Paleobiogeographic distribution of Testudinata and neosuchian Crocodyliformes in the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of North America: Evidence of habitat zonation?

Foster, John; McMullen, Sharon K.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.12.013

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…With little of the postcranial skeleton known, the specific ecology of Theriosuchus is not clear, but the environmental setting of Knoetschkesuchus guimarotae in estuarine lagoons and swamps (Schwarz and others, 2017) suggests that that species at least was semi-aquatic. The occurrence of T. morrisonensis in an abandoned channel pond deposit in the apparently wetter northern region of the Morrison Formation (Turner and Peterson, 2004;Foster and McMullen, 2017) aligns with the wet paleoenvironmental settings of K. guimarotae and T. pusillus and may indicate that T. morrisonensis too was semi-aquatic in its habits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Fossil crocodylomorphs are diverse in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of western North America, with seven species of terrestrial and semi-aquatic forms occurring, with collective widespread distribution and high abundance (e.g., Clark, 2011;Pritchard and others, 2013;Foster and McMullen, 2017). In 2004, the left mandible of a small crocodyliform was collected from the Little Houston Quarry in the Morrison Formation of the Black Hills, northeastern Wyoming (figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A new atoposaurid crocodylomorph from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Wyoming, USA

Foster

2018

GIW

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A left mandible of a small crocodyliform found in the Upper Jurassic Morrsion Formation of northeastern Wyoming represents the first occurrence of the atoposaurid Theriosuchus in North America. The specimen demonstrates lower jaw morphology, including heterodonty (as indicated by alveolus shape), similar to Theriosuchus and Knoetschkesuchus, but autapomorphies and a unique combination of characters among these taxa indicate that it is a distinct, new species of Theriosuchus.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new atoposaurid crocodylomorph from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Wyoming, USA

Foster

2018

GIW

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“…In total, we estimate the minimum number of preserved sauropod indi¬ viduals to be six (plus one theropod; McIntosh, 1981;Foster, 2003), one fewer than estimated by Foster (2003). (Foster et al, 2006), turtles and semiaquatic crocodyliforms (Foster and McMullen, 2017), and stegosaurs (Maidment et al, 2018). A trend indicating geographical segregation among flagellicaudatan sauropods has been proposed as well (Tschopp and Mateus, 2017;Maltese et al, 2018).…”

Section: Genus-level Referrals Were Possible Only Withinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessment of a Historical Collection of Sauropod Dinosaurs from the Northern Morrison Formation of Wyoming, with Implications for Sauropod Biogeography

Tschopp

Maidment

Lamanna

et al. 2019

Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History

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The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States preserves one of the bestknown Mesozoic paleoecosystems worldwide. The formation crops out over an area from New Mexico and Oklahoma to Montana and Utah and encompasses a time span of approximately eight million years. Recent studies indicate a high diversity of gigantic, herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs, but the geographic and temporal distributions of species or even genera of these animals remain poorly understood. In particular, sauropod specimens from northern outcrops of the formation have rarely been studied in detail, and temporal relationships among sites are imprecise. Here, we reassess the taxonomic diversity of the sauropods from a historic Carnegie Museum locality in northern Wyoming. Previous referrals of material to the well-known diplodocid genera Apatosau¬ rus and Diplodocus cannot be confidently confirmed; instead, all these specimens more likely represent elements from the recently recognized Galeamopus. Specimens previously assigned to Camarasaurus and Haplocanthosaurus could not be referred to these genera based on apomorphies, due to a lack of detailed knowledge concerning the genus-and species-level taxonomy of these sauropods. Our findings imply that many referrals of incomplete diplodocid skeletons to Apatosaurus and Diplodocus must be reassessed. These reassessments are particularly important with regard to specimens from northern localities of the Morrison Formation, as it is becoming increasingly evident that diplodocids from this area were distinct from better-known, more south¬ erly taxa. This geographic segregation does not seem to apply to nondiplodocid sauropods; how¬ ever, these taxa are also in need of systematic revision, which may reveal species-level patterns similar to those observed in Diplodocidae. History After the successful excavation of the Carne¬ gie Museum at Sheep Creek in Wyoming in 1899 and 1900, which resulted in the recovery and description of the new species Diplodocus carne

