Quiricó Formation

Quiricó Formation
Quiricó Formation
Stratigraphic range: Aptian, ~125 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Stratigraphic position of the Quiricó Formation in São Francisco Basin
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Areado Group
Underlies	Abaeté Formation
Overlies	Três Barras Formation
Thickness	60–100 m (200–330 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone, claystone
Other	Siltstone, limestone
Location
Coordinates	16°42′S 44°24′W / 16.7°S 44.4°W
Approximate paleocoordinates	17°30′S 11°54′W / 17.5°S 11.9°W
Region	Minas Gerais
Country	Brazil
Extent	São Francisco Basin
Type section
Named for	Quiricó Lake/River
Named by	Barbosa
Year defined	1965
	Quiricó Formation (Brazil)
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The Quiricó Formation is a geological formation of the Areado Group in Minas Gerais, Brazil whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous (Aptian).^[2]^[1] Many occurrences of fossils are reported in the lacustrine deposits of the Quiricó Formation.

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.

Dinosaurs

Sauropods

Sauropods of the Quiricó Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Rebbachisauridae indet.^[3]	Indeterminate			Vertebral fragments.
Tapuiasaurus^[4]	T. macedoi			Partial articulated specimen including complete skull.	A titanosaurian sauropod.

Theropoda

Theropods of the Quiricó Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Abelisauridae indet.^[3]	Indeterminate			Isolated teeth.
Carcharodontosauridae indet.^[3]	Indeterminate			Isolated tooth.
Noasauridae indet.^[5]	Indeterminate			Partial right hindlimb.^[6]	Undescribed.
Spectrovenator^[7]	S. ragei			Partially articulated specimen including complete skull.	An abelisaurid theropod.

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs of the Quiricó Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Ornithocheiromorpha indet.^[8]	Indeterminate	Municipality of Presidente Olegário		An isolated tooth.	Probably a member of ornithocheiriformes.

Crocodylomorphs

Crocodylomorphs of the Quiricó Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Thilastikosuchus^[9]	T. scutorectangularis			Articulated skull and partially articulated specimen.	A candidodontid notosuchian.

Squamates

Squamates of the Quiricó Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Cryptobicuspidon^[10]	C. pachysymphysealis			Partial dentaries.	A polyglyphanodontid lizard.
Neokotus^[11]	N. sanfranciscanus			Partial skeleton including skull elements.	A paramacellodid lizard.

Crustacean

Crustacean of the Quiricó Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Alicenula^[12]	A. longiformis				A ostracod.
Penthesilenula^[12]	P. pintoi				A ostracod.
Platyestheria^[13]	P. abaetensis				A clam shrimp.
Timiriasevia^[12]	T. sanfranciscanensis				A ostracod.

Fish

Fishes of the Quiricó Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Amiidae Indet.	Ineterminate
Aspidorhynchidae Indet.	Indeterminate
Francischanos^[14]^[15]	F. moraesi				A chanid fish.
Laeliichthys^[16]	L. ancentralis				An osteoglossomorph fish.
Dipnoi Indet.	Indeterminate
Hybodontiformes Indet.	Indeterminate
Lepisosteidae Indet.	Indeterminate
Mawsonia	M. gigas				A mawsoniid coelacanth
Semionotiformes Indet.	Indeterminate

