Preliminary Report on a Late Cretaceous Vertebrate Fossil Assemblage in Northwestern Coahuila, Mexico

Resumen

A new vertebrate fossil
assemblage of Late Cretaceous age is reported here. This discovery
represents the results of the 2007 and 2008 field seasons in the
locality known as “Las Jicoteas” situated in the municipality of
Ocampo, in northwestern Coahuila, Mexico. The stratigraphic sequence
where this fossil fauna occurs can be correlated to the Lower Member
of the continental Aguja Formation that outcrops in the neighbouring
Big Bend region of Texas. This new fauna bears the first record of a
nodosaur for Mexico, and, also additional dinosaur remains
attributed to the families Tyrannosauridae and Hadrosauridae are
recorded. Associated fossil taxa include lepisosteid fishes, turtles
and crocodile remains. The palaeocological conditions inferred by
this new faunal assemblage suggest a paralic system with prodelta,
marshes, lagoons, and nearshore marine deposits.