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“…So far, Type 1 pond deposits (Little Houston, Small Quarry, Quarry 9) are restricted to the northern and eastern parts of the Morrison Formation, and Type 2 deposits (FPA, Rainbow Park, Wolf Creek, and Cisco Mammal) are only known from the Colorado Plateau region in the Morrison. This taphofacies segregation may reflect the relative abundance differences in the occurrences of turtles and semi-aquatic crocodyliforms between the Colorado Plateau and areas north and east (Foster and McMullen, 2017), the north-and east-restricted distributions of possibly semi-aquatic mammalian and archosauromorph taxa in Docodon and Cteniogenys (Chure and Evans, 1998;Foster and Trujillo, 2000;Foster and others, 2006), and geologic evidence suggesting a higher water table and wetter surface conditions during Morrison times in areas that are now parts of Wyoming and eastern Colorado (Turner and Peterson, 2004). The Little Houston Quarry therefore helps characterize the faunas of the northern and eastern "wet" setting of the Morrison Formation.…”

Section: Taphonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microvertebrate taxa were identified in the formation relatively early on (Marsh, 1879;Gilmore, 1910Gilmore, , 1928 but large samples of such taxa were restricted to only a handful of sites until relatively recently. Work from the past few years has suggested that microvertebrate taxa, and specifically aquatic and semi-aquatic taxa, may be more abundant in the formation than commonly appreciated (Foster and Trujillo, 2004;Foster and Heckert, 2011;Foster and McMullen, 2017) and that the Morrison may show some paleobiogeographic zonation based on these small taxa and their preferred environments for habitat and preservation (Chure and Evans, 1998;Foster and Trujillo, 2000;Foster and others, 2006;Foster and McMullen, 2017). Paleobiogeo-graphic zonation is also becoming apparent for some groups of dinosaurs within the Morrison.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An unusually diverse northern biota from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic), Black Hills, Wyoming

Foster

Pagnac

Hunt-Foster³

2020

GIW

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The Little Houston Quarry in the Black Hills of Wyoming contains the most diverse vertebrate fauna in the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) north of Como Bluff and the second-most diverse in the entire formation, after Reed’s Quarry 9. The deposit was an occasionally reactivated abandoned river channel, in interbedded green mudstone and laminated green-gray siltstone above a channel sandstone. The dinosaur material is densely distributed and is disarticulated to articulated, with several associated skeletons. The biota contains charophytes, horsetails, a possible seed fern, possible conifers, gastropods, two types of unionoid bivalves, diplostracans (“conchostracans”), a malacostracan, ray-finned fish, lungfish, a frog, salamanders, two types of turtles, rhynchocephalians, a lizard, choristoderes, two types of crocodyliforms, a pterosaur, Allosaurus and several types of small theropods including Tanycolagreus? and probable dromaeosaurids, numerous Camarasaurus and a diplodocine sauropod, a stegosaur, the neornithischian Nanosaurus, and the mammals Docodon, Amblotherium, and a multituberculate. Among these taxa, one of the unionoid bivalves, an atoposaurid crocodyliform, and the species of Amblotherium, which appear to be new and unique to the locality so far. The Docodon material may represent the first occurrence of D. apoxys outside of its type area in Colorado. Additionally, small, unusual theropod tooth types reported here may represent the first Late Jurassic occurrence of cf. Richardoestesia in North America and a possible abelisauroid, respectively.

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Paleobiogeographic distribution of Testudinata and neosuchian Crocodyliformes in the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of North America: Evidence of habitat zonation?

Cited by 10 publications

References 37 publications

A new atoposaurid crocodylomorph from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Wyoming, USA

A new atoposaurid crocodylomorph from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Wyoming, USA

Reassessment of a Historical Collection of Sauropod Dinosaurs from the Northern Morrison Formation of Wyoming, with Implications for Sauropod Biogeography

An unusually diverse northern biota from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic), Black Hills, Wyoming

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