Paleobiota of the Chinle Formation

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Amniotes[]

Archosauromorphs[]

Crurotarsans[]

Main article: Archosaurs of the Chinle Formation

Other Archosauromorphs[]

Misc. Archosauromorphs of the Chinle Formation
Genus Species State Member Abundance Notes Images

Crosbysaurus[1]

C. harrisae[1]

  • Arizona
  • Utah [1]

An archosauriform represented only by teeth.[1] It is treated as indeterminate archosauriform remains by Irmis in 2005.[1] It was originally thought to be an ornithischian dinosaur.

Crosbysaurus
Trilophosaurus
Vancleavea
Rugarhynchos[2] R. sixmilensis
  • New Mexico
  • Bluewater Creek
 A doswelliid archosauriform. Originally described as a species of Doswellia,[3] but subsequently transferred to a separate genus.
Syntomiprosopus[4] S. sucherorum
  • Arizona
  • Blue Mesa
    or
  • Sonsela[4]

Two to four individuals from a single quarry.[4]

A short-faced archosauriform, possibly an unusual early diverging crocodylomorph. Appears convergent with some Late Cretaceous notosuchians.[4]

Tanytrachelos[5]

Indeterminate[5]

  • Mesa Redondo[5]

Represented by a cervical rib.[5]

A tanystropheid represented by several hundred fossil specimens.

Tecovasaurus[6]

T. murryi[6]

  • Mesa Redondo[6]

An unknown amniote represented by scattered teeth formerly believed to be from an ornithischian dinosaur.[6] Later discoveries of similar teeth in pseudosuchians meant that these could no longer be regarded as anything more specific than some kind of archosauriform.[6]

Trilophosaurus[7]

T. buettneri[8]

T. dornorum[9]

T. jacobsi[10]

T. phasmalophos[11]

  • Arizona
  • Sonsela

Vancleavea[12]

V. campi[12]

A strange aquatic carnivore of uncertain affinities that is represented by both articulated skeletons and scattered elements like osteoderms and vertebrae.[12]

Other amniotes[]

Misc. Amniotes of the Chinle Formation
Genus Species State Member Abundance Notes Images

Acallosuchus[13]

A. rectori[13]

Known only from a partial skull.[13]

A strange neodiapsid whose bones were heavily ornamented "with subtriangular knobs... running the length of the bones." Even these ornamentations were ornamented "with additional grooves." It is too bizarre to be currently classified as anything more than a probable diapsid.[13]

Drepanosaurus
Placerias
Ancistronychus[14] A. paradoxus
  • Arizona
  • Petrified Forest
 A member of Drepanosauromorpha.
Avicranium[15] A. renestoi
  • New Mexico
  • 'Siltstone'
 A drepanosaur with particular surfaces of its vertebral centrae that are heterocoelous (saddle-shaped). The neural spines are anteroposteriorly short and strongly anterodorsally inclined. These features closely resemble those of Drepanosaurus.
Chinlechelys C. tenertesta
  • New Mexico
 An early turtle.

Colognathus[16]

C. obscurus[16]

Known only from a jaw fragment and some isolated teeth.[16]

Originally believed to be a fish, Colognathus had distinct, fluted teeth.[16]

Dolabrosaurus D. aquatilis
  • New Mexico
  • Petrified Forest
 A drepanosaur.
Drepanosaurus[17] D. unguicaudatus
  • New Mexico
  • Petrified Forest
 A drepanosaur.

Kataigidodon[18]

K. venetus

  • Arizona
  • Blue Mesa

A non-mammalian eucynodont.

Kraterokheirodon[19]

K. colberti[19]

  • Petrified Forest[19]
  • Blue Mesa or Mesa Redondo[19]

Known only from two teeth.[19]

Although they share some similarities with cynodont teeth, the known Kraterokheirodon teeth are very distinctive and can't be confidently referred to a known amniote group.[19]

Palacrodon[20] Indeterminate
  • Arizona
 A diapsid reptile of uncertain phylogenetic placement.

Placerias[21]

P. hesternus[21]

Known from several hundred remains, but very rare outside of the highly concentrated Placerias Quarry.[21] the large numbers of specimens in the Placerias Quarry attributable to "taphonomic processes."[21]

A placeriine stahleckeriid
Skybalonyx[22] S. skapter
  • Arizona
  • Blue Mesa
 A member of Drepanosauromorpha.