References

^ ^a ^b Carvalho & Santucci, 2024
^ Sgarbi, 2000
^ ^a ^b ^c Carvalho and Santucci, 2018
^ Hussam Zaher; Diego Pol; Alberto B. Carvalho; Paulo M. Nascimento; Claudio Riccomini; Peter Larson; Rubén Juarez-Valieri; Ricardo Pires-Domingues; Nelson Jorge da Silva Jr.; Diógenes de Almeida Campos (2011). Sereno, Paul (ed.). "A Complete Skull of an Early Cretaceous Sauropod and the Evolution of Advanced Titanosaurians". PLOS ONE. 6 (2) e16663. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...616663Z. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016663. PMC 3034730. PMID 21326881.
^ Steven F. Poropat; Adele H. Pentland; Ruairidh J. Duncan; Joseph J. Bevitt; Patricia Vickers-Rich; Thomas H. Rich (2020). "First elaphrosaurine theropod dinosaur (Ceratosauria: Noasauridae) from Australia — A cervical vertebra from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria". Gondwana Research. 84: 284–295. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2020.03.009. S2CID 218930877.
^ Silva, Rosely Rodrigues da (2013). "Osteological description and phylogenetic position of the theropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia) the Lower Cretaceous basin Sanfraciscana, city of Coração de Jesus, Minas Gerais, Brazil". Master's Dissertation, Instituto de Biociências, University of São Paulo, São Paulo. doi:10.11606/D.41.2013.tde-22072013-110420.
^ Hussam Zaher; Diego Pol; Bruno Albert Navarro; Rafael Delcourt; Alberto Barbosa Carvalho (2020). "An Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur from Brazil sheds light on the cranial evolution of the Abelisauridae". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 19 (6): 101–115. doi:10.5852/cr-palevol2020v19a6. hdl:11336/153682. S2CID 225149330.
^ Fialho, F. S. F.; Santucci, R. M.; Gomes, M. S.; Do Carmo, D. A. (2025). "First report of pterosaur remains from the Lower Cretaceous Quiricó Formation, São Francisco Basin (Minas Gerais), Brazil". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 97 (Suppl. 1) e20241140. doi:10.1590/0001-3765202520241140.
^ Carvalho, J. C.; Santos, D. M.; Pinto, R. L.; Santucci, R. M. (2025). "Anatomical description and systematics of a new notosuchian (Mesoeucrocodylia; Crocodyliformes) from the Quiricó Formation, Lower Cretaceous, Sanfranciscana Basin, Brazil". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 44 (4). e2452947. doi:10.1080/02724634.2025.2452947.
^ Carvalho, J. C.; Santucci, R. M. (2023). "A new fossil Squamata from the Quiricó Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Sanfranciscana Basin, Minas Gerais, Brazil". Cretaceous Research. 154 105717. 105717. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105717. S2CID 264138153.
^ Jonathas Souza Bittencourt; Tiago Rodrigues Simões; Michael Wayne Caldwell; Max Cardoso Langer (2020). "Discovery of the oldest South American fossil lizard illustrates the cosmopolitanism of early South American squamates". Communications Biology. 3 (1) 201. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0926-0. PMC 7190622. PMID 32350412.
^ ^a ^b ^c Amanda Moreira Leite; Dermeval Aparecido Do Carmo; Caio Bussaglia Ress; Murilo Pessoa; Guilherme Miranda Caixeta; Matheus Denezine; Rodrigo Rodrigues Adorno; Lucas Silveira Antonietto (2018). "Taxonomy of limnic Ostracoda (Crustacea) from the Quiricó Formation, Lower Cretaceous, São Francisco basin, Minas Gerais State, Southeast Brazil". Journal of Paleontology. 92 (4): 661–680. Bibcode:2018JPal...92..661L. doi:10.1017/jpa.2018.1. S2CID 135458331.
^ Jonathas S. Bittencourt; Rosemarie Rohn; Oscar F. Gallego; Mateo D. Monferran; Alexandre Uhlein (2018). "The morphology and systematics of the clam shrimp Platyestheria gen. nov. abaetensis (Cardoso) (Crustacea, Spinicaudata) from the Lower Cretaceous of the Sanfranciscana Basin, southeast Brazil". Cretaceous Research. 91: 274–286. Bibcode:2018CrRes..91..274B. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.06.016. hdl:11449/176586. S2CID 133928377.
^ Santos, 1955
^ Ribeiro, A. C.; Bockmann, F. A.; Poyato-Ariza, F. J. (2022). "Francischanos, a replacement genus for Dastilbe moraesi Silva-Santos, 1955, from the Quiricó Formation, Lower Cretaceous of the Sanfranciscana basin, Brazil (Ostariophysi: Gonorynchiformes)". Cretaceous Research. 135 105212. Bibcode:2022CrRes.13505212R. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105212. S2CID 247531742.
^ Santos, 1985

