Sânpetru Formation

Sânpetru Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early Maastrichtian ~70–68 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Sibișel River near the Sânpetru Formation
Type	Geological formation
Sub-units	Lower & Upper Members
Underlies	Miocene deposits
Overlies	Strei Formation, flysch
Thickness	2,500 m (8,200 ft) of which 860 m (2,820 ft) exposed
Lithology
Primary	Mudstone, sandstone
Other	Conglomerate
Location
Coordinates	45°36′N 22°54′E / 45.6°N 22.9°E / 45.6; 22.9
Approximate paleocoordinates	30°30′N 22°06′E / 30.5°N 22.1°E / 30.5; 22.1
Region	Hunedoara
Country	Romania
Extent	Central Hațeg Basin
Type section
Named for	Sânpetru
Sânpetru Formation (Romania)

The Sânpetru Formation is an early Maastrichtian geologic formation. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.^[1] It is located in Romania, near Sânpetru village, part of Sântămăria-Orlea commune. It forms a component of the Hațeg Island fauna.

The Sânpetru Formation crops out in the central to southern Hațeg Basin along the Bărbat River and comprises sandstones and mudstones deposited in a wet floodplain environment characterized by braided fluvial channels. The formation is correlated with the Densuș-Ciula Formation of the northern section of the same basin, both dating to the Maastrichtian of the Late Cretaceous.^[2]

Ornithischians of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Struthiosaurus[4]	S. transylvanicus[4]			A skull and partial skeleton.	A nodosaur.
Telmatosaurus[4][5]	T. transsylvanicus[4]			"[Five to ten] fragmentary skulls, some with associated posctrania, mixed age classes."[6]	A small hadrosauromorph.
Zalmoxes[4]	Z. robustus[4]				A Rhabdodontid ornithopod.
	Z. shqiperorum[4]

Sauropods of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Magyarosaurus[4]	M. dacus[4]				A dwarf sauropod.
	M. hungaricus[4]
	M. transsylvanicus[4]
Paludititan[7]	P. nalatzensis				A dwarf sauropod

Theropods of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Gargantuavis	Indeterminate			Pelvis[8]
Bradycneme[4]	B. draculae[4]			"Distal tibiotarsus."[9]
Elopteryx[4][10]	E. nopcsai[4]			"Fragmentary femur."[9]
Euronychodon[11]	Indeterminate[11]
Heptasteornis[4]	H. andrewsi[4]			"Distal tibiotarsus."[12]
Megalosaurus[4]	M. hungaricus			"Tooth."[13]

Pterosaurs reported from the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Eurazhdarcho	E.langendorfensis
Hatzegopteryx	H.thambema

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
• Hațeg Island

• Mayr, Gerald; Codrea, Vlad; Solomon, Alexandru; Bordeianu, Marian; Smith, Thierry (2019), "A well-preserved pelvis from the Maastrichtian of Romania suggests that the enigmatic Gargantuavis is neither an ornithurine bird nor an insular endemic", Cretaceous Research, 106: 104271, doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104271
• Solomon, Alexandru; Codrea, Vlad (2015), "Some Maastrichtan vertebrates from fluvial channel fill deposits at Pui (Hațeg Basin)", Muzeul Olteniei Craiova. Oltenia. Studii și comunicări. Științele Naturii, 31: 26–36, ISSN 1454-6914
• Kessler, E.; Grigorescu, D.; Csiki, Z. (2005), "Elopteryx revisited - A new bird-like specimen from the Maastrichtian of the Hațeg Basin (Romania)", Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae, 5: 249–258
• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (2004), The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 1–880, ISBN 0-520-24209-2, retrieved 2019-02-21