Wahweap_Formation

Wahweap Formation

Wahweap Formation

Geologic formation in the United States

The Wahweap Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument is a geological formation in southern Utah and northern Arizona, around the Lake Powell region, whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian stage). Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[1]

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Age

The Wahweap formation is divided into four members, which are listed below with their respective ages:[2]

  • Last Chance Creek Member: 82.17-81.55 Ma
  • Reynolds Point Member: 81.55-80.61 Ma
  • Coyote Point Member: 80.61-79 Ma
  • Pardner Canyon Member: 79-77.29 Ma

Paleobiota

Invertebrates

The Wahweap Formation shows a substantial amount of invertebrate activity ranging from fossilized insect burrows in petrified logs[3] to various mollusks that characterize the shell beds. Large fossilized crabs are common at most shell bed sites in the Wahweap,[4] and over 1,900 gastropod specimens (of four likely genera) have been unearthed in the formation's siltstone.[5]

Elasmobranchs

More information Elasmobranchs of the Wahweap Formation, Taxon ...

Osteichthyes

More information Osteichthyes of the Wahweap Formation, Taxon ...

Salamanders

More information Lissamphibians of the Wahweap Formation, Taxon ...

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs known from the Wahweap include at least 2 species of hadrosaur, at least two ceratopsians[10] and at least one theropod.[11]

More information Dinosaurs of the Wahweap Formation, Taxon ...

Mammals

A maniraptoran dinosaur digging a primitive mammal out of its burrow, as per the 2010 discovery by Simpson et al. of trace fossils indicating a predator–prey relationship in the Wahweap Formation.[22]

A fair number of mammals spanning the lower Campanian are known from the Wahweap as well, including at least 15 genera of multituberculates, cladotherians, marsupials, and placental insectivores.[23]

Trace fossils

Trace fossils are also relatively abundant in the Wahweap, and include vertebrate tracks as well as burrow activity. Tracks preserved in the capping sandstone indicate the presence of crocodylomorphs, which had been previously known in this area only from teeth elements, as well as ornithischian dinosaurs. At least one possible theropod track has been identified in this area as well.[24]

