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Garden Park National Natural Landmark
Garden Park is a paleontological site in Fremont County, Colorado, known for its Jurassic dinosaurs and the role the specimens played in the infamous Bone Wars of the late 19th century. Located north of Cañon City, the name originates from the area providing vegetables to the miners at nearby Cripple Creek in the 19th century. Garden Park proper is a triangular valley surrounded by cliffs on the southeast and southwest and by mountains to the north; however, the name is also refers to the dinosaur sites on top and along the cliffs. The dinosaur sites now form thGarden Park Paleontological Resource Area which is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. Geology Garden Park was formed by erosion of sedimentary rocks that have been distorted by uplift of the Rocky Mountains. The region is bisected by Four Mile Creek (also called Oil Creek), which has carved a canyon through the Mesozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. One of these Mesozoic strata is the Morrison Formation, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleontological
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossils to classify organisms and study their interactions with each other and their environments (their paleoecology). Paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5th century BC. The science became established in the 18th century as a result of Georges Cuvier's work on comparative anatomy, and developed rapidly in the 19th century. The term itself originates from Greek (, "old, ancient"), (, ( gen. ), "being, creature"), and (, "speech, thought, study"). Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology, but differs from archaeology in that it excludes the study of anatomically modern humans. It now uses techniques drawn from a wide range of sciences, including biochemistry, mathematics, and engineering. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haplocanthosaurus
''Haplocanthosaurus'' (meaning "simple spined lizard") is a genus of intermediate sauropod dinosaur. Two species, ''H. delfsi'' and ''H. priscus'', are known from incomplete fossil skeletons. It lived during the late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian stage), 155 to 152 million years ago.Turner, C.E. and Peterson, F., (1999). "Biostratigraphy of dinosaurs in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the Western Interior, U.S.A." Pp. 77–114 in Gillette, D.D. (ed.), ''Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah''. Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 99-1. The type species is ''H. priscus'', and the referred species ''H. delfsi'' was discovered by a young college student named Edwin Delfs in Colorado, United States. ''Haplocanthosaurus'' specimens have been found in the very lowest layer of the Morrison Formation, along with '' Hesperosaurus mjosi'', ''Brontosaurus yahnahpin'', and '' Allosaurus jimmadseni''.Foster, J. (2007). ''Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hallopus
''Hallopus'' was a prehistoric reptile, named in 1877 as a species of '' Nanosaurus'' and classified by O. C. Marsh in 1881 from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation. Today though the animal is thought to be a pseudosuchian more closely related to crocodilians. It was redescribed as a sphenosuchian crocodylomorph in 1970, now thought to be a paraphyletic group. It was a quite small animal, reaching a length of 1 m (3.3 ft) with long and slender limbs. ''Macelognathus'', a similarilly slender-proportioned crocodylomorph to ''Hallopus'', may be synonymous with it. History and naming The holotype specimen of ''Hallopus'' was discovered by near Canyon City, Colorado and acquired by a collector named Baldwin for three dollars in a local curiosity shop in Colorado Springs. According to letters later chronicled by Schuchert (1939), he found out about the fossil after hearing about the discovery of a supposed fossil bird, before later traveling to the type locality himself ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Docodon
''Docodon'' (meaning 'beam tooth') was a mammaliaform from the Late Jurassic of western North America. It was the first docodontan cynodont to be named. Description ''Docodon'' was the first docodontan cynodont found and named, and later gave its name to the family Docodontidae as well as the order Docodonta.Kretzoi, M. (1946). "On Docodonta, a new order of Jurassic Mammals". ''Anneles Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici''. 39 :108-111. Docodonts had more complex shaped teeth than other early non-mammalian mammaliaforms, with piercing and crushing surfaces that would have allowed members of this family to eat a wider range of food types. These complex teeth are more similar to those of later mammal groups, but evolved independently of them. Unlike many of its coexisting mammal relatives from the Mesozoic, ''Docodon'' is known from a large number of teeth and jaws of differing growth stages. This has made it possible to study the growth of this docodontan, and has r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mymoorapelta
''Mymoorapelta'' (Meaning "Vannetta Moore and Pete and Marilyn Mygatt's shield" after a combination of the names of the discoverers of the Mygatt-Moore Quarry that fossils were originally collected from, and pɛltə "shield") is a monospecific genus of nodosaurid ankylosaur, a group of heavily armored, herbivorous, quadrupedal dinosaurs, from the Late Jurassic ( Kimmeridgian- Tithonian, around 155 to 150 million years ago) Morrison Formation (Brushy Basin Member) of western Colorado and central Utah, USA. Few specimens are known, but the most complete one is the holotype individual from the Mygatt-Moore Quarry that includes many osteoderms, a partial skull, vertebrae, and other bones. It was initially described by James Kirkland and Kenneth Carpenter in 1994. Along with ''Gargoyleosaurus'', it is one of the earliest known nodosaurids. ''Mymoorapleta'' is one of the smaller known nodosaurids, with the estimated length of the largest specimen only reaching . It had a narrow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kepodactylus
