Albian
Encyclopedia
The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column
Stratigraphic column
A stratigraphic column is a representation used in geology and its subfield of stratigraphy to describe the vertical location of rock units in a particular area....

. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 epoch
Epoch (geology)
An epoch is a subdivision of the geologic timescale based on rock layering. In order, the higher subdivisions are periods, eras and eons. We are currently living in the Holocene epoch...

/series
Series (stratigraphy)
Series are subdivisions of rock layers made based on the age of the rock and corresponding to the dating system unit called an epoch, both being formally defined international conventions of the geological timescale. A series is therefore a sequence of rock depositions defining a...

. Its approximate time range is 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 99.6 ± 0.9 Ma (million years ago). The Albian is preceded by the Aptian
Aptian
The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

 and followed by the Cenomanian
Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous series. An age is a unit of geochronology: it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the stratigraphic column deposited during the corresponding...

.

Stratigraphic definitions

The Albian stage (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 Albien, from Alba = the River Aube
Aube
Aube is a department in the northeastern part of France named after the Aube River. In 1995, its population was 293,100 inhabitants.- History :Aube is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...

 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

) was first proposed in 1842 by Alcide d'Orbigny
Alcide d'Orbigny
Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology , palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropology....

.

The base of the Albian is defined as the place in the stratigraphic column where the coccolithophore
Coccolithophore
Coccolithophores are single-celled algae, protists, and phytoplankton belonging to the division of haptophytes. They are distinguished by special calcium carbonate plates of uncertain function called coccoliths , which are important microfossils...

 species Praediscosphaera columnata first appears. A reference profile for the base of the Albian stage (its GSSP) had in 2009 not yet been established.

The top of the Albian stage (the base of the Cenomanian stage and Upper Cretaceous series) is defined as the place where the foram species Rotalipora globotruncanoides first appears in the stratigraphic column.

The Albian is sometimes subdivided in Early/Lower, Middle and Late/Upper subages or substages. In western Europe, especially in the UK, a subdivision in two substages (Vraconian and Gaultian) is more often used.

Lithofacies

The following representatives of the Albian stage are worthy of notice: the phosphorite
Phosphorite
Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non-detrital sedimentary rock which contains high amounts of phosphate bearing minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite is at least 15 to 20% which is a large enrichment over the typical sedimentary rock content of less than 0.2%...

 beds of the Argonne
Argonne
Argonne may refer to:*The Forest of Argonne in France*Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. D.O.E. National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois*Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of Argonne Forest, a World War I battle*Argonne, Wisconsin, a town, US...

 and Bray
Bray
Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...

 areas in France; the Flammenmergel
Flammenmergel
The Flammenmergel is a lithological unit of the Lower Chalk in Germany.In Niedersachsen it reaches a depth of 110 to 150 m in the area of the Sackmulde...

 of northern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

; the lignite
Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...

s of Utrillas
Utrillas
Utrillas is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 3,209 inhabitants....

 in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

; the Upper sandstones of Nubia, and the Fredericksburg beds of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

†Ankylosaurs

Ankylosaurs of the Albian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images
  • Acanthopholis
    Acanthopholis
    Acanthopholis is a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur in the family Nodosauridae that lived during the Early Cretaceous Period of England....


  • Animantarx
    Animantarx
    Animantarx is a genus of nodosaurid ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of western North America. Like other nodosaurs, it would have been a slow-moving quadrupedal herbivore covered in heavy armor scutes, but without a tail club...

  • Anoplosaurus
    Anoplosaurus
    Anoplosaurus is an extinct genus of nodosaurid dinosaur, from the late Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Cambridge Greensand of Cambridgeshire, England...

  • Cedarpelta
    Cedarpelta
    Cedarpelta is an extinct genus of basal ankylosaurid ankylosaur, based on material recovered from the Lower Cretaceous of North America. The skull lacks extensive cranial ornamentation, a trait which has been interpreted as plesiomorphic for ankylosaurs....

  • Cedar Mountain Formation
    Cedar Mountain Formation
    The Cedar Mountain Formation is the name given to distinctive sedimentary rocks in eastern Utah that occur between the underlying Morrison Formation and overlying Naturita Formation . It is composed of non-marine sediments, that is, sediments deposited in rivers, lakes and on flood plains...

    , Utah, USA
  • Gobisaurus
    Gobisaurus
    Gobisaurus is an extinct genus of basal ankylosaurid ankylosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Ulansuhai Formation of China. The holotype consists of a skull and as yet undescribed postcranial remains. It was first named by Matthew K. Vickaryous, Anthony P. Russell, Philip J...

  • Aptian
    Aptian
    The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

     to ?Albian
    Ulansuhai Formation
    Ulansuhai Formation
    The Ulansuhai Formation is a geological formation in Inner Mongolia, north China. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation....

    , Inner Mongolia, China
  • Pawpawsaurus
    Pawpawsaurus
    Pawpawsaurus, meaning "Pawpaw Lizard", is a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Cretaceous of Tarrant County, Texas, discovered in May 1992. The only species yet assigned to this taxon, Pawpawsaurus campbelli, is based on a complete skull from the marine Paw Paw Formation...

  • Sauropelta
    Sauropelta
    Sauropelta is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that existed in the Early Cretaceous Period of North America. One species has been named although others may have existed. Anatomically, Sauropelta is one of the most well-understood nodosaurids, with fossilized remains recovered in the U.S. states of...

  • Aptian
    Aptian
    The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

     to Albian
    Cloverly Formation
    Cloverly Formation
    The Cloverly Formation are Lower Cretaceous strata located in Montana and Wyoming, in the western United States. The term now includes strata that had formerly been called the Dakota Formation in central and southern Wyoming.-Members:...

    , Wyoming, Montana, Utah, USA
    A medium-sized nodosaurid, measuring about 5 meters (16.5 ft) long, Sauropelta had a distinctively long tail which made up about half of its body length. Its neck and back were protected by an extensive bony body armor including characteristically large spines
  • Shamosaurus
    Shamosaurus
    Shamosaurus is an extinct genus of basal ankylosaurid ankylosaur from Early Cretaceous deposits of Höövör, Mongolia. Shamosaurus is known from the holotype PIN N 3779/2 complete skull and jaw and the paratypes include partial skeleton remains and an armor. It was collected from the...

  • Mongolia
  • Silvisaurus
    Silvisaurus
    Silvisaurus, from the Latin silva "woodland" and Greek saurus "lizard", is a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the middle Cretaceous of Kansas.-Discovery and species:...

  • Dakota Formation
    Dakota Formation
    The Dakota Formation is a geologic formation composed of sedimentary rocks deposited on the western side of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway. F.B. Meek and F.V. Hayden named it for exposures along the Missouri River near Dakota City, Nebraska...

    , Kansas, USA
    A nodosaurid estimated to have been approximately four meters in length (13 ft). Besides the usual rounded and polygonal osteoderms, Silvisaurus may have also sported bony spines on its shoulders and tail
  • Stegopelta
    Stegopelta
    Stegopelta is a genus of armored dinosaur. It is based on a partial skeleton from the latest Albian-earliest Cenomanian-age Lower and Upper Cretaceous Belle Fourche Member of the Frontier Formation of Fremont County, Wyoming....

  • Late Albian to early Cenomanian
    Cenomanian
    The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous series. An age is a unit of geochronology: it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the stratigraphic column deposited during the corresponding...

    Frontier Formation
    Frontier Formation
    The Frontier Formation is a sedimentary geological formation whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. The formation's extents are: northwest Colorado, southeast Idaho, southern Montana, northern Utah, and western Wyoming. It occurs in many sedimentary basins and uplift areas.The formation...

    , Wyoming, USA
    A poorly known genus of nodosaurid
  • Texasetes
    Texasetes
    Texasetes is a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur from the late Lower Cretaceous of North America. This poorly known genus has been recovered from the Paw Paw Formation near Haslet, Tarrant County Texas, which has also produced the nodosaurid ankylosaur Pawpawsaurus...

  • Paw Paw Formation
    Paw Paw Formation
    The Paw Paw Formation is a geological formation in Texas whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.-Vertebrate paleofauna:* Pawpawsaurus campbelli - "Skull."...

    , Texas, USA
    Poorly known, probably a nodosaurid

    Birds

    Birds of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Gansus
      Gansus
      Gansus is a genus of aquatic birds that lived during the Aptian or Albian age of the Early Cretaceous period in what is now Gansu province, western China...

  • Jeholornis

  • Bony Fish

    Bony Fish of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Thrissops
      Thrissops
      Thrissops is an extinct genus of teleost fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.Thrissops was a fast predatory fish about long, that fed on other bony fish. It had a streamlined body with a deeply cleft tail and only very small pelvic fins...


