{{short description|Geologic formation in the West Bank}} {{Infobox rockunit | name = Bet-Meir Formation | image =Marl Bet Meir formation road 593 from Ariel city in Shomron to road 60 2nd KM 4.jpg | caption =Bet-Meir formation at Shomron | type = Geological formation | age = Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) | period = Cretaceous | prilithology = Dolostone | otherlithology = Chalk, limestone, marl | namedfor = Bet Meir | namedby = Itzhaki et al., 1964 | region = Judea and Samaria | country = {{PSE}}<ref name=mindat /> | coordinates = | unitof = Judea Group | subunits = | underlies = Amminadav Formation | overlies = Kesalon Formation | thickness = Up to 60 m | extent = Palestine (Judea and Samaria), west of Hebron, near Jericho | area = West Bank | map = | map_caption = }} The '''Bet-Meir Formation''' is a Late Cretaceous sedimentary unit exposed in the central highlands of the West Bank (Palestine).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Moshe |first1=B. |last2=Hirsch |first2=F. |title=Mid Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) carbonate platforms in Israel and Palestine |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27577843 |journal=Cuadernos de geología ibérica |issue=18 |pages=59–82}}</ref> It belongs to the regional Judea Group and records sedimentation on a broad, shallow marine carbonate platform along the southern margin of the Tethys Ocean during the Early Cenomanian.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Buchbinder |first1=Binyamin |last2=Benjamini |first2=Chaim |last3=Lipson-Benitah |first3=Shulamit |date=2000-12-01 |title=Sequence development of Late Cenomanian–Turonian carbonate ramps, platforms and basins in Israel |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667100902283 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=21 |issue=6 |pages=813–843 |doi=10.1006/cres.2000.0228 |bibcode=2000CrRes..21..813B |issn=0195-6671}}</ref>
The formation is paleontologically significant. Vertebrate remains recovered from it include pterosaurs, several species of ray-finned fish, and early snakes. Many important specimens come from quarries near Ein Yabrud, north and east of Ramallah, where fossil-bearing beds occur close to the contact with the Amminadav Formation. Owing to the close stratigraphic relationship between the two units, it remains uncertain whether some of the vertebrate fossils should be assigned to the Bet-Meir Formation or to the overlying formation.<ref name="mindat2" />
== Description == [[File:Lake in Xula Mexico, Quintana Roo, Yucatan.JPG|left|thumb|Modern analogue, Bacalar Lagoon ]] The formation represents a warm, tropical carbonate platform interior, positioned between fully open marine shelf environments and more continental marginal settings, being composed mainly of dolostone that accumulated in tidal-flat and restricted lagoonal settings.<ref name=":0" /> The area was under a greenhouse-climate shallow sea.<ref name=":1" /> The absence of relatively complete or articulated terrestrial plants suggests that the locality was either far from the nearest landfall or very arid.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Scanlon |first1=J.D. |last2=Lee |first2=M.S.Y. |last3=Caldwell |first3=M.W. |last4=Shine |first4=R. |date=1999 |title=The palaeoecology of the primitive snake Pachyrhachis |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08912969909386578 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2–3 |pages=127–152 |doi=10.1080/08912969909386578 |bibcode=1999HBio...13..127S |issn=0891-2963}}</ref> A good modern analogue is the Laguna Bacalar in Yucatán, as both settings share being a restricted circulation setting with abundant mud sitting on a carbonate platform.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Gischler |first1=Eberhard |title=Microbial Mats and Microbialites in the Freshwater Laguna Bacalar, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico |date=2010-12-03 |work=Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences |pages=187–205 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10415-2_13 |access-date=2026-02-16 |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-642-10414-5 |last2=Golubic |first2=Stjepko |last3=Gibson |first3=Michael A. |last4=Oschmann |first4=Wolfgang |last5=Hudson |first5=J. Harold |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-10415-2_13 }}</ref>
In many areas, these dolostones laterally replace the chalks and limestones assigned to the En Yorqeam Formation, reflecting local environmental differences across the platform.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ovechkina |first1=Maria N. |last2=Erba |first2=Elisabetta |last3=Bottini |first3=Cinzia |date=2019-09-01 |title=Calcareous nannoplankton proxies for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Albian–Cenomanian succession in North-western Israel (Mount Carmel Region) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377839818300550 |journal=Marine Micropaleontology |series=Calcareous Nannoplankton: indices of paleo-environmental, oceanographic and climatic changes |volume=152 |article-number=101742 |doi=10.1016/j.marmicro.2019.04.001 |bibcode=2019MarMP.15201742O |hdl=2434/643983 |issn=0377-8398}}</ref> The succession includes fine-grained dolomitic mudstones and siltstones, thin marly layers, laminated algal deposits, and occasional intraformational conglomerates. Features such as iron staining, erosion surfaces, and karstic cavities indicate periodic exposure of the sea floor during temporary drops in sea level. Much of the dolomitization is interpreted as secondary, linked to marine fluids circulating through the sediments during subsequent transgressive phases.<ref name=":0" />
