The Marnes de Dives is a geological formation in Normandy, France. It dates back to the upper part of the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic.[1] And is partially equivalent to the Oxford Clay in England. It predominantly consists of ooidalmarl, rich in pyrite and lignite, interbedded with thin limestone horizons.[2] It is best exposed at the base of the Falaises des Vaches Noires (Cliffs of Black Cows) as well as the foreshore at low tide. It is known for its fossils, notably those of ammonites, marine crocodiles and fragmentary remains of dinosaurs, mostly theropods.
Megalosaurid dinosaur. Originally a chimera of dinosaur and marine crocodile material. redefined to solely refer to the syntype dinosaur material consisting of "several vertebrae series, single vertebrae, a partial left pubis and limb elements". May be from the overlying Marnes de Villers, but the Marnes de Dives is much more productive and was better exposed when it was collected in the 18th century.
Multiple taxa represented, including indeterminate megalosaurid material possibly referrable to the two named taxa alongside fragmentary remains of Allosauroids,[7] Including dentary and maxilla fragments. Other theropod remains include an associated braincase and frontal.[8][9] Allosauroid material bears similarities to metriacanthosaurids. Material is of unclear stratigraphic provenance, and may belong to overlying cliff strata.[10]
^ abcWeishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Middle Jurassic, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 538–541. ISBN0-520-24209-2.
^Un metatarsien de dinosaure theropode dans le Jurassique des Falaises des Vaches Noires (Calvados, Normandie, France). Bulletin Sciences et Geologie Normandes1:49-53
^E. Buffetaut, J. Enos Un nouveau fragment crânien de dinosaure théropode du Jurassique des Vaches Noires (Normandie, France) remarques sur la diversité des théropodes jurassiques européens C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. II, 314 (1992), pp. 217-222
^Mark T. Young; Marco Brandalise de Andrade; Stephen L. Brusatte; Manabu Sakamoto; Jeff Liston (2013). "The oldest known metriorhynchid super-predator: a new genus and species from the Middle Jurassic of England, with implications for serration and mandibular evolution in predacious clades". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (4): 475–513. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.704948.
^J. J. Liston and D. Gendry. 2015. Le Python de Caen, les algues géantes d'Amblie, et austres spécimens perdus de Leedsichthys d'Alexandre Bourienne, Jules Morière, Eugène Eudes-Deslongchamps et Alexandre Bigot. L'Echo des falaises19:17-34
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