Colorado City Formation
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Colorado City Formation
The Colorado City Formation is a geologic formation in Texas, United States. It preserves fossils dating back to the Triassic period. Biochronological significance The Otis Chalk localities that are situated in the Colorado City Formation form the basis of the Otischalkian Land Vertebrate Faunachron (LVF), which is defined by the first appearance of ''Parasuchus''.Lucas, S. G., Hunt, A. P., Heckert, A. B., and Spielmann, J. A., (2007) Global Triassic tetrapod biostratigraphy and biochronology: 2007 status: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, v. 41 (The Global Triassic), p. 229- 240. Vertebrate fauna See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Texas * Paleontology in Texas Paleontology in Texas refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Texas. Author Marian Murray has remarked that "Texas is as big for fossils as it is for everything else." Some of the most imp ... References * T ...
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Formation (stratigraphy)
A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exposed in a geographical region (the stratigraphic column). It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy, the study of strata or rock layers. A formation must be large enough that it can be mapped at the surface or traced in the subsurface. Formations are otherwise not defined by the thickness of their rock strata, which can vary widely. They are usually, but not universally, tabular in form. They may consist of a single lithology (rock type), or of alternating beds of two or more lithologies, or even a heterogeneous mixture of lithologies, so long as this distinguishes them from adjacent bodies of rock. The concept of a geologic formation goes back to the beginnings of modern scientific geology. The term was used by Abraham Gottlob We ...
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Koskinonodon
''Anaschisma'' is an extinct genus of large temnospondyl amphibians. These animals were part of the family called Metoposauridae, which filled the crocodile-like predatory niches in the late Triassic. It had large skull about long, and possibly reached long. It was an ambush hunter, snapping up anything small enough to fit in its huge jaws. It was very common during the Late Triassic ( Norian age) in what is now the American Southwest. History of discovery ''Anaschisma'' was erected by Branson (1905) for two metoposaurid skulls from the Popo Agie Formation of Wyoming. The type species, ''A. browni'', was coined for the skull UC 447, while a second nominal species, ''A. brachygnatha'', was erected for the skull UC 448. Moodie (1908) considered ''A. brachygnatha'' a junior synonym of ''A. browni'', although Branson and Mehl (1929) retained the two species as distinct.Branson, E. B. & Mehl, M. G. 1929. Triassic amphibians from the Rocky Mountain region. The University of Miss ...
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List Of Fossiliferous Stratigraphic Units In Texas
This article contains a list of fossil-bearing stratigraphic units in the state of Texas, U.S. Sites See also * Paleontology in Texas References * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Texas Fossil Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ... Texas geography-related lists United States geology-related lists Geology of Texas .Stratigraphic units ...
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Trilophosaurus
''Trilophosaurus'' (Greek for "lizard with three ridges") is a lizard-like trilophosaurid allokotosaur known from the Late Triassic of North America. It was a herbivore up to 2.5 m long. It had a short, unusually heavily built skull, equipped with massive, broad flattened cheek teeth with sharp shearing surfaces for cutting up tough plant material. Teeth are absent from the premaxilla and front of the lower jaw, which in life were probably equipped with a horny beak. The skull is also unusual in that the lower temporal opening is missing, giving the appearance of a euryapsid skull. Because of this, the trilophosaurs were once classified with placodonts within Sauropterygia. Carroll (1988) suggested that the lower opening may have been lost to strengthen the skull. ''Trilophosaurus'' is traditionally thought to include two valid species: the typical ''T. buettneri'' and the more robust ''T. jacobsi''. In 1993, paleontologists Hans-Dieter Sues and Paul E. Olsen reassigned ...
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Parasuchus
''Parasuchus'' is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic (late Carnian to early Norian stage) of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India. At its most restricted definition, ''Parasuchus'' contains a single species, ''Parasuchus hislopi''. ''Parasuchus hislopi'' is one of several species belonging to a basal grade of phytosaurs, typified by the genus '' Paleorhinus''. Historically, ''Paleorhinus'' has been known from better-described fossils, and many species have been lumped into that genus. ''Parasuchus hislopi'', despite being described earlier than ''Paleorhinus'', was considered an undiagnostic chimera until new neotype fossils were described in the late 1970s. ''Parasuchus hislopi'' and the two unambiguously valid species of ''Paleorhinus'' (''P. bransoni'' and ''P. angustifrons'') are all closely related; some authors have historically described them all under the species ''Paleorhinus'', while others place the two ''Paleorhinus'' species into ' ...
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Paleorhinus
''Paleorhinus'' (Greek: ''"Old Nose"'') is an extinct genus of widespread basal (phylogenetics), basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic (late Carnian stage). The genus was named in 1904 based on the type species ''Paleorhinus bransoni'', which is known from Wyoming and Texas in the United States. Another valid species, ''Paleorhinus angustifrons'' from Bavaria, Germany, is also commonly referred to the genus. ''Paleorhinus'' had a length of about . ''Paleorhinus'' has had a complicated Taxonomy, taxonomic history involving frequent synonymy between diagnostic and undiagnostic material. This is mainly due to the fact that it is a quintessential basal phytosaur, mostly distinguished by a lack of specializations rather than unique traits. Historically, it was common practice to Lumpers and splitters, lump all basal phytosaurs into only one or two genera, rendering those genera Paraphyly, paraphyletic Evolutionary grade, evolutionary grades ancestral to later phytosaurs. More r ...