Bibliography

Celerino de Carvalho, Joyce; Santucci, Rodrigo Miloni (2024), "A new fossil Squamata from the Quiricó Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Sanfranciscana Basin, Minas Gerais, Brazil", Cretaceous Research, 154 105717, Bibcode:2024CrRes.15405717C, doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105717
Souza Bittencourt, Jonathas; Rodrigues Simões, Tiago; Caldwell, Michael Wayne; Cardoso Langer, Max (2020), "Discovery of the oldest South American fossil lizard illustrates the cosmopolitanism of early South American squamates", Communications Biology, 3 (1) 201, doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0926-0, PMC 7190622, PMID 32350412
Zaher, H.; Pol, D.; Carvalho, A.B.; Nascimento, P.M.; Riccomini, C.; Larson, P.; Juarez Valieri, R.; Pires-Domingues, R.; da Silva, N.J. and Campos, D.A. (2011), "A Complete Skull of an Early Cretaceous Sauropod and the Evolution of Advanced Titanosaurians", PLoS ONE, 6 (2) e16663, Bibcode:2011PLoSO...616663Z, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016663, PMC 3034730, PMID 21326881{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Bibcode:2011PLoSO...616663Z
Sgarbi, G.N.C (2000), "The Cretaceous Sanfranciscan Basin, Eastern Plateau of Brazil", Revista Brasileira de Geociências, 30 (3): 450–452, doi:10.25249/0375-7536.2000303450452 (inactive 4 July 2025){{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
Santos, R.S (1985), "Laeliichthys ancestralis, novo gênero e espécie de Osteoglossiformes do Aptiano da Formação Areado, Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil", Colet. Trab. Paleontol. Ser. Geol., 27: 161–167
Santos, R.S (1955), "Descrição dos peixes fósseis", Bol. Min. Agr. Div. Geol. Mineral., Rio de Janeiro, 155: 1–211
Zaher, H (2020), "An Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur from Brazil sheds light on the cranial evolution of the Abelisauridae", Comptes Rendus Palevol, 19 (6): 101–115, doi:10.5852/cr-palevol2020v19a6, hdl:11336/153682
Carvalho, Joyce Celerino de; Santucci, Rodrigo Miloni (2018), "New dinosaur remains from the Quiricó Formation, Sanfranciscana Basin (Lower Cretaceous), Southwestern Brazil", Cretaceous Research, 85: 20–27, Bibcode:2018CrRes..85...20D, doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2017.12.017

[Santucci24-1] Carvalho & Santucci, 2024

[Sgarbi2000-2] Sgarbi, 2000

[:0-3] Carvalho and Santucci, 2018

[tapuiasaurus-4] Hussam Zaher; Diego Pol; Alberto B. Carvalho; Paulo M. Nascimento; Claudio Riccomini; Peter Larson; Rubén Juarez-Valieri; Ricardo Pires-Domingues; Nelson Jorge da Silva Jr.; Diógenes de Almeida Campos (2011). Sereno, Paul (ed.). "A Complete Skull of an Early Cretaceous Sauropod and the Evolution of Advanced Titanosaurians". PLOS ONE. 6 (2) e16663. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...616663Z. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016663. PMC 3034730. PMID 21326881.

[5] Steven F. Poropat; Adele H. Pentland; Ruairidh J. Duncan; Joseph J. Bevitt; Patricia Vickers-Rich; Thomas H. Rich (2020). "First elaphrosaurine theropod dinosaur (Ceratosauria: Noasauridae) from Australia — A cervical vertebra from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria". Gondwana Research. 84: 284–295. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2020.03.009. S2CID 218930877.

[6] Silva, Rosely Rodrigues da (2013). "Osteological description and phylogenetic position of the theropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia) the Lower Cretaceous basin Sanfraciscana, city of Coração de Jesus, Minas Gerais, Brazil". Master's Dissertation, Instituto de Biociências, University of São Paulo, São Paulo. doi:10.11606/D.41.2013.tde-22072013-110420.