''Kepodactylus'' is an extinct genus of ctenochasmatid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado, United States. In 1992, a team from the Denver Museum of Natural History dug up a specimen of the dinosaur ''Stegosaurus stenops'' in Garden Park, Colorado. In the quarry they also found smaller disarticulated bones from other animals, among which were those of a pterosaur new to science. In 1996, Jerald Harris and Kenneth Carpenter named the new genus. The type species is ''Kepodactylus insperatus''. The genus name is derived from Greek, ''kepos'', "garden", a reference to Garden Park and ''daktylos'', "finger", referring to the typical wing finger of pterosaurs. The specific name means "unhoped-for" in Latin, alluding to the fact that the researchers hoped to find a dinosaur, and did not expect a pterosaur. The genus is based on the holotype DMNH 21684, consisting of a cervical vertebra, humerus, several finger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinochelys
''Dinochelys'' (from Greek ''deinos'' -terrible- and ''chelys'' -turtle) is an extinct genus of paracryptodiran turtle from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation. See also * Paleobiota of the Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has a wide assortment of taxa represented in its fossil record, including dinosaur fossils in North America. It is ... References Pleurosternidae Prehistoric turtle genera Late Jurassic turtles Late Jurassic reptiles of North America Morrison fauna Fossil taxa described in 1979 Taxa named by Eugene S. Gaffney {{Jurassic-reptile-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opisthias
''Opisthias'' is a genus of sphenodont reptile. The type species, ''Opisthias rarus'', is known from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian) Morrison Formation of western North America, present in stratigraphic zones 2 and 4–6. Distribution ''Opisthias'' is primarily known to have lived during the Late Jurassic in the United States (Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming). Other remains are also known from the Late Jurassic of Portugal. A undescribed crushed skull (DINO 16454) has been attributed to this genus by some sources, though this has been strongly disputed by others. Berriasian records A lower jaw is also known from the Berriasian aged Lulworth Formation of the United Kingdom, which appears to be distinct from the type North American species. A fragmentary dentary possibly attributable to ''Opisthias'' is also known from the Berriasian aged Angeac-Charente bonebed in France.Ronan Allain, Romain Vullo, Lee Rozada, Jérémy Anquetin, Renaud Bourgeais, et al.Vertebrate paleobi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torvosaurus
''Torvosaurus'' () is a genus of carnivorous megalosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 165 to 148 million years ago during the late Middle and Late Jurassic period (Callovian to Tithonian stages) in what is now Colorado, Portugal, Germany, and possibly England, Spain, Tanzania, and Uruguay. It contains two currently recognized species, ''Torvosaurus tanneri'' and ''Torvosaurus gurneyi'', plus a third species from Germany that is currently unnamed. In 1979 the type species ''Torvosaurus tanneri'' was named: it is a large, heavily built, bipedal carnivore, that could grow to a length of about . ''T. tanneri'' was among the largest carnivores of its time, together with '' Epanterias'' and '' Saurophaganax'' (which could both be synonyms for ''Allosaurus''). Specimens referred to ''Torvosaurus gurneyi'' were measured up to long. Based on bone morphology, ''Torvosaurus'' is thought to have had short but very powerful arms. Discovery Fossilized remains of ''Torv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camarasaurus
''Camarasaurus'' ( ) was a genus of quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs and is the most common North American sauropod fossil. Its fossil remains have been found in the Morrison Formation, dating to the Late Jurassic epoch ( Kimmeridgian to Tithonian stages), between 155 and 145 million years ago. ''Camarasaurus'' presented a distinctive cranial profile of a blunt snout and an arched skull that was remarkably square, typical of basal Macronarians. The name means "chambered lizard", referring to the hollow chambers, known as pleurocoels, in its cervical vertebrae ( Greek (') meaning "vaulted chamber", or anything with an arched cover, and (') meaning "lizard". ''Camarasaurus'' contains four species that are commonly recognized as valid: '' Camarasaurus grandis'', ''Camarasaurus lentus'', ''Camarasaurus lewisi'', and '' Camarasaurus supremus''. ''C. supremus'', the type species, is the largest and geologically youngest of the four. ''Camarasaurus'' is the type genus o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haplocanthosaurus Delfsi
''Haplocanthosaurus'' (meaning "simple spined lizard") is a genus of intermediate sauropod dinosaur. Two species, ''H. delfsi'' and ''H. priscus'', are known from incomplete fossil skeletons. It lived during the late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian stage), 155 to 152 million years ago.Turner, C.E. and Peterson, F., (1999). "Biostratigraphy of dinosaurs in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the Western Interior, U.S.A." Pp. 77–114 in Gillette, D.D. (ed.), ''Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah''. Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 99-1. The type species is ''H. priscus'', and the referred species ''H. delfsi'' was discovered by a young college student named Edwin Delfs in Colorado, United States. ''Haplocanthosaurus'' specimens have been found in the very lowest layer of the Morrison Formation, along with '' Hesperosaurus mjosi'', ''Brontosaurus yahnahpin'', and '' Allosaurus jimmadseni''.Foster, J. (2007). ''Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eutretauranosuchus
''Eutretauranosuchus'' is an extinct genus of goniopholidid crocodyliform. ''E. delfsi'' is the only known species within the genus. Discovery and history The holotype, ''Eutretauranosuchus delfsi'', was discovered by Edwin Delfs in 1957 among remains recovered from the Morrison Formation in Canon City, Colorado. It was first described in detail by Charles Mook in 1967. The fossil remains consisted of an almost-complete skull as well as some limb bones. The name ''Eutretauranosuchus'' was given by Delfs upon its discovery in reference to its "doubly pierced palate". The holotype specimen was named ''E. delfsi'' by Mook in tribute to Delfs. Mook found ''E. delfsi'' differs significantly from previously described Mesosuchian crocodiles. This specimen was deemed part of a new species because of its extremely elongated internal narial aperture, which was notably longer than those of previously described specimens of similar size. Mook also described an additional, smaller ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