    • Xiphactinus
      Xiphactinus
      Xiphactinus was a large, 4.5 to 6 m long predatory bony fish that lived in the Western Interior Sea, over what is now the middle of North America, during the Late Cretaceous. When alive, the fish would have resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon...


    Cartilaginous Fish

    Cartilaginous fish of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Cretoxyrhina mantelli
      Cretoxyrhina mantelli
      Cretoxyrhina mantelli was a large shark that lived during the Cretaceous period, about 100 to 82 million years ago. It is commonly known as the Ginsu Shark.-Known physiology:-Identification and preserved specimens:...


    • Ischyodus
      Ischyodus
      Ischyodus is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish belonging to the subclass Holocephali, which includes the modern-day chimaeras. Fossils are known from Europe , North America, and New Zealand....

  • Scapanorhynchus
    Scapanorhynchus
    Scapanorhynchus is an extinct genus of shark from the Cretaceous era. Their extreme similarities to the living goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, lead some experts to consider reclassifying it as Scapanorhynchus owstoni...


  • †Ceratopsia

    Ceratopsia
    Ceratopsia
    Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7...

     of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Yamaceratops
      Yamaceratops
      Yamaceratops is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. It was a primitive ceratopsian which lived in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Initially, the rocks it was found in were thought to be from the Early Cretaceous, but the age was reevaluted in 2009.The type species, Yamaceratops...

    Gobi Desert
    Gobi Desert
    The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...

    , Mongolia
    Had an intermediate phylogenetic position between Liaoceratops
    Liaoceratops
    Liaoceratops, meaning "Liao Horned Face", is a ceratopsian dinosaur believed to be an early relative of the horned ceratopsids. It lived in the early Cretaceous, some 130 million years ago. It was discovered in China by a team of American and Chinese scientists...

    and Archaeoceratops
    Archaeoceratops
    Archaeoceratops, meaning "ancient horned face", is a genus of basal neoceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of north central China. It appears to have been bipedal and quite small with a comparatively large head...

    within Neoceratopia

    Crocodylomorphs

    Crocodylomorphs of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Sarcosuchus
      Sarcosuchus
      Sarcosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodyliform and distant relative of the crocodile that lived 112 million years ago. It dates from the early Cretaceous Period of what is now Africa and is one of the largest giant crocodile-like reptiles that ever lived...

    Africa

    †Ichthyosaurs

    Ichthyosaurs of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Platypterigius


    Mammalia

    Mammals of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Eobaatar
      Eobaatar
      Eobaatar is a genus of extinct mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of Mongolia and Spain. It was a member of the also extinct order Multituberculata, and lived at the same time as some dinosaurs. It lies within the suborder Plagiaulacida and family Eobaataridae. The genus Eobaatar was named by...

    several species from Hauterivian to Albian Spain, Mongolia
  • Kollikodon
    Kollikodon
    Kollikodon ritchiei is a fossil monotreme species. It is known only from an opalised dentary fragment, with one premolar and two molars in situ...

  • Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia
  • Steropodon
    Steropodon
    Steropodon galmani was a prehistoric species of monotreme, or egg-laying mammal, that lived during the middle Albian stage, in the Lower Cretaceous period...

  • Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia

    †Ornithopods

    Ornithopods of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Altirhinus
      Altirhinus
      Altirhinus is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of Mongolia.-Description:Altirhinus was herbivorous and bipedal when walking or running, but probably became quadrupedal when feeding from the ground. According to the original description, the entire body...

    Khukhtek Formation, Dornogovi Province, Mongolia An advanced iguanodontian, just basal to the family Hadrosauridae
    • Atlascopcosaurus
      Atlascopcosaurus
      Atlascopcosaurus is a genus of herbivorous basal euornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of the present Australia....

    Aptian
    Aptian
    The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

    /Albian
    Dinosaur Cove
    Dinosaur Cove
    Not to be confused with the children's book series of the same name.Dinosaur Cove in Victoria, Australia is a fossil bearing site in south-east of the continent where the Otway Ranges meet the sea to the west of Cape Otway, adjacent to Great Otway National Park .The inaccessible ocean-front cliffs...

    , Victoria, Australia
    2-3 meters long hypsilophodont
  • Eolambia
    Eolambia
    Eolambia is a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian dinosaur from the mid-Cretaceous Period of the USA.In 1992 Carole Jones and her husband Ramal Jones near Castle Dale in Emery County, Utah, on the San Rafael Swell Anticline discovered a fossil site which would be named the Carol Quarry in her honour...

