Lecho Formation

Lecho Formation Stratigraphic range: Late Cretaceous
Type	Geological formation
Underlies	Yacoraite Formation
Location
Region	South America

The Lecho Formation is a geological formation in Argentina whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.^[1]

According to Frankfurt and Chiappe (1999), the Lecho Formation is located in northwestern Argentina and is composed of reddish sandstones. The Lecho is part of the Upper/Late Cretaceous Balbuena Subgroup (Salta Group), which is a near-border stratigraphic unit of the Andean sedimentary basin. The paleoenvironment was a fluvio-lacustrine coastal plain. Fossils from this formation include the titanosaur Saltasaurus along with a variety of avian and non-avian theropods.

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Vertebrate paleofauna

Dinosaurs reported from the Lecho Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Elbretornis	E. bonapartei			Scapula, partial coracoid, humerus, partial radius, partial ulna[2]	Enantiornithes	Noasaurus
Enantiornis[3]	E. leali[3]			"Postcranial elements."[4]	Enantiornithes
Lectavis[3]	L. bretincola[3]			"Tarsometatarsus and tibiotarsus."[4]	Enantiornithes
Martinavis	M. minor			Partial humerus[2]	Enantiornithes
	M. saltariensis			Humerus[2]
	M. vincei			Humeri[2]
	M. whetstonei			Partial humerus[2]
Noasaurus[3]	N. leali[3]			Isolated elements from the head and foot, as well as a verebral arch.[5] A putative oviraptorosaurian cervical vertebra [6] is likely to belong to this taxon.[7]	Noasaurid abelisaurs
Saltasaurus[3]	S. loricatus[3]			"Partial skeletons of at least [six] individuals, including jaws and armor."[8]	Saltasaurid titanosaurs
Soroavisaurus[3]	S. australis[3]			"Tarsometatarsus and phalanges."[9]	Avisaurid enantiornithes
Yungavolucris[3]	Y. brevipedalis[3]			"Tarsometatarsi."[9]	Enantiornithes

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

Footnotes

1. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, South America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 600-604. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
2. Walker and Dyke (2009). "Euenantiornithine birds from the Late Cretaceous of El Brete (Argentina)." Irish Journal of Earth Sciences, 27: 15-62.
3. "63.7 Provincia de Salta, Argentina; 3. Lower Kirtland Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 603.
4. "Table 11.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 213.
5. "Table 3.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 49.
6. Frankfurt, N.G., and L.M. Chiappe (1999). "A Possible Oviraptorosaur From The Late Cretaceous of Northwestern Argentina," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 19(1): 101-105.
7. Agnolin, F.L., and Martinelli, A.G. (2007) "Did oviraptorosaurs (Dinosauria; Theropoda) inhabit Argentina?" Cretaceous Research, 28: 785-790.
8. "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 270.
9. "Table 11.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 214.

References

• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.