Hondita Formation

The Hondita Formation (Spanish: Formación Hondita, Ksh) is a fossiliferous geological formation of the Upper Magdalena Valley (VSM) and surrounding Central and Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, extending from Cundinamarca in the north to Huila and easternmost Tolima in the south.

The lowermost unit of the Güagüaquí Group, a sequence of sandy limestones and shales, dates to the Late Cretaceous period; Turonian epoch, and has a maximum thickness of 90 metres (300 ft).

[1] The Hondita Formation is characterised by a sequence of sandy limestones and shales with calcareous concretions up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter.

[5] The formation was deposited in a relative highstand sequence with an oceanic oxygen depletion event, sharply marked in Colombia and characterised by the appearance of calcareous concretions with a thick pyrite rim.

[6] Fossils of Yaguarasaurus columbianus were described as coming from the "La Frontera Member", part of the "Villeta Formation", in the Quebrada El Ocal, 26 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of Neiva, Huila,[7][8] and in the Quebrada Itaibe 78 kilometres (48 mi) southwest of Neiva,[9] although in these areas the Hondita Formation is mapped.