La Quinta Formation


The La Quinta Formation is a Jurassic geologic formation which crops out in the Cordillera de Mérida and Serranía del Perijá of western Venezuela and northeastern Colombia. The formation is also present in the subsurface of the Cesar-Ranchería and Maracaibo Basins. At its type locality near La Grita, Táchira, it consists of a basal dacitic tuff followed by interlayered sandstones, tuffs, siltstones and rare limestones. Dinosaur remains including Laquintasaura, and Tachiraptor, are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Fossil associations suggested that the La Quinta Formation was of Early to Middle Jurassic age, while a more recent estimate based on U–Pb zircon analysis demonstrates that the bonebed has a maximum depositional age of 200.91+0.55 Ma.

Regional correlations

Maps