Sânpetru Formation

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
Approximate paleocoordinates	30°30′N 22°06′E / 30.5°N 22.1°E
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 located in Romania, near Sânpetru village, part of Sântămăria-Orlea commune. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, comprising some of the fauna of Hațeg Island.

Description

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.

Fossil content

Color key

Taxon	Reclassified taxon	Taxon falsely reported as present	Dubious taxon or junior synonym	Ichnotaxon	Ootaxon	Morphotaxon

Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text
~~crossed out~~ taxa are discredited.

Amphibians

Amphibians of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Albanerpeton	Indeterminate				Albanerpetontid
Paralatonia	P. transylvanica				Frog

Turtles

Turtles of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Kallokibotion	K. bajazidi
Dortokidae	Indeterminate
Emydidae	Indeterminate

Squamates

Squamates of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Barbatteius	B. vremiri
Becklesius	B. nopcsai
Bicuspidon	B. hatzegiensis
Lacertilia	Indeterminate				5 distinct taxa
Madtsoiidae	Indeterminate				Snake

Crocodyliformes

Crocodyliformes of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Allodaposuchus	Indeterminate
Sabresuchus	S. sympiestodon

Ornithischians

Ornithischians of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Struthiosaurus	S. transylvanicus	Sânpetru		A skull and partial skeleton.	A nodosaur.
Telmatosaurus	T. transsylvanicus			"[Five to ten] fragmentary skulls, some with associated postcrania, mixed age classes."	A small hadrosauromorph.
Zalmoxes	Z. robustus			Many remains	Originally identified as a rhabdodontid ornithopod, but possibly a ceratopsian closely related to Ajkaceratops and Ferenceratops
Ferenceratops	F. shqiperorum	Sibișel Valley	Upper	A left dentary, sacrum, right scapula, right coracoid, partial left ilium, partial right ilium, right ischium, left distal ischium and left femur.	Originally "Zalmoxes" shqiperorum but subsequently recognized as a distinct ceratopsian taxon closely related to Ajkaceratops

Sauropods

Sauropods of the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Magyarosaurus	M. dacus				A dwarf sauropod.
Paludititan	P. nalatzensis			A partial skeleton lacking the skull.	A dwarf sauropod	Dorsal vertebra of Paludititan
Petrustitan	P. hungaricus	Sibișel River Valley.	Upper	Partial skeleton composed of caudal vertebrae, right ulna, right radius, right metacarpal, right ilium, and left fibula.	A dwarf sauropod, originally assigned to the genus Magyarosaurus

Theropods

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

Pterosaurs

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

Mammals

Mammals from the Sânpetru Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Barbatodon	B. transylvanicus				Kogaionid
Kogaionon	K. ungureanui				Kogaionid

References

↑ Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.
↑ Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.26
↑ Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.28
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "29.3 Judetul Hunedoara, Romania; 1. Sânpetru Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 592-593.
↑ Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.30
↑ "Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 439.
↑ Weishampel, Dave; Csiki-Sava, Zoltan; Norman, David (January 2003). "Osteology and phylogeny of Zalmoxes (n. g.), an unusual Euornithopod dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of Romania". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 1 (2): 65–123. Bibcode:2003JSPal...1...65W. doi:10.1017/S1477201903001032. S2CID 86339025. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
↑ Maidment, Susannah C. R.; Butler, Richard J.; Brusatte, Stephen L.; Meade, Luke E.; Augustin, Felix J.; Csiki-Sava, Zoltán; Ősi, Attila (2026-10-07). "A hidden diversity of ceratopsian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous Europe". Nature: 1–7. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09897-w. hdl:20.500.11820/f5443764-5a10-42f6-bab0-77ac7319b4e2. ISSN 1476-4687.
↑ Csiki, Z.; Codrea, V.; Jipa-Murzea, C.; Godefroit, P. (2010). "A partial titanosaur (Sauropoda, Dinosauria) skeleton from the Maastrichtian of Nălaț-Vad, Hațeg Basin, Romania". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 258 (3): 297–324. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0098.
↑ Díaz, Verónica Díez; Mannion, Philip D.; Csiki-Sava, Zoltán; Upchurch, Paul (20 February 2025). "Revision of Romanian sauropod dinosaurs reveals high titanosaur diversity and body-size disparity on the latest Cretaceous Haţeg Island, with implications for titanosaurian biogeography". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 23 (1). doi:10.1080/14772019.2024.2441516.
↑ Mayr et al., 2019
1 2 "Table 9.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 185.
↑ Kessler et al., 2005
1 2 Listed as "cf. Euronychodon sp." in "29.3 Judetul Hunedoara, Romania; 1. Sânpetru Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 592-593.
↑ "Table 9.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 186.
↑ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 78.

Bibliography

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 Maastrichtian 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

[dinosaurdistribution-1] Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.

[Solomon2015-p26-2] Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.26

[Solomon2015-p28-3] Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.28

[sanpetru-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "29.3 Judetul Hunedoara, Romania; 1. Sânpetru Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 592-593.

[Solomon2015-p30-5] Solomon & Codrea, 2015, p.30

[table-20-1-439-6] "Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 439.

[7] Weishampel, Dave; Csiki-Sava, Zoltan; Norman, David (January 2003). "Osteology and phylogeny of Zalmoxes (n. g.), an unusual Euornithopod dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of Romania". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 1 (2): 65–123. Bibcode:2003JSPal...1...65W. doi:10.1017/S1477201903001032. S2CID 86339025. Retrieved 24 February 2021.

[Maidment2026-8] Maidment, Susannah C. R.; Butler, Richard J.; Brusatte, Stephen L.; Meade, Luke E.; Augustin, Felix J.; Csiki-Sava, Zoltán; Ősi, Attila (2026-10-07). "A hidden diversity of ceratopsian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous Europe". Nature: 1–7. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09897-w. hdl:20.500.11820/f5443764-5a10-42f6-bab0-77ac7319b4e2. ISSN 1476-4687.

[Csiki-9] Csiki, Z.; Codrea, V.; Jipa-Murzea, C.; Godefroit, P. (2010). "A partial titanosaur (Sauropoda, Dinosauria) skeleton from the Maastrichtian of Nălaț-Vad, Hațeg Basin, Romania". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 258 (3): 297–324. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0098.

[DMCU25-10] Díaz, Verónica Díez; Mannion, Philip D.; Csiki-Sava, Zoltán; Upchurch, Paul (20 February 2025). "Revision of Romanian sauropod dinosaurs reveals high titanosaur diversity and body-size disparity on the latest Cretaceous Haţeg Island, with implications for titanosaurian biogeography". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 23 (1). doi:10.1080/14772019.2024.2441516.

[Mayr2019-11] Mayr et al., 2019

[table-9-1-185-12] 1 2 "Table 9.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 185.

[Kessler2005-13] Kessler et al., 2005

[sanpetru-euro-14] 1 2 Listed as "cf. Euronychodon sp." in "29.3 Judetul Hunedoara, Romania; 1. Sânpetru Formation," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Pages 592-593.

[table-9-1-186-15] "Table 9.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 186.

[table-4-1-78-16] "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 78.