Kaiparowits formation
The Kaiparowits Formation is a sequence of continental sedimentary rocks of the Upper Cretaceous in Utah ( USA ), which is particularly known for its dinosaur finds. This formation is the Kaiparowits plateau of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument minded and measures more than 850 meters thick. The Kaiparowits formation formed by the sediment of large rivers, in which sandstone -beds river beds and mudstone -beds alluvial represent. The rocks can be dated to the Campanium .
The rock strata are fossil-bearing , with most of the finds coming from the lower half of the formation. The Kaiparowits formation has only been receiving scientific attention for a comparatively short time, so a large part of the investigations was only carried out from 1982. The vertebrate fauna consists among others of fish such as sharks , stingrays , gars , bald pike and sturgeon and out of amphibians such as frogs and salamanders ; Besides dinosaurs , reptiles include turtles , crocodiles and lizards . Dinosaurs are represented by theropods such as dromaeosaurids , troodontids and ornithomimus , there are also ankylosaurs and the hadrosaurids Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus . More recent finds include the hadrosaurids Gryposaurus with the new species Gryposaurus monumentensis and the oviraptorosaur Hagryphus . Mammals are represented with multituberculates , marsupials and insectivors .
literature
- Jeffrey G. Eaton, Richard L. Cifelli, J. Howard Hutchinson, James I. Kirkland, J. Michael Parrish: Cretaceous vertebrate faunas from the Kaiparowits Plateau, south-central Utah . In: David D. Gillete (Ed.): Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah (Miscellaneous Publication 99-1) . Utah Geological Survey, Salt Lake City 1999, ISBN 1-55791-634-9 , pp. 345-353 .
Web links
- Kaiparowits Paleontology , in English
See also
Coordinates: 37 ° 37 ′ 19.2 ″ N , 111 ° 39 ′ 54 ″ W.