In 2010 a unique trace fossil from the Wahweap was discovered that indicates a predator–prey relationship between dinosaurs and primitive mammals. The trace fossil includes at least two fossilized mammalian den complexes as well as associated digging grooves presumably caused by a maniraptoran dinosaur. The proximity indicates a case of probable active predation of the burrow inhabitants by the owners of the claw marks.[22]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 574–588. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  2. [2]
    Beveridge, Tegan L.; Roberts, Eric M.; Ramezani, Jahandar; Titus, Alan L.; Eaton, Jeffrey G.; Irmis, Randall B.; Sertich, Joseph J. W. (April 1, 2022). "Refined geochronology and revised stratigraphic nomenclature of the Upper Cretaceous Wahweap Formation, Utah, U.S.A. and the age of early Campanian vertebrates from southern Laramidia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 591: 110876. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110876. ISSN 0031-0182.
  3. [3]
    De Blieux, Donald D. "Analysis of Jim's hadrosaur site; a dinosaur site in the middle Campanian (Cretaceous) Wahweap Formation of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM), southern Utah." Abstracts with Programs – Geological Society of America, vol. 39, no. 5, pp.6, May 2007
  4. [4]
    Kirkland, James Ian. "An inventory of paleontological resources in the lower Wahweap Formation (lower Campanian), southern Kaiparowits Plateau, Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah." Abstracts with Programs – Geological Society of America, vol.37, no.7, pp.114, Oct 2005.
  5. [5]
    Williams, Jessica A J; Lohrengel, C Frederick. Preliminary study of freshwater gastropods in the Wahweap Formation, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Abstracts with Programs – Geological Society of America, vol. 39, no. 5, pp.43, May 2007
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    Kirkland, James I.; Eaton, Jeffrey G.; Brinkman, Donald B. (2013). "Elasmobranchs from Upper Cretaceous Freshwater Facies in Southern Utah". In Titus, Alan L.; Loewen, Mark A. (eds.). At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 153–194. ISBN 9780253008961.
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    Maisch, Michael W.; Matzke, Andreas T. (June 1, 2016). "A new hybodontid shark (Chondrichthyes, Hybodontiformes) from the Lower Jurassic Posidonienschiefer Formation of Dotternhausen, SW Germany". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 280 (3): 241–257. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2016/0577. ISSN 0077-7749.
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    Brinkman, Donald B.; Newbrey, Michael G.; Neuman, Andrew G.; Eaton, Jeffrey G. (2013). "Freshwater Osteichthyes from the Cenomanian to Late Campanian of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah". In Titus, Alan L.; Loewen, Mark A. (eds.). At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 195–236. ISBN 9780253008961.
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    Gardner, James D.; Eaton, Jeffrey G.; Cifelli, Richard L. (2013). "Preliminary Report on Salamanders (Lissamphibia; Caudata) from the Late Cretaceous (Late Cenomanian–Late Campanian) of Southern Utah, U.S.A.". In Titus, Alan L.; Loewen, Mark A. (eds.). At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 237–272. ISBN 9780253008961.
  10. [10]
    "New Horned Dinosaurs from the Wahweap Formation" (PDF). Utah Geological Survey. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 31, 2021.
  11. [11]
    John Wesley Powell Memorial Museum display, visited April 30, 2009
  12. [12]
    Gates, T.A.; Horner, J.R.; Hanna, R.R.; Nelson, C.R. (2011). "New unadorned hadrosaurine hadrosaurid (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the Campanian of North America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (4): 798–811. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.577854. S2CID 8878474.
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    Gates, Terry A.; Jinnah, Zubair; Levitt, Carolyn; Getty, Michael A. (2014). "New Hadrosaurid (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) Specimens from the Lower—Middle Campanian Wahweap Formation of Southern Utah". In Eberth, David A.; Evans, David Christopher; Ralrick, Patricia E. (eds.). Hadrosaurs. Indiana University Press. pp. 156–173. ISBN 9780253013859.
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    Holroyd, Patricia A.; Hutchison, J. Howard (June 9, 2016). "Fauna and setting of the Adelolophus hutchisoni type locality in the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Wahweap Formation of Utah" (PDF). PaleoBios. 33. doi:10.5070/P9331031196. ISSN 0031-0298.
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    Loewen, Mark A.; Burns, Michael E.; Getty, Michael E.; Kirkland, James I.; Matthew K., Vickaryous (2013). "Review of Late Cretaceous Ankylosaurian Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase Region, Southern Utah". In Titus, Alan L.; Loewen, Mark A. (eds.). At the Top of the Grand Staircase-The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 445–462. ISBN 9780253008961.
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    Gates, Terry A.; Lund, Eric K.; Boyd, C.A.; DeBlieux, Donald D.; Titus, Alan L.; Evans, David C.; Getty, Michael A.; Kirkland, James I.; Eaton, Jeffrey J. (2013). "Ornithopod Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument Region, Utah, and Their Role in Paleobiogeographic and Macroevolutionary Studies". In Titus, Alan L.; Loewen, Mark A. (eds.). At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 463–481. ISBN 9780253008961.
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    Loewen, Mark A.; Farke, Andrew A.; Sampson, Scott D.; Getty, Michael A.; Lund, Eric K.; O'Connor, Patrick M. (2013). "Ceratopsid Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase of Southern Utah". In Titus, Alan L.; Loewen, Mark A. (eds.). At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 488–503. ISBN 9780253008961.
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    Kirkland, James I.; Deblieux, Donald D. (2010). "New basal centrosaurine ceratopsian skulls from the Wahweap Formation (Middle Campanian), Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, southern Utah" (PDF). In Ryan, M.J.; Chinnery-Allgeier, B.J.; Eberth, D.A. (eds.). New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 117–140. ISBN 9780253007797.
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    Loewen, Mark A.; Irmis, Randall B.; Sertich, Joseph J. W.; Currie, Philip J.; Sampson, Scott D. (November 6, 2013). "Tyrant Dinosaur Evolution Tracks the Rise and Fall of Late Cretaceous Oceans". PLOS ONE. 8 (11): e79420. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...879420L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0079420. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3819173. PMID 24223179.
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    Lund, Eric K.; O’Connor, Patrick M.; Loewen, Mark A.; Jinnah, Zubair A. (May 18, 2016). "A New Centrosaurine Ceratopsid, Machairoceratops cronusi gen et sp. nov., from the Upper Sand Member of the Wahweap Formation (Middle Campanian), Southern Utah". PLOS ONE. 11 (5): e0154403. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1154403L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154403. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4871575. PMID 27192148.
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    Evans, David C.; Williamson, Thomas; Loewen, Mark A.; Kirkland, James I. (2013). "Review of Pachycephalosaurian Dinosaurs from Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Southern Utah". In Titus, Alan L.; Loewen, Mark A. (eds.). At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 482–487. ISBN 9780253008961.
  22. [22]
    Simpson, Edward L.; Hilbert-Wolf, Hannah L.; Wizevich, Michael C.; Tindall, Sarah E.; Fasinski, Ben R.; Storm, Lauren P.; Needle, Mattathias D. (2010). "Predatory digging behavior by dinosaurs". Geology. 38 (8): 699–702. Bibcode:2010Geo....38..699S. doi:10.1130/G31019.1.
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    Eaton, Jeffrey G; Cifelli, Richard L. "Review of Cretaceous mammalian paleontology; Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah. Abstracts with Programs – Geological Society of America, vol.37, no.7, pp.115, Oct 2005
  24. [24]
    Tester, Edward et al. Isolated vertebrate tracks from the Upper Cretaceous capping sandstone member of the Wahweap Formation; Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah Abstracts with Programs – Geological Society of America, vol. 39, no. 5, pp.42, May 2007
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