  • Albian-Cenomanian
    Cenomanian
    The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous series. An age is a unit of geochronology: it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the stratigraphic column deposited during the corresponding...

    Utah, USA An iguanodont
  • Leaellynasaura
    Leaellynasaura
    Leaellynasaura is a genus of small herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur from the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous, first discovered in Dinosaur Cove, Australia. The type species is Leaellynasaura amicagraphica...

  • Muttaburrasaurus
    Muttaburrasaurus
    Muttaburrasaurus is a genus of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur, living in what is now northeastern Australia between 100 and 98 million years ago during the early Cretaceous Period. It has been recovered in some analyses as a member of the iguanodontian family Rhabdodontidae...

  • Nanyangosaurus
    Nanyangosaurus
    Nanyangosaurus is a genus of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was an iguanodont which lived in the area of present-day China....

  • China
  • Penelopognathus
    Penelopognathus
    Penelopognathus is a genus of dinosaur which lived during the Early Cretaceous. It was an iguanodont ancestral to hadrosaurids. Fossils have been found in the Bayin-Gobi Formation in what is now Mongolia...

  • Mongolia
  • Probactrosaurus
    Probactrosaurus
    Probactrosaurus is an early herbivorous hadrosauroid iguanodont dinosaur. It lived in China during the Early Cretaceous period....

  • China An early hadrosauroid iguanodont, about 17 - 20 feet (5 - 6 metres) in length. It had a narrow snout, an elongated lower jaw and double rows of flattened cheek teeth. It was a possible ancestor of the duck-billed dinosaurs.
  • Qantassaurus
    Qantassaurus
    Qantassaurus is a genus of two-legged, plant-eating ornithischian dinosaur that lived in Australia about 115 million years ago, when the continent was still partly south of the Antarctic Circle...

  • Siluosaurus
    Siluosaurus
    Siluosaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Barremian-Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Xinminbao Group of Gansu, China. It is based on IVPP V.11117 , two teeth...

  • Barremian
    Barremian
    The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale between 130.0 ± 1.5 Ma and 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous epoch...

     to Albian
  • Tenontosaurus
    Tenontosaurus
    Tenontosaurus is a genus of medium- to large-sized ornithopod dinosaur. The genus is known from the late Aptian to Albian ages of the middle Cretaceous period sediments of western North America, dating between 115 to 108 million years ago...

  • Theiophytalia
    Theiophytalia
    Theiophytalia is a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian dinosaur from the lower Cretaceous period of Colorado.-Etymology:...

  • Aptian
    Aptian
    The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

     to Albian
    Purgatoire Formation, Colorado, USA An iguanodont described as intermediate in derivation between Camptosaurus
    Camptosaurus
    Camptosaurus is a genus of plant-eating, beaked ornithischian dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic period of western North America. The name means 'flexible lizard', ....

     and Iguanodon
    Iguanodon
    Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...

  • Zephyrosaurus
    Zephyrosaurus
    Zephyrosaurus is a genus of hypsilophodont ornithopod dinosaur. It is based on a partial skull and postcranial fragments discovered in the Aptian-Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formation of Carbon County, Montana...

  • Aptian
    Aptian
    The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

     to Albian
    Cloverly Formation
    Cloverly Formation
    The Cloverly Formation are Lower Cretaceous strata located in Montana and Wyoming, in the western United States. The term now includes strata that had formerly been called the Dakota Formation in central and southern Wyoming.-Members:...

    , Montana, USA
    Hypsilophodont

    †Plesiosaurs

    Plesiosauria
    Plesiosauria
    Plesiosauria is an order of Mesozoic marine reptiles. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the Early Jurassic Period and became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until the K-T extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period.The name "plesiosaur" is used to refer to the order...

     of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Kronosaurus
      Kronosaurus
      Kronosaurus is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur. It was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Cronus.-Discovery and species:Kronosaurus lived in the Early Cretaceous Period ....

    • Kronosaurus queenslandicus
    Aptian
    Aptian
    The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

     to Albian
    Hughenden district, Queensland, Australia Among the largest pliosaurs, body-length estimates put the total length of Kronosaurus at 9–10 meters

    †Pterosauria

    Pterosaurs of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Amblydectes
    Cambridge Greensand
    Cambridge Greensand
    The Cambridge Greensand is a geological formation in England whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.-Vertebrate paleofauna:...