Stratigraphically, the Bet-Meir Formation rests on the Kesalon Formation, whose uppermost beds frequently show signs of erosion and hardground development. It is overlain by the slightly younger Amminadav Formation, characterized by more open-marine carbonate sedimentation and Rudist-bearing limestones. Because the transition between these two formations can be gradual and locally intertonguing, distinguishing their fossil content is sometimes problematic.<ref name="mindat">{{Cite web |title=Bet-Meir, West Bank, Palestine |url=https://www.mindat.org/paleo_strat.php?id=1899 |website=mindat.org}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name="mindat2">{{Cite web |title=Bet Meir or Amminadav, West Bank, Palestine |url=https://www.mindat.org/paleo_strat.php?id=1898 |website=mindat.org}}</ref>
== Paleobiota == The majority of species here cannot be confidently assigned the Bet-Meir Formation, and some may instead belong to the younger Amminadav Formation.<ref name="mindat2" /><ref name="Khalloufi 2010">{{Cite journal |author=Bouziane Khalloufi, René Zaragüeta-Bagils & Hervé Lelièvre |year=2010 |title=''Rhombichthys intoccabilis'', gen. et sp. nov. (Ellimmichthyiformes, Clupeomorpha, Teleostei), from the Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) of Ein Yabrud, Middle East: anatomial descriptions and phylogenetic implications |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=57–67 |bibcode=2010JVPal..30...57K |doi=10.1080/02724630903409089 |s2cid=86625975|doi-access=free }}</ref>
=== Invertebrates === Unnamed material of Decapodans, Echinoids, Starfish, Cephalopods and Bivalvia are seen along the outcrops.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=J |first1=Polcyn Michael |last2=Tchernov |first2=Eitan |last3=L |first3=Jacobs Louis |date=1999 |title=The Cretaceous biogeography of the Eastern Mediterranean with a description of a new basal mosasauroid from 'Ein Yabrud, Israel |url=https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1573105976787160832 |journal=National Science Museum Monographs |volume=15 |pages=259–290 |issn=1342-9574}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" align="center" !Genus !Species !Presence !Notes !Images |- |''Graysonites''<ref name=":3" /> |''G. wacoense'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |Acanthoceratidae ammonite | |- |''Stoliczkaiella''<ref name=":3" /> |''S. amanai'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |Acanthoceratidae ammonite | |}
=== Chondrichthyes === {| class="wikitable" align="center" !Genus !Species !Presence !Notes !Images |- |Batoidea<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Haas |first=G |date=1979 |title=On a new snakelike reptile from the lower Cenomanian of ein Jabrud, near Jerusalem. |url=https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&idt=PASCALGEODEBRGM7920470370 |journal=Bulletin du Muséum national d'Historie naturelle, Paris, Série|volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=51–64}}</ref> |Indeterminate |Ein Yabrud quarries |Ray | |}
=== Bony Fish === {| class="wikitable" align="center" !Genus !Species !Presence !Notes !Images |- |''Aipichthyoides<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Gayet |first=M. |date=1980 |title=Recherches sur l'ichthyofaune cénomanienne des Monts de Judée: les "Acanthoptérygiens". |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=441045 |journal=Annales de Paléontologie (Vertébrés) |volume=66 |issue=75–128}}</ref>'' |''A. galeatus'' ''A. formosus'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |An aipichthyoidid lamprimorph | |- |''Dercetoides''<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Chalifa |first=Yael |date=1989-09-28 |title=Two new species of longirostrine fishes from the Early Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) of Ein-Yabrud, Israel, with comments on the phylogeny of the Dercetidae |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.1989.10011765 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=314–328 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1989.10011765 |bibcode=1989JVPal...9..314C |issn=0272-4634 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20231118134947/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.1989.10011765 |archive-date=2023-11-18}}</ref> |''D. venator'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A dercetid aulopiform | |- |''Enchodus''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chalifa |first=Yael |date=1989 |title=New Species of Enchodus (Pisces: Enchodontoidei) from the Lower Cenomanian of Ein-Yabrud, Israel |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1305507 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=356–364 |doi=10.1017/S0022336000019521 |jstor=1305507 |bibcode=1989JPal...63..356C |issn=0022-3360}}</ref> |''E. brevis'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |An enchodontid aulopiform | |- |''Hastichthys<ref name=":6" />'' |''H. gracilis'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A dercetid aulopiform | |- |''Judeichthys''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=GAYET |first=M |date=1985 |title=Gonorhynchiforme nouveau du Cénomanien inférieur marin de Ramallah (Monts de Judée): Judeichthys haasi nov. gen. nov. sp. (Teleostei, Ostariophysi, Judeichthyidae nov. fam.) |url=https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&idt=9164036 |journal=Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Section C, Sciences de la Terre, Paléontologie, Géologie, Minéralogie |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=65–85 |issn=0181-0642}}</ref> |''J. haasi'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A gonorynchid | |- |''Judeoberyx<ref name=":5" />'' |''J. princeps'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A trachichthyoid trachichthyform | |- |''Pachyamia''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chalifa |first1=Yael |last2=Tchernov |first2=Eitan |date=1982 |title=''Pachyamia latimaxillaris'', new genus and species (Actinopterygii: Amiidae), from the Cenomanian of Jerusalem |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.1982.10011935 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=269–285 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1982.10011935 |bibcode=1982JVPal...2..269C |issn=0272-4634 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220619083308/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.1982.10011935 |archive-date=2022-06-19}}</ref> |''P. latimaxillaris'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |An amiid | |- |''Pharmacichthys''<ref name=":5" /> |''P. judensis'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A pharmacichthyid lamprimorph |[[File:Pharmacichthys venenifer.jpg|center|thumb|Life restoration of ''Pharmacichthys'']] |- |''Ramallichthys''<ref>{{Cite web |title="Ramallicthys" Gayet du Cénomanien inférieur marin de Ramallah (Monts de Judée) - Scientific Publications of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris |url=https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/collections/memoires-du-museum-national-d-histoire-naturelle-ser-c-sciences-de-la-terre-1950-1992/ramallicthys-gayet-du-cenomanien-inferieur-marin-de-ramallah-monts-de-judee |access-date=2026-02-16 |website=sciencepress.mnhn.fr}}</ref> |''R. orientalis'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A gonorynchid | |- |''Rhombichthys''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Khalloufi |first1=Bouziane |last2=Zaragüeta-Bagils |first2=René |last3=Lelièvre |first3=Hervé |date=2010-01-29 |title=''Rhombichthys intoccabilis'', gen. et sp. nov. (Ellimmichthyiformes, Clupeomorpha, Teleostei), from the Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) of Ein Yabrud, Middle East: anatomical description and phylogenetic implications |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02724630903409089 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=57–67 |doi=10.1080/02724630903409089 |bibcode=2010JVPal..30...57K |issn=0272-4634}}</ref> |''R. intoccabilis'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A paraclupeid clupeomorph |[[File:Rhombichthys intocabilis.jpg|center|thumb|Life restoration of ''Rhombichthys'']] |- |''Saurorhamphus''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chalifa |first=Yael |date=1985 |title=Saurorhamphus judeaensis (Salmoniformes: Enchodontidae), a New Longirostrine Fish from the Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Ein-Yabrud, near Jerusalem |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4523045 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=181–193 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1985.10011857 |jstor=4523045 |issn=0272-4634}}</ref> |''S. judeaensis'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A eurypholid aulopiform | |- |''Scalacurvichthys''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cawley |first1=John J. |last2=Kriwet |first2=Jürgen |date=2017-06-14 |title=A new pycnodont fish,''Scalacurvichthys naishi''gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous of Israel |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2017.1330772 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=16 |issue=8 |pages=659–673 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2017.1330772 |pmid=29551954 |pmc=5849399 |issn=1477-2019}}</ref> |''S. naishi'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A pycnodontid |[[File:Image of SMNK-PAL. 8613.jpg|center|thumb|Life restoration of ''Scalacurvichthys'']] |- |''Serrilepis''<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Chalifa |first=Yael |date=1989 |title=Yabrudichthys and serrilepis, two new genera of Enchodontoids (Teleostei) from Lower cenomanian beds of 'ein-yabrūd, israel |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00212210.1989.10688621 |journal=Israel Journal of Zoology |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=11–38 |language=en |doi=10.1080/00212210.1989.10688621 |doi-broken-date=6 April 2026 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20210709212320/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00212210.1989.10688621 |archive-date=2021-07-09}}</ref> |''S. longidens'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A halecid aulopiform | |- |''Yabrudichthys<ref name=":7" />'' |''Y. striatus'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |An enchodontoid aulopiform | |}
