El Espinal, a new plattenkalk facies locality from the Lower Cretaceous Sierra Madre Formation, Chiapas, southeastern Mexico

Abstract

A new plattenkalk facies locality with plants, invertebrates and vertebrates in laminar dolomitic limestones from the Albian of the lower part of the Sierra Madre Formation in central Chiapas is reported. The gastropod ?Perissoptera sp., one odonate–zygopteran nymph, one hemipteran–?belostomatid adult, a new species of lobster, Palinurus palaciosi ( first report for the genus as a fossil in America), and the paguroid Roemerus robustus Bishop, 1983 are described. Plant remains as leaves and a cone are also present. An Albian age is suggested on the basis of stratigraphic position and some fauna. On the basis of palynological analysis and lithofacies, the paleoenvironment is interpreted as a brackishwater shallow lagoon with occasional freshwater influence.