Country
Fossil hunting in Colombia
The rise of the Andes lifted a Cretaceous sea floor to over two thousand metres, and erosion has since cut into it around Villa de Leyva. The marine reptiles that swam there are now in the hills of Boyaca.
The Paja Formation, a dark shale of Barremian to Aptian age, is the rock that matters. Low oxygen at the sea floor kept scavengers away, which is why its marine reptiles and ammonites preserve so completely.
The best known specimen is a pliosaur found at Monquira in 1977 by Samuel Vargas, Enrique Zubieta and German Zubieta, and left exactly where it lay. Reassigned in 2021 to the new genus Monquirasaurus, it is one of very few pliosaurs anywhere displayed at its own excavation site.
Colombian law protects palaeontological material as national heritage. Decreto 1353 of 2018 prohibits commercialising it, so the problem starts at the purchase rather than at the border. Material leaves the country only as a temporary loan authorised by the Servicio Geologico Colombiano.
1 fossil site
Updated 17 September 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Where are Colombia's fossils?
- The area around Villa de Leyva in Boyaca department is the centre of Colombian palaeontology. The Paja Formation there produces marine reptiles, ammonites and bivalves from an Early Cretaceous sea.
- Can you take fossils out of Colombia?
- No. Colombian law treats palaeontological material as part of the national heritage, and export is allowed only as an authorised temporary loan. Buying a fossil is itself prohibited under Decreto 1353 of 2018.