Nevada's Candelaria Formation consists of shale and limestone deposited in an open marine environment, with exposed outcrops in the Candelaria Hills southeast of the abandoned town of Candelaria and near Willow Springs. It is especially significant for its Early Triassic fossils from the Induan age, within the Griesbachian to Dienerian interval. These remains include ammonoids, nautiloids, bivalves, and ray-finned fishes. Together they preserve an important record of marine life from the earliest part of the Triassic and give the formation notable paleontological importance.