Sânpetru Formation

The Sânpetru Formation is an early Maastrichtian geologic formation. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.^[1] It is located in Romania, near Sânpetru village, part of Sântămăria-Orlea commune. It forms a component of the Hațeg Island fauna.

Sânpetru Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early Maastrichtian ~70–68 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Sibișel River near the Sânpetru Formation
Type	Geological formation
Sub-units	Lower & Upper Members
Underlies	Miocene deposits
Overlies	Strei Formation, flysch
Thickness	2,500 m (8,200 ft) of which 860 m (2,820 ft) exposed
Lithology
Primary	Mudstone, sandstone
Other	Conglomerate
Location
Coordinates	45.6°N 22.9°E / 45.6; 22.9
Approximate paleocoordinates	30.5°N 22.1°E / 30.5; 22.1
Region	Hunedoara
Country	Romania
Extent	Central Hațeg Basin
Type section
Named for	Sânpetru
Sânpetru Formation (Romania)

Description

The Sânpetru Formation crops out in the central to southern Hațeg Basin along the Bărbat River and comprises sandstones and mudstones deposited in a wet floodplain environment characterized by braided fluvial channels. The formation is correlated with the Densuș-Ciula Formation of the northern section of the same basin, both dating to the Maastrichtian of the Late Cretaceous.^[2]

Fossil content

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Amphibians

Amphibians of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Albanerpeton	Indeterminate				Albanerpetontid
Paralatonia	P. transylvanica				Frog

Turtles

Turtles of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Kallokibotion	K. bajazidi
Dortokidae	Indeterminate
Emydidae	Indeterminate

Squamates

Squamates of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Barbatteius	B. vremiri
Becklesius	B. nopcsai
Bicuspidon	B. hatzegiensis
Lacertilia	Indeterminate				5 distinct taxa
Madtsoiidae	Indeterminate				Snake

Crocodyliformes

Crocodyliformes of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Allodaposuchus[3]	Indeterminate
Sabresuchus	S. sympiestodon

Ornithischians

Ornithischians of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Struthiosaurus[4]	S. transylvanicus[4]			A skull and partial skeleton.	A nodosaur.
Telmatosaurus[4][5]	T. transsylvanicus[4]			"[Five to ten] fragmentary skulls, some with associated posctrania, mixed age classes."[6]	A small hadrosauromorph.
Zalmoxes[4]	Z. robustus[4]				A Rhabdodontid ornithopod.
	Z. shqiperorum[4]

Sauropods

Sauropods of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Magyarosaurus[4]	M. dacus[4]				A dwarf sauropod.
	M. hungaricus[4]
	M. transsylvanicus[4]
Paludititan[7]	P. nalatzensis				A dwarf sauropod	Dorsal vertebra of Paludititan

Theropods

Theropods of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Gargantuavis	Indeterminate			Pelvis[8]
Bradycneme[4]	B. draculae[4]			"Distal tibiotarsus."[9]
Elopteryx[4][10]	E. nopcsai[4]			"Fragmentary femur."[9]
Euronychodon[11]	Indeterminate[11]
Heptasteornis[4]	H. andrewsi[4]			"Distal tibiotarsus."[12]
Megalosaurus[4]	M. hungaricus			"Tooth."[13]

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs reported from the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Eurazhdarcho	E.langendorfensis
Hatzegopteryx	H.thambema

Mammals

Mammals from the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Barbatodon	B. transylvanicus				Kogaionid
Kogaionon	K. ungureanui				Kogaionid

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
• Hațeg Island

References

1. Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.
2. Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.26
3. Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.28
4. "29.3 Judetul Hunedoara, Romania; 1. Sânpetru Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 592-593.
5. Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.30
6. "Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 439.
7. Csiki, Z.; Codrea, V.; Jipa-Murzea, C.; Godefroit, P. (2010). "A partial titanosaur (Sauropoda, Dinosauria) skeleton from the Maastrichtian of Nălaț-Vad, Hațeg Basin, Romania". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 258 (3): 297–324. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0098.
8. Mayr et al., 2019
9. "Table 9.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 185.
10. Kessler et al., 2005
11. Listed as "cf. Euronychodon sp." in "29.3 Judetul Hunedoara, Romania; 1. Sânpetru Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 592-593.
12. "Table 9.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 186.
13. "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 78.

Bibliography

• Mayr, Gerald; Codrea, Vlad; Solomon, Alexandru; Bordeianu, Marian; Smith, Thierry (2019), "A well-preserved pelvis from the Maastrichtian of Romania suggests that the enigmatic Gargantuavis is neither an ornithurine bird nor an insular endemic", Cretaceous Research, 106: 104271, doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104271
• Solomon, Alexandru; Codrea, Vlad (2015), "Some Maastrichtan vertebrates from fluvial channel fill deposits at Pui (Hațeg Basin)", Muzeul Olteniei Craiova. Oltenia. Studii și comunicări. Științele Naturii, 31: 26–36, ISSN 1454-6914
• Kessler, E.; Grigorescu, D.; Csiki, Z. (2005), "Elopteryx revisited - A new bird-like specimen from the Maastrichtian of the Hațeg Basin (Romania)", Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae, 5: 249–258
• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (2004), The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 1–880, ISBN 0-520-24209-2, retrieved 2019-02-21