Pietraroja Plattenkalk

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Pietraroja Plattenkalk
Stratigraphic range: Albian
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The village of Pietraroja with, immediately above it, the Le Cavere quarry, where the Pietraroja Plattenkalk outcrops
TypeGeological formation
Lithology
PrimaryLimestone
Location
Coordinates41°18′N 14°30′E / 41.3°N 14.5°E / 41.3; 14.5
Approximate paleocoordinates23°30′N 16°12′E / 23.5°N 16.2°E / 23.5; 16.2
RegionCampania
CountryItaly
Type section
Named forPietraroja
Pietraroja Plattenkalk is located in Italy
Pietraroja Plattenkalk
Pietraroja Plattenkalk (Italy)

The Pietraroja Plattenkalk is a Cretaceous geologic formation located in the Italian municipality of Pietraroja,[1] near Benevento, in Campania region. It is of Albian age. Dinosaur remains diagnostic to the genus level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation[2] and the type locality of the formation is the La Cavere quarry, which is near the village of Pietraroja.

Paleofauna

Mollusca

Mollusca
Genus Species Location Material Notes
Bivalves Cavere
Gastropoda Cavere

Crustaceans

Crustaceans
Genus Species Location Material Notes
Astacidea Indeterminate[3] Cavere Originally identified as Pseudastacus
Huxleycaris H. beneventana[3] Cavere An axiid
Micropenaeus M. tenuirostris[3] Cavere A penaeid
Parvocaris P. samnitica[3] Cavere A caridean within uncertain family


Fish

Fish
Genus Species Location Material Notes images
Aethalionopsis A. robustus Cavere A gonorynchiform fish[4]
Belonostomus crassirostris

Gregoriopycnodus bassanii

Ionoscopus petrarojae

Italoalbula petrarojae
Armigatus A. elatus, A. plinii Cavere An ellimmichthyiform fish[5]
Belonostomus B. crassirostris, B. cf. crassirostris Cavere An aspidorhynchid fish[6]
Brauccipycnodus B. pillae Cavere A pycnodont fish, originally classified in the genus Proscinetes[7]
Caeus C. leopoldi Cavere A gonorynchiform fish
Cavinichthys C. pachylepis A crossognathiform fish[8]
Cladocyclus C. sp. Cavere An ichthyodectiform fish, originally identified as Chirocentrites[9][10][11]
Clupavus C. sp. An ostariophysian fish
Coelodus/Ocloedus C. costae Cavere While C. costae from Capo d'Orlando got own genus Costapycnodus, records of C. costae from Pietraroja actually represents Gregoriopycnodus[12][13]
Elopopsis E. aff. fenzii [4]
Gregoriopycnodus G. bassanii A pycnodont fish, originally classified in the genus Palaeobalistum, Coelodus, Proscinetes[13]
?Hemielopopsis ?H. gibbus [4]
?Hypsospondylus ?H. bassanii [4]
Ionoscopus I. petrarojae An ionoscopiform fish[14]
Italoalbula I. pietrarojae Cavere An albulid fish
Italoelops I. foreyi Cavere An elopid fish[15]
Italophiopsis I. derasmoi An ionoscopiform fish[16]
Lepidotes L. sp. Cavere A lepidotid fish
Notagogus N. pentlandi Cavere A macrosemiid fish
Paraclupea P. pietrarojae An ellimmichthyiform fish[5]
?Phorcynis ?P. sp. An elasmobranch[4]
Pleuropholis P. decastroi A pleuropholid fish[17]
Propterus P. scacchi Cavere A macrosemiid fish[4]
"Rhinobatos" "R". obtusatus[18] Cavere A Rhinobatid guitarfish[19]
?Sauropsidium ?S. laevissimum Cavere [4]

Amphibians

Amphibians
Genus Species Location Material Notes Images
Celtedens C. megacephalus Cavere An albanerpetontid

Lepidosaurs

Lepidosauria
Genus Species Location Material Notes Images
Derasmosaurus D. pietraroiae Cavere A rhynchocephalian. Initially attributed to Chometokadmon
Eichstaettisaurus E. gouldi Cavere A lizard, possibly related to geckos. One of the two specimens was found as the gastric contents of a second reptile.
Costasaurus C. rusconi Cavere A lizard.
Chometokadmon C. fitzingeri Cavere A lizard.
Rynchocephalia indet unknown Cavere
Sphenodontidae indet.[20] unknown Cavere

Crocodylomorpha

Crocodylomorpha
Genus Species Location Material Notes
Pietraroiasuchus P. ormezzanoi Cavere Two articulated skeletons Previously assigned to Pachycheilosuchus, now sister taxon

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs
Genus Species Location Material Notes Images
Scipionyx S. samniticus Cavere A nearly complete skeleton in perfect condition Tiny juvenile theropod

Paleoflora

Algae

Algae
Genus Species Location Material Notes
Salpingoporella Cavere
Thaumatoporella Cavere

