[F] Bauxite of Cornet - Judethaen Bihor - Romania
Judethaen Bihor - Romania
The bauxite mine at Cornet near Oradea in northwestern Romania produced thousands of bones in an excavation in 1978, mainly from ornithopod dinosaurs and rarer pterosaurs. Bird specimens reported previously from this fauna are equivocal. The fossils are disarticulated bones in good condition which occur highly concentrated in lenses within bauxite clays, which are dated as Berriasian (earliest Cretaceous).
The bauxite represents detrital material washed into deep fissures and caves formed within a karst of uplifted Tithonian (latest Jurassic) marine limestones. The bones are generally uniform in size and shape, and they are abraded, evidence for considerable transport and for winnowing of the deposit. The area was one of several islands on the northern shore of Tethys, and it was inundated by the sea later in the Early Cretaceous.
There is evidence for insular adaptations in the dinosaur faunas. The ornithopod dinosaurs may include several taxa, but they are smaller on average than an assemblage of typical Wealden ornithopods, perhaps because of dwarfing on the island. In addition, sauropods are absent and theropods are barely represented in the fauna. The fauna is geographically significant since it shows relationships with western Europe and with Asia. (Benton et al., 1996)
Bihariosaurus bauxiticus - Ornithopoda Iguanodontia - Cretaceous Early
Dryosaurus canaliculatus - Ornithopoda Dryosauridae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian Barremian
Eurolimnornis corneti ~/~ - ? - Cretaceous Early Berriasian
Valdosaurus canaliculatus - Ornithopoda Dryosauridae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian Barremian
Iguanodon mantelli - Iguanodontia Iguanodontidae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian
?Dryosaurid indet. (= Dryosaurus sp.) - Ornithopoda Dryosauridae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian
Hypsilophodon sp. - Ornithopoda Hypsilophodontidae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian
Hypsilophodontid indet. (= cf. Thescelosaurus sp.) - Ornithopoda Hypsilophodontidae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian
Theropoda indet. (= Aristosuchus sp.) - Theropoda - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian
The bauxite mine at Cornet near Oradea in northwestern Romania produced thousands of bones in an excavation in 1978, mainly from ornithopod dinosaurs and rarer pterosaurs. Bird specimens reported previously from this fauna are equivocal. The fossils are disarticulated bones in good condition which occur highly concentrated in lenses within bauxite clays, which are dated as Berriasian (earliest Cretaceous).
The bauxite represents detrital material washed into deep fissures and caves formed within a karst of uplifted Tithonian (latest Jurassic) marine limestones. The bones are generally uniform in size and shape, and they are abraded, evidence for considerable transport and for winnowing of the deposit. The area was one of several islands on the northern shore of Tethys, and it was inundated by the sea later in the Early Cretaceous.
There is evidence for insular adaptations in the dinosaur faunas. The ornithopod dinosaurs may include several taxa, but they are smaller on average than an assemblage of typical Wealden ornithopods, perhaps because of dwarfing on the island. In addition, sauropods are absent and theropods are barely represented in the fauna. The fauna is geographically significant since it shows relationships with western Europe and with Asia. (Benton et al., 1996)
Bihariosaurus bauxiticus - Ornithopoda Iguanodontia - Cretaceous Early
Dryosaurus canaliculatus - Ornithopoda Dryosauridae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian Barremian
Eurolimnornis corneti ~/~ - ? - Cretaceous Early Berriasian
Valdosaurus canaliculatus - Ornithopoda Dryosauridae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian Barremian
Iguanodon mantelli - Iguanodontia Iguanodontidae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian
?Dryosaurid indet. (= Dryosaurus sp.) - Ornithopoda Dryosauridae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian
Hypsilophodon sp. - Ornithopoda Hypsilophodontidae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian
Hypsilophodontid indet. (= cf. Thescelosaurus sp.) - Ornithopoda Hypsilophodontidae - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian
Theropoda indet. (= Aristosuchus sp.) - Theropoda - Cretaceous Early Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian