The Beartooth Butte Formation is a
geologic formation
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 exp ...
in
Wyoming
Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
. It preserves
fossils
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
dating back to the
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
period
Period may refer to:
Common uses
* Period (punctuation)
* Era, a length or span of time
*Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period"
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Period (music), a concept in musical composition
* Periodic sentence (o ...
.
[Beartooth Butte Formation]
at Fossilworks
Fossilworks was a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world.
History
Fossilworks was cr ...
.org
Description
The formation contains a basal
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
conglomerate overlain by evenly bedded red or gray limestones (more accurately, limy
mudstone
Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...
s) and
calcareous
Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines.
In zoology
''Calcare ...
shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
s. It is a lenticular, channel-fill deposit which is some wide and thick at maximum. Most collections are from the talus slope. Stable oxygen and isotope data (Poulson in Fiorillo, 2000) indicate that the Beartooth Butte Formation was deposited in an
estuarine
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
environment, with the Cottonwood Canyon section being slightly less saline than the type section.
Fossil content
The following fossils have been reported from the formation:
[
;Fish
* '' Allocryptaspis ellipticus''
* '' A. flabelliformis''
* '' Anarthraspis chamberlini''
* '' A. montanus''
* '' Bryantolepis brachycephalus''
* '' B. cristatus''
* '' Bryantolepis major''
* '' B. obscurus''
* '' Bulbocanthus rugosus''
* '' Cardipeltis bryanti''
* '' C. richardoni''
* '' Cosmaspis transversa''
* '' Lampraspis tuberculata''
* '' Machaeracanthus minor''
* '' Onchus penetrans''
* '' O. peracutus''
* '' Protaspis brevispina''
* '' P. mcgrewi''
* '' Uranolophus wyomingensis''
* '' Aethaspis sp.''
* '' Cephalaspis sp.''
* '' Simblaspis sp.''
;Arthropods
* '' Acanthoscorpio mucronatus''
* '' Branchioscorpio richardsoni''
* '' Hydroscorpius denisoni''
* '' Praearcturus sp.''
;Flora
* '' Psilophyton wyomingense''
* '' Drepanophycus devonicus''
* '' Euphyllophytina sp.''
* '' Gosslingia sp.''
;Invertebrates
* Brachiopoda indet.
]
See also
* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Wyoming
This article contains a list of fossil-bearing stratigraphic units in the state of Wyoming, U.S.
Sites
See also
* Paleontology in Wyoming
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming ...
* Paleontology in Wyoming
Paleontology in Wyoming includes research into the prehistoric life of the U.S. state of Wyoming as well as investigations conducted by Wyomingite researchers and institutions into ancient life occurring elsewhere.
The fossil record of the US s ...
References
Bibliography
*
* {{citation , first=E. N , last=Kjellesvig-Waering , year=1986 , title=A restudy of the fossil Scorpionida of the world , journal=Palaeontographica Americana
The Paleontological Research Institution, or PRI, is a paleontological organization in Ithaca, New York, with a mission including both research and education. PRI is affiliated with Cornell University, houses one of the largest fossil collecti ...
, volume=55 , pages=1–287
Geologic formations of Wyoming
Devonian geology of Wyoming
Emsian Stage
Lochkovian Stage
Pragian Stage
Limestone formations of the United States
Mudstone formations of the United States
Sandstone formations of the United States
Shale formations of the United States
Shallow marine deposits
Devonian southern paleotemperate deposits
Devonian southern paleotropical deposits
Paleontology in Wyoming