Plants

Plants
Genus Species Location Material Notes
Zamites Cavere
Brachyphyllum Cavere

See also

References

  1. (in Italian) Ciro, the Italian dinosaur from Pietraroja Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.
  3. Bravi, Sergio; Bravi, Sergio; Garassino, Alessandro (1998). "New biostratigraphic and palaeoecologic observations on the "Plattenkalk" of the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of Pietraroia (Benevento, S. Italy), and its decapod crustaceans assemblage". Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Milano. 138 (1–2): 119––171.
  4. Bravi, S. (1999). "A tentative reassessment of the fauna and flora from the Pietraroja plattenkalk" (PDF). Rivista del Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali “E.Caffi”, Bergamo.
  5. Marramà, Giuseppe; Carnevale, Giorgio (2023). "Double-armoured herrings (Clupeomorpha: Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Pietraroja (Southern Italy)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 21 (1) 2181109. doi:10.1080/14772019.2023.2181109. ISSN 1477-2019.
  6. Graziano, Roberto; Raspini, Arturo; Bartiromo, Antonello (2024). "New insights into the palaeoenvironmental–palaeoclimatic significance and sedimentary dynamics of carbonate Lagerstätten: The lower Albian of Pietraroja (Southern Italy)". Sedimentology. 71 (2): 619–686. doi:10.1111/sed.13146. ISSN 1365-3091.
  7. Taverne, L.; Capasso, L. (2021). "Osteology and relationships of Brauccipycnodus pillae gen. nov. from the Albian (Lower Cretaceous) of Pietraroja (Campania, southern Italy)" (PDF). Geo-Eco-Trop. 45 (1): 161–175. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-02-21. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  8. Louis Taverne; Luigi Capasso (2019). "Osteology of Cavinichthys pachylepis gen. and sp. nov. (Teleostei, Crossognathiformes, Pachyrhizodontidae) from Pietraroja (Lower Cretaceous, Campania, south Italy)". Thalassia Salentina. 41: 53–70. doi:10.1285/i15910725v41p53.
  9. Taverne, Louis (2008). "Considerations about the Late Cretaceous genus Chirocentrites and erection of the new genus Heckelichthys (Teleostei, Ichtyodectiformes) - A new visit inside the ichthyodectid phylogeny". Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique - Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen. 78: 209–228.
  10. Bucci, Enrico (2005). "A new ichthyodectid fish from the lower Cretaceous of Pietraroja (Southern Italy)". www.PalArch.nl, vertebrate palaeontology. 2 (3).
  11. Signore, M.; Pede, C.; Bucci, E.; Barbera, C. (2006). "First report of the genus Cladocyclus in the Lower Cretaceous of Pietraroja (Southern Italy)" (PDF). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana. 45 (1).
  12. Louis Taverne; Luigi Capasso; Maria Del Re (2019). "The pycnodont fishes from the Lower Cretaceous of the Capo d'Orlando, near Castellammare di Stabia (Naples, Campania, southern Italy), with the description of the new genus Costapycnodus" (PDF). Geo-Eco-Trop. 43 (1): 53–74.
  13. Louis Taverne; Luigi Capasso; Maria Del Re (2020). "Osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Gregoriopycnodus bassanii gen. nov., a pycnodont fish (Pycnodontidae) from the marine Albian (Lower Cretaceous) of Pietraroja (southern Italy)" (PDF). Geo-Eco-Trop. 44 (1): 161–174.
  14. Capasso, Luigi; Taverne, Louis Paul (2016), "Revision of Ionoscopus Petrarojae (Ionoscopiformes, Osteichthyes) from the Albian of Pietraroja (Campania, Southern Italy)", Thalassia Salentina, vol. 38, University of Salento, pp. 65–80, doi:10.1285/I15910725V38P65, retrieved 2025-11-17
  15. Taverne, Louis; Capasso, Luigi (2024). "OSTEOLOGY AND RELATIONSHIPS OF ITALOELOPS FOREYI GEN. AND SP. NOV. (TELEOSTEI, ELOPIFORMES) FROM THE ALBIAN (LOWER CRETACEOUS) OF PIETRAROJA (CAMPANIA, SOUTHERN ITALY)" (PDF). Atti Mus. Civ. St. Nat. Trieste. XII (65): 7–21.
  16. Louis Taverne; Luigi Capasso (2017). "Italophiopsis derasmoi gen. and sp. nov. (Ionoscopiformes, Italophiopsidae fam. nov.) from the Cretaceous of Pietraroja (Italy)". Thalassia Salentina (Data Set). 39: 9–24. doi:10.1285/i15910725v39p9.
  17. Taverne, L.; Capasso, L. (2019). "New data on Pleuropholis decastroi (Teleostei, Pleuropholidae), a "pholidophoriform" fish from the Lower Cretaceous of the Eurafrican Mesogea" (PDF). Geo-Eco-Trop. 43 (1): 35–51.
  18. Kriwet, Jürgen; Soler-Gijón, Rodrigo; López-Martínez, Nieves (2007). "Neoselachians from the Upper Campanian and Lower Maastrichtian (upper Cretaceous) of the Southern Pyrenees, Northern Spain". Palaeontology. 50 (5): 1051–1071. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00695.x. ISSN 1475-4983.
  19. Amore, Filomena Ornella; Argenio, Carmen; Fistola, Romano; Messina, Mattia Yuri; Rastelli, Andrea; Zingariello, Ida; Rocca, Rosa Anna La (2025-02-10). "The Paleontological Heritage as a Mean for Territorial Revitalization: Innovative Communication Modalities for Pietraroja Site (Southern Italy)". Geoheritage. 17 (1): 31. doi:10.1007/s12371-025-01081-w. ISSN 1867-2485.
  20. Cau, Andrea; Baiano, Mattia A.; Raia, Pasquale (May 2014). "A new sphenodontian (Reptilia, Lepidosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous of Southern Italy and the phylogenetic affinities of the Pietraroia Plattenkalk rhynchocephalians". Cretaceous Research. 49: 172–180. Bibcode:2014CrRes..49..172C. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2014.02.001.

Bibliography