecho Formation of Northwestern Argentina. American Museum Novitates 3083: 1-27. [English with Spanish abstract] PDF fulltext
- (2002): Bird footprints from the Anacleto Formation (Late Cretaceous), Neuquén, Argentina. Ameghiniana 39(4): 453-463. [English with Spanish abstract] PDF fulltext
- (2006): Bird tracks from Liaoning Province, China: New insights into avian evolution during the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition. Cretaceous Research 27(1): 33-43. (HTML abstract). Erratum:
- (2005): Osteology of the sauropod embryos from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50(1): 79–92. PDF fulltext
References
- Sánchez ''et al.'', 2006
- Fossa Mancini ''et al.'', 1938
- Leanza ''et al.'', 2004
- [https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?geological_group=Neuqu%E9n&formation=Plottier Plottier Formation] at [[Fossilworks]].org
- (2009-06-01). "Upper Cretaceous vertebrates from El Anfiteatro area, Río Negro, Patagonia, Argentina". Cretaceous Research.
- (1991-09-30). "A new Senonian peirosaurid (Crocodylomorpha) from Argentina and a synopsis of the South American Cretaceous crocodilians". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
- (2007). "Crocodyliformes". In: Patagonian Mesozoic Reptiles. Gasparini, Z., Coria, R., & Salgado, L. (Eds.). Indiana University Press.
- Arcucci, Andrea. (2011-01-01). "Un nuevo Mesoeucrocodylia cretácico del norte de la Cuenca Neuquina, Argentina". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia.
- (February 2013). "Morfología e Histología de Osteodermos de Un Peirosauridae De La Cuenca Neuquina". Ameghiniana.
- (2021-10-01). "An overview of Upper Cretaceous dinosaur tracks and other trace fossils from the Barreales lake area, Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina". Journal of South American Earth Sciences.
- (2016-04-01). "New record of ornithopod dinosaur from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Patagonia, Argentina". Annales de Paléontologie.
- Martinelli, Agustin. (2013-01-01). "Registro de un dinosaurio Aeolosaurini (Sauropoda, Titanosauria) en el Cretácico Superior (Formación Anacleto) del norte de la provincia de Neuquén, Argentina, y comentarios sobre aeolosaurinos sudamericanos". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 16(1): 147-156.
- (2023-03-06). "Dinosaurs (Reptilia, Archosauria) at Museo de La Plata, Argentina: annotated catalogue of the type material and Antarctic specimens". Palaeontologia Electronica.
- Porfiri, Juan. (2000-01-01). "A New Titanosaur Sauropod from the Late Cretaceous of Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina". Arquivos do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro.
- (January 2018). "New Titanosauria (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) remains from the Upper Cretaceous (Plottier Fm) of the southern Neuquén Basin (Patagonia, Argentina)". Journal of Iberian Geology.
- (2016-01-18). "A gigantic new dinosaur from Argentina and the evolution of the sauropod hind foot". Scientific Reports.
- Previtera, Elena. (2019-05-31). "Taphonomic analysis of saurischian dinosaurs from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mendoza, Argentina". Andean Geology.
- (2011-05-06). "A new sauropod titanosaur from the Plottier Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Patagonia (Argentina)". Geologica Acta.
- (2020-04-01). "Taxonomic identification of isolated theropod teeth: The case of the shed tooth crown associated with Aerosteon (Theropoda: Megaraptora) and the dentition of Abelisauridae". Cretaceous Research.
- (2021-09-01). "Testing the persistence of Carcharodontosauridae (Theropoda) in the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia based on dental evidence". Cretaceous Research.
- (2024-10-16). "A new maniraptoran femur with alvarezsaurian affinities from the Plottier Formation (Coniacian-Santonian), northern Patagonia". Historical Biology.
- (2022-01-01). "New furileusaurian remains from La Invernada (northern Patagonia, Argentina): A site of unusual abelisaurids abundance". Cretaceous Research.
- (2022-09-01). "Thanatosdrakon amaru, gen. et sp. nov., a giant azhdarchid pterosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina". Cretaceous Research.
- (2018-03-01). "''Linderochelys rinconensis'' (Testudines: Pan-Chelidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of northern Patagonia: New insights from shell bone histology, morphology and diagenetic implications". Cretaceous Research.
- (2017). "Unusual shell anatomy and osteohistology in a new Late Cretaceous panchelid turtle from northwestern Patagonia, Argentina". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
- (2007). "4th european meeting on the palaeontology and stratigraphy of Latin America". Instituto geológico y minero de España.
- (2001-01-01). "Ostracods and paleoambiental inferences in the Plottier Formation (Coniancian - Upper Cretaceous) of the Barreales Lake, Neuquén". Munis Entomology & Zoology.
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