    , United Kingdom

    • Coloborhynchus
      Coloborhynchus
      Coloborhynchus is a genus in the pterosaur family Ornithocheiridae, and is known from the Lower Cretaceous of England , and possibly the Aptian age of Brazil and Texas, depending on which species are included.-Description:The type specimen of Coloborhynchus is known only from a partial upper jaw...

    Morocco; Santana Formation
    Santana Formation
    The Santana Formation is a geologic Lagerstätte in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin where the states of Pernambuco, Piauí and Ceará come together. The geological formation, named after the village of Santana do Cariri, lies at the base of the Araripe Plateau...

    , Brazil; Paw Paw Formation
    Paw Paw Formation
    The Paw Paw Formation is a geological formation in Texas whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.-Vertebrate paleofauna:* Pawpawsaurus campbelli - "Skull."...

    , Texas, USA
  • Lonchognathosaurus
    Lonchognathosaurus
    Lonchognathosaurus was a genus of dsungaripterid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Lianmuqin Formation of Xinjiang, China....

  • Lianmuxin Formation, Xinjiang, China
  • Pterodaustro
    Pterodaustro
    Pterodaustro is a genus of Cretaceous pterodactyloid pterosaur from South America, which lived 105 million years ago.-Naming:The genus was named in 1969 by José Bonaparte as an as yet undescribed nomen nudum. The first description followed in 1970, making the name valid, the type species being...

  • Valanginian
    Valanginian
    In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 140.2 ± 3.0 Ma and 136.4 ± 2.0 Ma...

     to Albian
    Lagarcito Formation, Argentina
  • Santanadactylus
    Santanadactylus
    Santanadactylus was a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Romualdo Member of the Lower Cretaceous Santana Formation, of Barra do Jardim, Araripe Plateau, Ceará Province, Brazil. Four species have been named, but today it is doubted they are part of the same genus...

  • Aptian
    Aptian
    The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

     or Albian
    Santana Formation
    Santana Formation
    The Santana Formation is a geologic Lagerstätte in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin where the states of Pernambuco, Piauí and Ceará come together. The geological formation, named after the village of Santana do Cariri, lies at the base of the Araripe Plateau...

    , Brazil
  • Thalassodromeus
    Thalassodromeus
    Thalassodromeus was a large pterodactyloid pterosaur found in northeastern Brazil.The genus was named in 2002 by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. The type species is Thalassodromeus sethi. The genus name is derived from Greek thalasse, "sea" and dromaios, "runner", in reference to...

  • Aptian
    Aptian
    The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

     to early Albian
    Santan do Cariri, Brazil; St Gallen, Switzerland
  • Tupuxuara
    Tupuxuara
    Tupuxuara is a genus of large, crested, toothless pterodactyloid pterosaur.The genus was in 1988 named and described by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. The type species is Tupuxuara longicristatus. The genus name refers to a familiar spirit from the mythology of the Tupi...

  • Albian or Cenomanian
    Cenomanian
    The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous series. An age is a unit of geochronology: it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the stratigraphic column deposited during the corresponding...

    Santana Formation
    Santana Formation
    The Santana Formation is a geologic Lagerstätte in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin where the states of Pernambuco, Piauí and Ceará come together. The geological formation, named after the village of Santana do Cariri, lies at the base of the Araripe Plateau...

    , Brazil
  • Zhejiangopterus
    Zhejiangopterus
    Zhejiangopterus is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur known from one species, which lived in China during the late Cretaceous Period.The genus was named in 1994 by Chinese paleontologists Cai Zhengquan and Wei Feng. The type species is Zhejiangopterus linhaiensis. The genus name refers to Zhejiang...

  • ? Zhejiang, China

    †Sauropods

    Sauropods
    Sauropoda
    Sauropoda , or the sauropods , are an infraorder of saurischian dinosaurs. They had long necks, long tails, small heads , and thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land...

     of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Aegyptosaurus
      Aegyptosaurus
      Aegyptosaurus meaning 'Egypt’s lizard', for the country in which it was discovered is a genus of sauropod dinosaur believed to have lived in what is now Africa, around 95 million years ago, during the mid- and late-Cretaceous Period . Like most sauropods, it had a long neck and a small skull...

