Valanginian Stage

(after the castle of Valangin, near Neuchâtel in Switzerland), the second stage from the bottom in the Cretaceous system. It was discovered by Desor in 1853. The Valanginian stage is typically composed of lime-stone with sea urchins, pelecypods, and ammonites. It is found everywhere in the region of the Tethys Sea (the Alps, Carpathians, and the Caucasus). In the temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere it is composed of clays with Polyptychites.