Revision of Recent Investigations in the Tlayúa Quarry

Isotopic composition of low-latitude paleoprecipitation during the Early Cretaceous

“…In addition to its contribution to global paleoclimate study, the Tlayua Formation at the Tlayua Quarry study site contains numerous well-preserved vertebrate and invertebrate fossils of mixed marine, freshwater, and terrestrial origin, as well as soft-tissue preservation (Martill, 1989;Pantoja-Alor, 1992;Applegate et al, 2006;Alvarado-Ortega et al, 2007). Isotopic and petrographic study provides further paleoenvironmental data to help understand this extraordinary paleontological resource.…”

“…The Albian Tlayua Formation in southern Mexico was considered an ideal candidate to capture tropical meteoric signals because it had been interpreted to represent a shallow-water back-reef lagoon with episodic freshwater input (Malpica-Cruz et al, 1989;Pantoja-Alor, 1992;Espinosa-Arrubarrena and Applegate, 1996;Applegate et al, 2006). However, at the onset of our investigation, Kashiyama et al (2004) questioned the shallow freshwater-infl uenced interpretation and suggested an open-marine basin for the origin of the Tlayua Formation.…”

The Muhi Quarry: A Fossil-Lagerstätte from the Mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) of Hidalgo, Central México

“…There exist various Fossil-Lagerstätten in México, characterized by diverse fauna of invertebrates and vertebrates, coming from different ages and several paleoenvironments: The Tlayúa quarry of Albian age is a locality frequently compared with Solnhofen because of the great diversity of fauna and the excellent state of preservation, including details of muscles, gills, digestive tracts, and stomach contents with fishes making up 70%-80% of the macrofossils deposited in a restricted basin with marine and freshwater influence (Alvarado-Ortega et al, 2007;Applegate et al, 2006); the El Chango and El Espinal quarries of Albian-Cenomanian age (Alvarado-Ortega et al, 2009) with plant remains, mollusks, crustaceans, insects and different fish taxa. Vega et al (2006) suggested that these deposits were accumulated within a shallow lagoon or estuary with occasional freshwater influence; the Vallecillo quarry of early Turonian age (Blanco-Piñón et al, 2002) where the fauna consisting of invertebrates, sharks, neopterygians, and latimerioids was deposited on an open shelf, which is supported by the pelagic assemblage and the absence of submarine barriers in the region around Vallecillo, Nuevo León (Ifrim et al, , 2010; the El Rosario quarries of late Turonian-early Coniacian age containing plant remains, invertebrates and vertebrates with anatomical details of soft tissues preserved and some specimens conserved in 3D, that were deposited in an open marine shelf environment, at least 100 km away from coast line ; and the Xilitla quarries of Turonian age containing invertebrates and fishes deposited in an open shelf environment with low energy influx (Blanco-Piñón et al, 2006).…”

Paraclupea seilacheri sp. nov., un arenque de doble armadura (Clupeomorpha, Ellimmichthyiformes) de las calizas albianas de la cantera Tlayúa, Puebla, México

“…The Tlayúa quarry is a remarkable Early Cretaceous KonservatLagerstätte locality (Applegate et al, 2006;Alvarado-Ortega et al, 2007), near Tepexi de Rodriguez town, Puebla State, central Mexico ( Figure 1). The fossil bearing lithographic limestones of this site belong to the Middle Member of the Tlayúa Formation of Albian age (PantojaAlor, 1992;Benammi et al, 2006), which were deposited under shallow marine conditions with sporadic freshwater influences, into a tropical and semi-enclosed coastal lagoon (Espinosa-Arruebarrena and Applegate, 1996) represents algae, foraminifers, ostracods, sponges, corals, gastropods, arthropods, ammonites, and other invertebrates, as well as plant remains, reptiles, and fishes (Applegate et al, 2006;2009. Since 1981, the Tlayúa quarry has been the focus of a regional paleontological project led by researchers and students of the Instituto de Geología of UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).…”

“…The fossil bearing lithographic limestones of this site belong to the Middle Member of the Tlayúa Formation of Albian age (PantojaAlor, 1992;Benammi et al, 2006), which were deposited under shallow marine conditions with sporadic freshwater influences, into a tropical and semi-enclosed coastal lagoon (Espinosa-Arruebarrena and Applegate, 1996) represents algae, foraminifers, ostracods, sponges, corals, gastropods, arthropods, ammonites, and other invertebrates, as well as plant remains, reptiles, and fishes (Applegate et al, 2006;2009. Since 1981, the Tlayúa quarry has been the focus of a regional paleontological project led by researchers and students of the Instituto de Geología of UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México). In this project, two members of the Aranguthy Contreras family, owners and workers of this quarry, were hired by the UNAM to support in the recovering of fossils from this and others fossil localities nearby.…”