Zapatoca

Municipality and town in Santander Department, Colombia

Flag

Seal

Nickname:

Ciudad Levitica (Levitical City

Motto(s):

Libertad y Orden (Liberty and Order)

Location of the municipality and town of Zapatoca in the Santander Department of Colombia

Country

ColombiaDepartmentSantander DepartmentArea

• Total360 km² (139 sq mi)Elevation

1,720 m (5,500 ft)Population

• Total8,929Time zoneUTC-5 (Colombia Standard Time)Websitewww.zapatoca-santander.gov.co

Zapatoca (Spanish pronunciation: [sapaˈtoka]) is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. It is at a high altitude and is a common stop between Bucaramanga and San Gil. It was built in the early 17th century by the Spanish conquistadores.

Climate

Climate data for Zapatoca (1991–2020)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	23.64 (74.55)	24.22 (75.60)	24.06 (75.31)	23.67 (74.61)	23.6 (74.5)	23.59 (74.46)	23.71 (74.68)	23.99 (75.18)	23.75 (74.75)	23.14 (73.65)	22.73 (72.91)	23.12 (73.62)	23.6 (74.5)
Daily mean °C (°F)	18.76 (65.77)	19.1 (66.4)	19.13 (66.43)	19.18 (66.52)	19.23 (66.61)	19.18 (66.52)	19.04 (66.27)	19.13 (66.43)	19.08 (66.34)	18.69 (65.64)	18.54 (65.37)	18.63 (65.53)	18.97 (66.15)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	13.66 (56.59)	14.05 (57.29)	14.31 (57.76)	14.66 (58.39)	14.72 (58.50)	14.37 (57.87)	13.94 (57.09)	13.99 (57.18)	14.05 (57.29)	14.13 (57.43)	14.38 (57.88)	14.0 (57.2)	14.19 (57.54)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	24.36 (0.96)	32.53 (1.28)	88.74 (3.49)	116.0 (4.57)	153.79 (6.05)	101.38 (3.99)	90.13 (3.55)	107.21 (4.22)	157.15 (6.19)	160.88 (6.33)	131.06 (5.16)	49.4 (1.94)	1,212.63 (47.74)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	3.64	5.05	9.26	12.92	15.51	11.39	11.09	12.84	14.29	15.55	12.86	6.17	130.58
Source: NOAA^[1]

Paleontology

Fossils of Early Cretaceous animals from the Valanginian-Hauterivian Rosablanca Formation were collected near Zapatoca.^[2] Fossil material include fishes, particularly pycnodonts and hybodontiform Strophodus, ichthyosaurs, elasmosaurids.^[2] Remains of turtles,^[2] including Notoemys zapatocaensis,^[3] possible ornithocheirid pterosaurs^[4] and ammonite Saynoceras verrucosum^[3]^[4] also known from this location. There is also a report about metriorhynchoid crocodylomorph from these deposits.^[2] During the Valanginian and Hauterivian ages, here was a shallow sea where hybodontiforms and pycnodontiforms played an important trophic role as shell-crushing predators.^[2]

Notable people

Miguel Acuña (1788-1847), Franciscan priest and medical practitioner
José de Jesús Pimiento Rodríguez (1919 - 2019 in Floridablanca) was a Prelate of the Catholic Church. Until his death the age of 100 he was the oldest living cardinal.
Carlos Toledo Plata (1932 - 1984 in Bucaramanga) was a doctor, politician and co-founder and early leader of the guerrilla movement known as M-19.

References

^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Zapatoca". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Carrillo-Briceño, Jorge D.; Cadena, Edwin-Alberto (2022-06-02). "A new hybodontiform shark (Strophodus Agassiz 1838) from the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian-Hauterivian) of Colombia". PeerJ. 10: e13496. doi:10.7717/peerj.13496. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 9167585. PMID 35673391.
^ ^a ^b Edwin Cadena (2020). "Valanginian occurrence of Pelomedusoides turtles in northern South America: revision of this hypothesis based on a new fossil remain". PeerJ. 8 (e9810): 1-12. doi:10.7717/peerj.9810. PMC 7450993. PMID 32904119.
^ ^a ^b Edwin Cadena, David M. Unwin, David M. Martill (2020). "Lower Cretaceous pterosaurs from Colombia". Cretaceous Research. 114 (3). Bibcode:2020CrRes.11404526C. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104526. S2CID 224886977.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)