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Otischalkia
''Otischalkia'' is an extinct genus of archosauromoph from late Triassic (late Carnian stage) deposits of Howard County, Texas, US It is known from the holotype TMM 31025-263, left humerus and from the referred specimens TMM 31025-262, TMM 31025-266, TMM 31025-264, TMM 31185-92 and TMM 31185-93. It was found in the Lower Dockum Group near the abandoned settlement of Otis Chalk. It was first named by Adrian P. Hunt and Spencer G. Lucas in 1991 and the type species is ''Otischalkia elderae''. Originally described as a rhynchosaur, several recent studies found ''O. elderae'' to represent a ''nomen dubium''. Nesbitt ''et al.'' (2021) came to the conclusion that the holotype of ''Otischalkia'' actually belongs to an azendohsaurid Azendohsauridae is a family of allokotosaurian archosauromorphs that lived during the Middle to Late Triassic period, around 242-216 million years ago. The family was originally named solely for the eponymous '' Azendohsau ...
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Allokotosauria
Allokotosauria is a clade of early archosauromorph reptiles from the Middle to Late Triassic known from Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. Allokotosauria was first described and named when a new monophyletic grouping of specialized herbivorous archosauromorphs was recovered by Sterling J. Nesbitt, John J. Flynn, Adam C. Pritchard, J. Michael Parrish, Lovasoa Ranivoharimanana and André R. Wyss in 2015. The name Allokotosauria is derived from Greek meaning "strange reptiles" in reference to unexpected grouping of early archosauromorph with a high disparity of features typically associated with herbivory. History Nesbitt ''et al.'' (2015) defined the group as a stem-based taxon containing ''Azendohsaurus madagaskarensis'' and ''Trilophosaurus buettneri'' and all taxa more closely related to them than to ''Tanystropheus longobardicus'', ''Proterosuchus fergusi'', ''Protorosaurus speneri'' or ''Rhynchosaurus articeps''. Therefore, Allokotosauria includes the families ...
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Malerisaurus
''Malerisaurus'' is an extinct genus of archosauromorph known from Andhra Pradesh of India and Texas of the USA. Description ''Malerisaurus'' was a medium-sized archosauromorph which averaged 1.2 meters in length. ''Malerisaurus'' is known from the holotype ISIR 150, two articulated and almost complete skeletons which were discovered as the presumable gastric contents of two skeletons of ''Parasuchus hislopi''. It was collected from the Lower Maleri Formation, dating to the late Carnian or early Norian stage of the Late Triassic. ''Malerisaurus robinsonae'' was a small archosauromorph, probably capable of climbing trees and swimming. The skull has some adaptations to a carnivorous diet, but is nevertheless unspecialised and probably more of an insectivore. ''Malerisaurus'', seen as a diapsid skull, shows primitive and advanced facies in its unossified laterosphenoid, absence of antorbital and mandibular fenestrae, gracile form, primitive girdles, elongated cervicals and a ...
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Lepidus Praecisio
''Lepidus'' is a genus of extinct theropod from the Upper Triassic of the United States. It lived in the Otis Chalk localities of the Dockum Group in Texas, around 223 million years ago. Discovery It was first described in 2015 by Nesbitt & Ezcurra, who decided it warranted a new taxon, which they named ''Lepidus praecisio''. The generic name is Latin for "fascinating", and the specific name is Latin for "fragment", or "scrap". The holotype material includes a tibia, astragalus, and fibula, and other referred material includes a femur and maxilla. The holotypic material is well preserved and shows signs of muscle scars. The astragalus and calcaneum are clearly fused into one bone, with no visible suture. The tibia resembles that of neotheropods, in overall morphology. The shape of the tibia resembles the same in ''Camposaurus'', ''Coelophysis'', '' Tawa'', ''Eodromaeus'', and ''Herrerasaurus ''Herrerasaurus'' is a genus of saurischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic per ...
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Latiscopidae
Latiscopidae is an extinct family of Mesozoic Era amphibian Temnospondyli Temnospondyli (from Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') is a diverse order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carb .... It was first described in 1940 based on a fossil skull found in Texas. References Trematosaurs Amphibian families {{Temnospondyli-stub ...
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Latiscopus
''Latiscopus disjunctus'' is a small Late Triassic temnospondyl collected in 1940 by a Works Projects Administration crew working near Otis Chalk, Texas that was described by John Wilson in 1948. Description The holotype and only known specimen consists of a largely complete skull that was unfortunately overprepared, removing many of the surficial details; the specimen is reposited at the Texas Memorial Museum. Wilson provided a short description of features that he could observe, remarking on its distinction from the much larger, aquatic temnospondyls found in the Late Triassic and referred the taxon to a new family, the Latiscopidae. He placed this family within the Stereospondyli based on a few aspects of the palate and the absence of rhachitomous temnospondyls in the Dockum Group. He considered it somewhat similar to the Trematosauridae Trematosauridae are a family of large marine temnospondyl amphibians with many members. They first appeared during the Induan age of th ...
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