Uatchitodon[23]

U. schneideri[24]

Known in Chinle from only a single tooth. The presence of venom channels is consistent with other known Uatchitodon specimens, although the Chinle specimen's channels are unique in being "completely enclosed under the surface of the crown."[25]

An unknown reptile, probably a carnivorous archosauromorph.
Whitakersaurus[26] W. bermani
  • New Mexico
  • Petrified Forest
 A rhynchocephalian found at Ghost Ranch.
Indeterminate procolophonid[27] Indeterminate
  • Utah

Batrachomorphs[]

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Batrachomorphs of the Chinle Formation
Genus Species State Member Abundance Notes Images

Apachesaurus[28]

A. gregorii[28]

Common in the Owl Rock and Petrified forest members.[28] Blue Mesa remains are fragmentary.[28]

Junior synonym of Koskinonodon

Chinlestegophis[29]

C. jenkinsi

  • Colorado

A member of Stereospondyli, possibly a stem-caecilian.

Koskinonodon[30]

K. perfecta[31]

K. perfecta is "possibly the most common tetrapod fossil in the lower Chinle", although its presence in the upper Chinle is "unclear".[31]

A temnospondyl. The new genus Koskinonodon was erected for the species "Buettneria" perfecta when it was discovered that the latter genus was preoccupied.[30]

Koskinonodon

Salientia indet.[32]

Indeterminate

  • Arizona
  • Sonsela Member
  • Blue Mesa Member

Five bones: four ilia and a partial maxilla.

Might be more closely related to crown-group anurans than to Early Triassic taxa Triadobatrachus and Czatkobatrachus.

Cartilaginous fish[]

Chondrichthyans of the Chinle Formation
Genus Species State Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Acrodus[33]

Indeterminate[33]

Only a single tooth is known.[33]

Xenacanthus

Lonchidion[35]

L. humblei[35]

Lonchidion remains are common throughout the Carnian microvertebrate sites of the American southwest.[35]

[36]

Indeterminate[36]

Only a single specimen has been recovered from the formation.[36]

[37]

R. synergus[37]

The crown of its tooth bears a "reticulating ornamentation on [its] occlusal surface[.]"[37] Reticulodus remains are common throughout the Norian microvertebrate sites of the American southwest.[37]

Xenacanthus[38]

X. moorei[38]

Common in the lower Chinle Formation's microvertebrate localities.[38]

Basal Lobe-finned fish[]

Coelacanths[]

Actinistians of the Chinle Formation
Genus Species State Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Chinlea[39]

Indeterminate[40]

Chinlea

Lungfish[]

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Dipnoans of the Chinle Formation
Genus Species State Abundance Notes Notes

Arganodus[41]

A. dorotheae[41]

Indeterminate[41]

Arganodus toothplates are the most common fossil in the formation from a non-tetrapod.[41] They are evenly distributed across strata, although some individual localities have very high concentrations.[41]

Most Chinlean Arganodus fossils are isolated tooth plates.[41]

Ceratodus[41]

C. dorotheae[41]

Named by Case in 1921, in the 1980s it was referred to Arganodus.[41]

Ray-finned fish[]

Actinopterygians of the Chinle Formation
Genus Species State Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Australosomus[42]

Indeterminate[43]

Known only from two vertebrae.[43]

Australosomus
Saurichthys

[44]

C. dunklei

  • Colorado
  • Utah

A member of .

Hemicalypterus

H. weiri

  • Utah
  • Church Rock Member

A member of Dapediiformes.[45]

[44][46]

L. hillsi[44]

A member of .

Indeterminate[47]

Represented by isolated scales.[47]

[48]

L. sanjuanensis[48]

  • Utah
  • Church Rock Member[48]

A member of Semionotiformes.

L. chinleana[49]

  • Utah
  • Church Rock Member

A member of Semionotiformes.

Saurichthys[50]

Indeterminate

  • Arizona
  • Upper Blue Mesa Member

A member of Saurichthyiformes.

[44]

S. stewarti

  • Colorado
  • Utah

A member of .