=== Turtles === {| class="wikitable" align="center" !Genus !Species !Presence !Notes !Images |- |''Algorachelus''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pérez-García |first=Adán |date=2025-01-06 |title=A taxonomic revision of the Cenomanian bothremydid turtle Algorachelus parva from Israel and morphological variation within its genus |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2023/5424-a-bothremydid-turtle-in-israel |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |language=English |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=1–15 |doi=10.26879/1398 |issn=1094-8074}}</ref> |''A. parva'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A bothremyid side-necked turtle | |- |Pelomedusidae<ref name=":3" /> |indet. |Ein Yabrud quarries |An indeterminate pelomedusid side-necked turtle | |}
=== Squamates === {| class="wikitable" align="center" !Genus !Species !Presence !Notes !Images |- |''Haasiasaurus<ref name=":3" />'' |''H. gittelmani'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |An early mosasaur | |- |''Haasiophis''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tchernov |first1=Eitan |last2=Rieppel |first2=Olivier |last3=Zaher |first3=Hussam |last4=Polcyn |first4=Michael J. |last5=Jacobs |first5=Louis L. |date=2000-03-17 |title=A Fossil Snake with Limbs |url=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.287.5460.2010 |journal=Science |volume=287 |issue=5460 |pages=2010–2012 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5460.2010 |pmid=10720326 |bibcode=2000Sci...287.2010T |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> |''H. terrasanctus'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A simoliophiid snake, notable for its hindlimbs | |- |''Mesoleptos''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=LEE |first1=MICHAEL S.Y. |last2=SCANLON |first2=JOHN D. |date=2002-11-28 |title=The Cretaceous marine squamate ''Mesoleptos'' and the origin of snakes |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/s0968047002000158 |journal=Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, Zoology Series |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=131–142 |doi=10.1017/s0968047002000158 |issn=0968-0470}}</ref> |''M. zendrinii<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cabezuelo-Hernández |first1=Alberto |last2=Pérez-García |first2=Adán |date=2023 |title=A New Species of the Pythonomorph Carentonosaurus from the Cenomanian of Algora (Guadalajara, Central Spain) |journal=Animals |language=en |volume=13 |issue=7 |pages=1197 |doi=10.3390/ani13071197 |pmid=37048453 |pmc=10093179 |issn=2076-2615 |doi-access=free }}</ref>'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A basal mosasauroid |center|thumb|Life restoration of ''Mesoleptos'' |- |''Pachyrhachis<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />'' |''P. problematicus'' |Ein Yabrud quarries |A simoliophiid snake, notable for its hindlimbs | |}
=== Pterosaurs === {| class="wikitable" align="center" !Genus !Species !Presence !Notes !Images |- |Pterodactyloidea<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kellner |first1=A.W. A. |last2=Mello |first2=A.M.S. |last3=Ford |first3=T. |date=2007 |title=A survey of pterosaurs from Africa with the description of a new specimen from Morocco. |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/55223271/Kellner_et_al_2007_-_African_pterosaur_survey___new_specimen_from_Morocco.pdf |journal=Paleontologia: Cenarios de Vida |pages=257–267}}</ref> |indet. |Ein Yabrud quarries |An indeterminate pterosaur | |}
=== Flora === The dominant component of the flora are encrusting green algae, while terrestrial flora is composed almost exclusively by leaves and stalks or stems of a mangrove gymnosperm (very likely ''Weichselia'' based on regional abundance).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jacobs |first1=L.L. |last2=Polcyn |first2=M.J. |last3=Taylor |first3=L.H. |last4=Ferguson |first4=K. |date=2005 |title=Sea-surface temperatures and palaeoenvironments of dolichosaurs and early mosasaurs |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016774600021053 |journal=Netherlands Journal of Geosciences |volume=84 |issue=3 |pages=269–281 |doi=10.1017/s0016774600021053 |bibcode=2005NJGeo..84..269J |issn=0016-7746}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dobruskina |first=I. A. |date=1997-02-01 |title=Turonian plants from the southern Negev, Israel |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667196900518 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=87–107 |doi=10.1006/cres.1996.0051 |bibcode=1997CrRes..18...87D |issn=0195-6671}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Earth sciences|Paleontology||}} * List of pterosaur-bearing stratigraphic units
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Geology of Palestine Category:Mesozoic Asia Category:Paleontology in Palestine