    Africa
    • Amazonsaurus
      Amazonsaurus
      Amazonsaurus is a genus of diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. It would have been a large-bodied quadrupedal herbivore with a long neck and whiplash tail...

  • Argentinosaurus
    Argentinosaurus
    Argentinosaurus is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur first discovered by Guillermo Heredia in Argentina. The generic name refers to the country in which it was discovered...

  • Brontomerus
    Brontomerus
    Brontomerus is a genus of camarasauromorph sauropod which lived during the early Cretaceous . It was named in 2011 and the type species is Brontomerus mcintoshi...

  • Chubutisaurus
    Chubutisaurus
    Chubutisaurus is a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period. It lived in South America. It is classified as a sauropod, specifically one of the titanosaurs. The type species, C. insignis, was described by del Corro in 1975. Its fossils were found in the Cerro Barcino Formation, Albian...

  • Jobaria
    Jobaria
    Jobaria was a sauropod dinosaur discovered in the Sahara Desert in 1997. It was named after "Jobar", a creature of local legends, and is thought to have been about 18 metres long. It was found in the Tiourarén Formation, originally thought to represent the Hauterivian to Barremian stages of the...

  • Aptian
    Aptian
    The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

     or Albian
  • Sauroposeidon
    Sauroposeidon
    Sauroposeidon is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known from four neck vertebrae that were found in the southeastern portion of the US state of Oklahoma. The fossils were found in rocks dating to the Early Cretaceous, a period when the sauropods of North America had diminished in both size and...


  • †Theropods (non-avian)

    Theropods
    Theropoda
    Theropoda is both a suborder of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs, and a clade consisting of that suborder and its descendants . Dinosaurs belonging to the suborder theropoda were primarily carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved herbivory, omnivory, and insectivory...

     of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Acrocanthosaurus
      Acrocanthosaurus
      Acrocanthosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that existed in what is now North America during the Aptian and early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Like most dinosaur genera, Acrocanthosaurus contains only a single species, A. atokensis. Its fossil remains are found mainly in the U.S...

    North America
    • Alxasaurus
      Alxasaurus
      Alxasaurus is a genus of therizinosauroid alxasaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of Inner Mongolia. It is one of the earliest known members of the superfamily Therizinosauroidea, but it already possessed the body shape - including the long neck, short tail, and long hand...

    Asia
  • Cristatusaurus
    Cristatusaurus
    Cristatusaurus is an extinct genus of spinosaurid theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now Africa....

  • Niger
  • Deinonychus
    Deinonychus
    Deinonychus was a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur. There is one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This 3.4 meter long dinosaur lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago . Fossils have been recovered from the U.S...

  • North America
  • Erectopus
    Erectopus
    Erectopus is an allosauroid theropod from the Lower Cretaceous of France.The material comprising the type series was discovered in the late 19th century from the Phosphate-bearing beds of La Penthèive at Louppy-le-Château in eastern France, which have also produced remains of plesiosaurs,...

  • Genusaurus
    Genusaurus
    Genusaurus is a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. Its fossils were found in France. Scientists have estimated the length of Genusaurus to have been 3 m and its weight 50 kg...

  • France
  • Irritator
    Irritator
    Irritator is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in the early Cretaceous Period , around 110 million years ago. Current estimations indicate a length of 8 meters . It was found in Brazil...

  • South America
  • Fukuiraptor
    Fukuiraptor
    Fukuiraptor was a medium-sized carnivore of the Early Cretaceous that lived in what is now Japan. Scientists first thought it was a member of the Dromaeosauridae, but after studying the fossils they now believe it was related to Allosaurus in the family Neovenatoridae. The type specimen is the...

  • Japan
  • Spinosaurus
    Spinosaurus
    Spinosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in what is now North Africa, from the lower Albian to lower Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous period, about 112 to 97 million years ago. This genus was first known from Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described by German...

  • Africa
  • Suchomimus
    Suchomimus
    Suchomimus is a genus of large spinosaurid dinosaur with a crocodile-like mouth that lived sometime between 121-112 million years ago, during the late Aptian stage of the Cretaceous period in Africa.-Description:...

  • Africa
  • Timimus
    Timimus
    Timimus is a genus of small coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur, which was originally identified as an ornithomimosaur, from the Early Cretaceous of Australia.-Discovery and species:...

  • Australia
  • Utahraptor
    Utahraptor
    Utahraptor is a genus of theropod dinosaurs, including the largest known members of the family Dromaeosauridae. Fossil specimens date to the upper Barremian stage of the early Cretaceous period...