[44]

T. kalliokoskii

  • Colorado

An enigmatic actinopterygian.[45]

[44][51]

T. dolorensis[44]

A member of Palaeonisciformes.[44]

Indeterminate[52]

Common.[52]

Isolated scales from Chinle microvertebrate sites commonly have Turseodus-like ridges, however that feature is not unique to Turseodus and in 2005 Irmis advised researchers to regard them as indeterminate remains.[52]

Plants[]

Plants of the Chinle Formation
Genus Species State Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Araucarioxylon[53]

A. arizonicum

  • Arizona
  • Petrified Forest

Common

Araucarioxylon arizonicum

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Vertebrate Fauna; Archosauriformes; Crosbysaurus harrisae," Irmis (2005) p. 71
  2. ^ Brenen M. Wynd; Sterling J. Nesbitt; Michelle R. Stocker; Andrew B. Heckert (2020). "A detailed description of Rugarhynchos sixmilensis, gen. et comb. nov. (Archosauriformes, Proterochampsia), and cranial convergence in snout elongation across stem and crown archosaurs". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 39 (6): e1748042. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1748042. S2CID 219917329.
  3. ^ Lucas, Spencer; Heckert, Andrew. "A new species of the enigmatic archosauromorph Doswellia from the Upper Triassic Bluewater Creek Formation, New Mexico, USA". Palaeontology.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Heckert, A. B.; Nesbitt, S. J.; Stocker, M. R.; Schneider, V. P.; Hoffman, D. K.; Zimmer, B. W. (2021). "A new short-faced archosauriform from the Upper Triassic Placerias/Downs' quarry complex, Arizona, USA, expands the morphological diversity of the Triassic archosauriform radiation". The Science of Nature. 108 (4): Article 32. Bibcode:2021SciNa.108...32H. doi:10.1007/s00114-021-01733-1. PMC 8253714. PMID 34213630.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Vertebrate Fauna; Archosauromorpha; Tanytrachelos sp.," Irmis (2005) p. 70
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Vertebrate Fauna; Archosauriformes; Tecovasaurus murryi," Irmis (2005) p. 71
  7. ^ "Vertebrate Fauna; Archosauromorpha; Trilophosaurus buettneri, Trilophosaurus jacobsi, Trilophosaurus sp." Irmis (2005) p. 70
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Vertebrate Fauna; Archosauromorpha; Trilophosaurus buettneri," Irmis (2005) p. 70
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Abstract," Mueller and Parker (2006) p. 119
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Vertebrate Fauna; Archosauromorpha; Trilophosaurus jacobsi," Irmis (2005) p. 70
  11. ^ Ben T. Kligman; Adam D. Marsh; Sterling J. Nesbitt; William G. Parker; Michelle R. Stocker (2020). "New trilophosaurid species demonstrates a decline in allokotosaur diversity across the Adamanian-Revueltian boundary in the Late Triassic of western North America". Palaeodiversity. 13 (1): 25–37. doi:10.18476/pale.v13.a3.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Vertebrate Fauna; Archosauriformes; Vancleavea campi," Irmis (2005) p. 71
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Vertebrate Fauna; Reptilia incertae sedis; Acallosuchus rectori," Irmis (2005) pp. 69-70
  14. ^ Gabriel S. Gonçalves; Christian A. Sidor (2019). "A new drepanosauromorph, Ancistronychus paradoxus n. gen. et sp., from the Chinle Formation of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA". PaleoBios. 36: ucmp_paleobios_46203.
  15. ^ Pritchard, Adam C.; Nesbitt, Sterling J. (2017-10-01). "A bird-like skull in a Triassic diapsid reptile increases heterogeneity of the morphological and phylogenetic radiation of Diapsida". Open Science. 4 (10): 170499. Bibcode:2017RSOS....470499P. doi:10.1098/rsos.170499. ISSN 2054-5703. PMC 5666248. PMID 29134065.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Vertebrate Fauna; Parareptilia; Colognathus obscurus," Irmis (2005) p. 69
  17. ^ Pritchard, Adam C.; Turner, Alan H.; Irmis, Randall B.; Nesbitt, Sterling J.; Smith, Nathan D. (2016-10-24). "Extreme Modification of the Tetrapod Forelimb in a Triassic Diapsid Reptile". Current Biology. 26 (20): 2779–2786. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.084. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 27693141.