[7] Hussam Zaher; Diego Pol; Bruno Albert Navarro; Rafael Delcourt; Alberto Barbosa Carvalho (2020). "An Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur from Brazil sheds light on the cranial evolution of the Abelisauridae". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 19 (6): 101–115. doi:10.5852/cr-palevol2020v19a6. hdl:11336/153682. S2CID 225149330.

[8] Fialho, F. S. F.; Santucci, R. M.; Gomes, M. S.; Do Carmo, D. A. (2025). "First report of pterosaur remains from the Lower Cretaceous Quiricó Formation, São Francisco Basin (Minas Gerais), Brazil". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 97 (Suppl. 1) e20241140. doi:10.1590/0001-3765202520241140.

[9] Carvalho, J. C.; Santos, D. M.; Pinto, R. L.; Santucci, R. M. (2025). "Anatomical description and systematics of a new notosuchian (Mesoeucrocodylia; Crocodyliformes) from the Quiricó Formation, Lower Cretaceous, Sanfranciscana Basin, Brazil". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 44 (4). e2452947. doi:10.1080/02724634.2025.2452947.

[10] Carvalho, J. C.; Santucci, R. M. (2023). "A new fossil Squamata from the Quiricó Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Sanfranciscana Basin, Minas Gerais, Brazil". Cretaceous Research. 154 105717. 105717. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105717. S2CID 264138153.

[11] Jonathas Souza Bittencourt; Tiago Rodrigues Simões; Michael Wayne Caldwell; Max Cardoso Langer (2020). "Discovery of the oldest South American fossil lizard illustrates the cosmopolitanism of early South American squamates". Communications Biology. 3 (1) 201. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0926-0. PMC 7190622. PMID 32350412.

[QuiricoFmOstracods-12] Amanda Moreira Leite; Dermeval Aparecido Do Carmo; Caio Bussaglia Ress; Murilo Pessoa; Guilherme Miranda Caixeta; Matheus Denezine; Rodrigo Rodrigues Adorno; Lucas Silveira Antonietto (2018). "Taxonomy of limnic Ostracoda (Crustacea) from the Quiricó Formation, Lower Cretaceous, São Francisco basin, Minas Gerais State, Southeast Brazil". Journal of Paleontology. 92 (4): 661–680. Bibcode:2018JPal...92..661L. doi:10.1017/jpa.2018.1. S2CID 135458331.

[13] Jonathas S. Bittencourt; Rosemarie Rohn; Oscar F. Gallego; Mateo D. Monferran; Alexandre Uhlein (2018). "The morphology and systematics of the clam shrimp Platyestheria gen. nov. abaetensis (Cardoso) (Crustacea, Spinicaudata) from the Lower Cretaceous of the Sanfranciscana Basin, southeast Brazil". Cretaceous Research. 91: 274–286. Bibcode:2018CrRes..91..274B. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.06.016. hdl:11449/176586. S2CID 133928377.

[Santos1955-14] Santos, 1955

[15] Ribeiro, A. C.; Bockmann, F. A.; Poyato-Ariza, F. J. (2022). "Francischanos, a replacement genus for Dastilbe moraesi Silva-Santos, 1955, from the Quiricó Formation, Lower Cretaceous of the Sanfranciscana basin, Brazil (Ostariophysi: Gonorynchiformes)". Cretaceous Research. 135 105212. Bibcode:2022CrRes.13505212R. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105212. S2CID 247531742.

[Santos1985-16] Santos, 1985

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Quiricó Formation
Stratigraphic range: Aptian, ~125 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ ^[1]
Stratigraphic position of the Quiricó Formation in São Francisco Basin
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Areado Group
Underlies	Abaeté Formation
Overlies	Três Barras Formation
Thickness	60–100 m (200–330 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone, claystone
Other	Siltstone, limestone
Location
Coordinates	16°42′S 44°24′W / 16.7°S 44.4°W / -16.7; -44.4
Approximate paleocoordinates	17°30′S 11°54′W / 17.5°S 11.9°W / -17.5; -11.9
Region	Minas Gerais
Country	Brazil
Extent	São Francisco Basin
Type section
Named for	Quiricó Lake/River
Named by	Barbosa
Year defined	1965
Quiricó Formation (Brazil)