  • North America The largest known dromaeosaurid

    Originating in Lower Albian Strata

    The following is a list of Ammonite genera whose fossils are geochronologically found first in lower Albian strata. These genera may survive into later portions of the Albian stage, or even into later geological stages. This list should not be thought of in terms of the lifespan of the genera included.
    • Aioloceras
      Aioloceras
      Aioloceras is an ammonite, order Ammonitida, from near the end of the Early Cretaceous. The shell is compressed with the outer whorl covering much of the previous. Sides are slightly convex, converge toward a narrowly ached venter. Inner whorls have sharp falcoid ribs, outer are smooth. Umbilical...

    • Anacleoniceras
      Anacleoniceras
      Anacleoniceras is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....

    • Anadesmoceras
      Anadesmoceras
      Anadesmoceras is an hoplitid ammonite from the lower Albian of England, included in the subfamily Cleoniceratinae. Anadesmoceras has a shell shaped more or less like a compressed Cleoniceras but with faint ornament only on the inner whorls. The shell has bundled growth striae...

    • Anisoceras
      Anisoceras
      Anisoceras is an extinct genus of cephalopods belonging to the Anisoceratidae family of the Ammonite subclass.- References :* http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=14564&is_real_user=1...

    • Arcthoplites
      Arcthoplites
      Arcthoplites is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....

    • Brancoceras
    • Brewericeras
    • Cleoniceras
      Cleoniceras
      Cleoniceras is a rather involute, high-whorled hoplitid from the Lower to basal Middle Albian of Europe, Madagascar, and Transcaspian region...

    • Cymahoplites
    • Douvilleiceras
      Douvilleiceras
      Douvilleiceras is a genus of ammonite from the Cretaceous. Its fossils have been found in Europe, North America, and South America.-External links:* in the Paleobiology Database...

    • Epileymeriella
    • Eubranoceras
    • Farnhamia
    • Hoplites
    • Kossmatella
    • Labeceras
    • Leconteites
    • Lemuroceras
    • Leymeriella
    • Lyelliceras
    • Neobibolites
    • Otohoplites
    • Oxytropidoceras
    • Paracanthoplites
    • Parasilesites
    • Parengonoceras
    • Plictetia
    • Prohelicoceras
    • Proleymeriella
    • Prolyelliceras
    • Protohoplites
    • Pseudoleymeriella
    • Pseudosonneratia
    • Puzosia
    • Puzosigella
    • Rhytidohoplites
    • Rossalites
    • Silesitoides
    • Sokolovites
    • Sonneratia
      Sonneratia
      Sonneratia is a genus of plants in the family Lythraceae. Formerly the Sonneratia were placed in a family called Sonneratiaceae which included both the Sonneratia and the Duabanga, but these two are now placed in their own monotypic subfamilies of the family Lythraceae...

    • Tegoceras
    • Tetrahoplites
    • Tetrahoplitoides
    • Zealandites
      Zealandites
      Zealandites is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....


    Originating in Middle Albian Strata

    The following is a list of Ammonite genera whose fossils are geochronologically found first in middle Albian strata. These genera may survive into later portions of the Albian stage, or even into later geological stages. This list should not be thought of in terms of the lifespan of the genera included.
    • Anagaudryceras
      Anagaudryceras
      Anagaudryceras is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite family Gaudryceratidae.-References:* Accessed on 9/24/07...

    • Anahoplites
      Anahoplites
      Anahoplites is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....

    • Astiericeras
      Astiericeras
      Astiericeras is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....

    • Dimorphoplites
    • Dipoloceras
    • Dipoloceroides
    • Engonoceras
    • Epihoplites
    • Euhoplites
      Euhoplites
      Euhoplites is an extinct ammonoid cephalopod from the Lower Creataceous, characterized bystrongly ribbed, more or less evolute, compressed to inflated shells with flat or concave rims, typically with a deep narrow groove running down the middle. In some, ribs seem to zigzag between umbilical...

    • Falciferella
    • Falloticeras
    • Gastroplites
    • Hamitoides
    • Hysteroceras
    • Isohoplites
    • Manuaniceras
    • Mojsisoviczia
    • Mortoniceras
      Mortoniceras
      Mortoniceras is an ammonoid genus belonging to the superfamily Acanthocerataceae, named by Meek in 1876, based on Ammonites vespertinu, named by Morton in 1834....