  18. ^ Ben T. Kligman; Adam D. Marsh; Hans-Dieter Sues; Christian A. Sidor (2020). "A new non-mammalian eucynodont from the Chinle Formation (Triassic: Norian), and implications for the early Mesozoic equatorial cynodont record". Biology Letters. 16 (11): Article ID 20200631. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0631. PMC 7728676. PMID 33142088.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Vertebrate Fauna; Amniota incertae sedis; Kraterokheirodon colberti," Irmis (2005) p. 69
  20. ^ Ben T. Kligman; Adam D. Marsh; William G. Parker (2018). "First records of diapsid Palacrodon from the Norian, Late Triassic Chinle Formation of Arizona, and their biogeographic implications". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 63 (1): 117–127. doi:10.4202/app.00426.2017.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Vertebrate Fauna; Synapsida; Placerias hesternus," Irmis (2005) p. 82
  22. ^ Xavier A. Jenkins; Adam C. Pritchard; Adam D. Marsh; Ben T. Kligman; Christian A. Sidor; Kaye E. Reed (2020). "Using manual ungual morphology to predict substrate use in the Drepanosauromorpha and the description of a new species". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Online edition (5): e1810058. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1810058.
  23. ^ Listed as cf. Uatchitodon sp. in "Vertebrate Fauna; Reptilia incertae sedis; Cf. Uatchitodon sp," Irmis (2005) p. 69
  24. ^ Mitchell J.S., Heckert A.B., Sues H.-D. (2010). "Grooves to tubes: evolution of the venom delivery system in a Late Triassic "reptile"". Naturwissenschaften. 97 (12): 1117–1121. Bibcode:2010NW.....97.1117M. doi:10.1007/s00114-010-0729-0. PMID 21060984. S2CID 10093308.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Vertebrate Fauna; Reptilia incertae sedis; Cf. Uatchitodon sp," Irmis (2005) p. 69
  26. ^ Heckert, Andrew B.; Lucas, Spencer G.; Rinehart, Larry F.; Hunt, Adrian P. (2008-07-01). "A New Genus and Species of Sphenodontian from the Ghost Ranch Coelophysis Quarry (upper Triassic: Apachean), Rock Point Formation, New Mexico, Usa". Palaeontology. 51 (4): 827–845. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00786.x. ISSN 1475-4983.
  27. ^ Nicholas C. Fraser; Randall B. Irmis; David K. Elliott (2005). "A procolophonid (Parareptilia) from the Owl Rock Member, Chinle Formation of Utah, USA". Palaeontologia Electronica. 8 (1): Article Number 8.1.13.
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h "Vertebrate Fauna; Temnospondyli; Apachesaurus gregorii" Irmis (2005) pp. 67-68
  29. ^ Jason D. Pardo; Bryan J. Small; Adam K. Huttenlocker (2017). "Stem caecilian from the Triassic of Colorado sheds light on the origins of Lissamphibia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114 (27): E5389–E5395. doi:10.1073/pnas.1706752114. PMC 5502650. PMID 28630337.
  30. ^ Jump up to: a b Mueller (2007)
  31. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h "Vertebrate Fauna; Temnospondyli; Buettneria perfecta" Irmis (2005) p. 67. Note that Koskinonodon was listed under the preoccupied (see Mueller 2007) name Buettneria in the preceding reference.
  32. ^ Michelle R. Stocker; Sterling J. Nesbitt; Ben T. Kligman; Daniel J. Paluh; Adam D. Marsh; David C. Blackburn; William G. Parker (2019). "The earliest equatorial record of frogs from the Late Triassic of Arizona". Biology Letters. 15 (2): Article ID 20180922. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0922. hdl:10919/87931. PMC 6405462. PMID 30958136.
  33. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Vertebrate Fauna; Chondrichthyes; Acrodus sp." Irmis (2005) p. 65
  34. ^ Jump up to: a b The Petrified Forest and Sonsela Acrodus specimens are actually Reticulodus. See "Vertebrate Fauna; Chondrichthyes; Acrodus sp." Irmis (2005) p. 65 for details.
  35. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Vertebrate Fauna; Chondrichthyes; Lonchidion humblei," Irmis (2005) p. 65
  36. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Vertebrate Fauna; Chondrichthyes; Phoebodus sp." Irmis (2005) p. 65
  37. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h "Vertebrate Fauna; Chondrichthyes; Reticulodus synergus," Irmis (2005) p. 65
