The 381.35 metres (1,251.1 ft) thick formation consists of reddish sandy shales, marls and siltstones deposited in a fluvial to lacustrine environment.

[4][5] The oldest known "condylarth" fauna of the Tertiary of South America comes from basal Paleocene strata of the Santa Lucía Formation at Tiupampa.

It includes five genera and seven species: Molinodus suarez, Tiuclaenus minutus, T. cotasi, T. robustus, Pucanodus gagnieri, Andinodus boliviensis, and Simoclaenus sylvaticus.

[6] Because of its unique fauna, the Santa Lucía Formation at Tiupampa has been chosen as the earliest South American land mammal age giving rise to the Tiupampan.

At the Parotani tracksite, poorly preserved ichnofossils were found in the Maastrichtian part of the formation, left possibly by a carnosaur.