The Colorado City 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
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, United States. 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
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
period
Period may refer to:
Common uses
* Era, a length or span of time
* Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Period (music), a concept in musical composition
* Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
.
Biochronological significance
The Otis Chalk localities that are situated in the Colorado City Formation form the basis of the
Otischalkian Land vertebrate faunachrons (LVFs) are biochronological units used to correlate and date terrestrial sediments and fossils based on their tetrapod faunas. First formulated on a global scale by Spencer G. Lucas in 1998, LVFs are primarily used withi ...
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
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
Te ...
*
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 impor ...
References
*
Triassic geology of Texas
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