  38. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Vertebrate Fauna; Chondrichthyes; 'Xenacanthus' moorei," Irmis (2005) p. 64
  39. ^ Listed as cf. Chinlea sp. in "Vertebrate Fauna; Temnospondyli; Cf. Chinlea sp." Irmis (2005) p. 67
  40. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Vertebrate Fauna; Temnospondyli; Cf. Chinlea sp." Irmis (2005) p. 67
  41. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Vertebrate Fauna; Temnospondyli; Arganodus sp." Irmis (2005) p. 67
  42. ^ Listed as "cf. Australosomus" in "Vertebrate Fauna; Osteichthyes; Cf. Australosomus sp." Irmis (2005) p. 66-67
  43. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Vertebrate Fauna; Osteichthyes; Cf. Australosomus sp." Irmis (2005) p. 66-67
  44. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Bobb Schaeffer (1967). "Late Triassic fishes from the western United States". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 135: 285–342. hdl:2246/1125.
  45. ^ Jump up to: a b Sarah Z. Gibson (2016). "Redescription and Phylogenetic Placement of †Hemicalypterus weiri Schaeffer, 1967 (Actinopterygii, Neopterygii) from the Triassic Chinle Formation, Southwestern United States: New Insights into Morphology, Ecological Niche, and Phylogeny". PLOS ONE. 11 (9): e0163657. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1163657G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163657. PMC 5033578. PMID 27657923.
  46. ^ Listed as "cf. Lasalichthyes" in "Vertebrate Fauna; Osteichthyes; Cf. Lasalichthyes sp." Irmis (2005) p. 66
  47. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Vertebrate Fauna; Osteichthyes; Cf. Lasalichthyes sp." Irmis (2005) p. 66
  48. ^ Jump up to: a b c Sarah Z. Gibson (2013). "A new hump-backed ginglymodian fish (Neopterygii, Semionotiformes) from the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation of southeastern Utah". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (5): 1037–1050. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.758125. S2CID 129797885.
  49. ^ Sarah Z. Gibson (2013). "Biodiversity and Evolutionary History of †Lophionotus (Neopterygii: †Semionotiformes) from the Western United States". Copeia. 2013 (4): 582–603. doi:10.1643/CI-12-028. S2CID 85755730.
  50. ^ Ben T. Kligman; William G. Parker; Adam D. Marsh (2017). "First record of Saurichthys (Actinopterygii) from the Upper Triassic (Chinle Formation, Norian) of western North America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (5): e1367304. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1367304. S2CID 134301176.
  51. ^ Listed as "cf. Turseodus" in "Vertebrate Fauna; Osteichthyes; Cf. Turseodus sp." Irmis (2005) p. 66
  52. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h "Vertebrate Fauna; Osteichthyes; Cf. Turseodus sp." Irmis (2005) p. 66
  53. ^ Frank H. Knowlton (1889). "New species of fossil wood (Araucarioxylon arizonicum) from Arizona and New Mexico" (PDF). Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 11 (676): 1–5. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.11-676.1.

References[]

  • Irmis, R. B. 2005. The vertebrate fauna of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in northern Arizona. p. 63-88. in S.J. Nesbitt, W.G. Parker, and R.B. Irmis (eds.) 2005. Guidebook to the Triassic formations of the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona: Geology, Paleontology, and History. Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 9.
  • Mueller, B. D. and Parker, W. G. 2006. A new species of Trilophosaurus (Diapsida: Archosauromorpha) from the Sonsela Member (Chinle Formation) of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. In W. G. Parker, S. R. Ash & R. B. Irmis (eds.), A Century of Research at Petrified Forest National Park, 1906-2006: Geology and Paleontology. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 62:119-125
  • Mueller, B.D. (2007). "Koskinonodon Branson and Mehl, 1929, a replacement name for the preoccupied temnospondyl Buettneria Case, 1922". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (1): 225. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[225:KBAMAR]2.0.CO;2.
  • Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
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