    • Ostlingoceras
    • Protengonoceras
    • Proturrilitoides
    • Pseudhelicoceras
    • Scaphamites
    • Subarcthoplites
    • Sulcohoplites
    • Turrilitoides
    • Venezoliceras
    • Zuluscaphites
      Zuluscaphites
      Zuluscaphites is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....


    Originating in Upper Albian Strata

    The following is a list of Ammonite genera whose fossils are geochronologically found first in upper Albian strata. These genera may survive into later portions of the Albian stage, or even into later geological stages. This list should not be thought of in terms of the lifespan of the genera included.

    • Adkinsites
      Adkinsites
      Adkinsites is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....

    • Arestoceras
      Arestoceras
      Arestoceras is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....

    • Beudantiella
      Beudantiella
      Beudantiella is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....

    • Bhimaites
      Bhimaites
      Bhimaites is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....

    • Borissiakoceras
    • Cainoceras
    • Callihoplites
    • Cantabrigites
    • Cenisella
    • Cottreauites
    • Cyrtochilus
    • Deiradoceras
    • Diplasioceras
    • Discohoplites
    • Ellipsoceras
    • Elobiceras
    • Eogunnarites
    • Eopachydiscus
    • Eoscaphites
    • Erioliceras
    • Ficheuria
    • Flickia
    • Gaudryceras
    • Gazdaganites
    • Goodhallites
    • Hemiptychoceras
    • Hengestites
    • Hypengonoceras
    • Hyphoplites
    • Idiohamites
    • Karamaiceras
      Karamaiceras
      Karamaiceras is an extinct cephalopod genus belonging to the Ammonoidea that lived during the Early Cretaceous. Its shell is involute, smooth and rather compressed, with the outer whorl strongly embracing the inner whorls. Sides are flattish to slightly convex and slope inwardly toward a narrowly...

    • Karamaites
      Karamaites
      Karamites is an extinct cephalopoda genus belonging to the Ammonoidea and included in the hoplitacean family Placenticeratidae.Karamites lived during the latest Albian , derived from Semenoviceras. It is the typical form for Central Asia where it occurs with members of the Hoplitidae, e.g....

    • Koloceras
    • Lechites
      Lechites
      Lechites – an ethnic and linguistic group of West Slavs, the ancestors of modern Poles and the historical Pomeranians and Polabians.-History:...

    • Lepthoplites
    • Lytodiscoides
    • Mantelliceras
    • Mariella
      Mariella
      Mariella is an ammonoid genus, named by Nowak from the upper Albian and Cenomanian stages of the mid Cretaceous, included in the Turrilitidae. Its type is Turrilites bergeri-References:*...

    • Metengonoceras
    • Myloceras
    • Neogastroplites
    • Neoharpoceras
    • Neokentoceras
    • Neophlycticeras
    • Pachydesmoceras
    • Paradolphia
    • Paraturrilites
    • Pervinquieria
    • Plesiohamites
    • Plesioturrilites
    • Pleurohoplites
    • Prohysteroceras
    • Psilohamites
    • Rusoceras
    • Salaziceras
    • Saltericeras
    • Scaphites
      Scaphites
      Scaphites is a genus of extinct cephalopod belonging to the family of heteromorph ammonites . They were a widespread genus that thrived during the Cretaceous period....

    • Schloenbachia
      Schloenbachia
      Schloenbachia is an ammonoid cephalopod genus from the Cenomanian stage of the Upper Cretaceous, and type for the Schloenbachiidae, a family within the ammonitid Hoplitaceae....

    • Sciponoceras
    • Semenovites
    • Spathiceras
    • Stoliczkaia
    • Stomohamites
    • Worthoceras

    Belemnites

    Belemnites of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Belospirula
      Belospirula
      Belospirula is a genus of belemnite, an extinct group of cephalopods....

  • Dimitobelus
    Dimitobelus
    Dimitobelus is a genus of belemnite, an extinct group of cephalopods....


  • Nautiloids

    Nautiloids of the Albian
    Taxa Presence Location Description Images
    • Deltoidonautilus

    Literature

    ; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press
    Cambridge University Press
    Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...

    .; 2004: The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Cenomanian Stage, Mont Risou, Hautes-Alpes, France, Episodes 27, pp. 21–32.; 1842: Paléontologie française: Terrains crétacés, vol. ii.

    External links

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