At the Top of the Grand Staircase

Description

A comprehensive overview of a spectacular US fossil site

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is the location of one of the best-known terrestrial records for the late Cretaceous. Prior fieldwork confirmed the richness of the area, but a major effort begun in the new century has documented over 2,000 new vertebrate fossil sites, provided new radiometric dates, and identified five new genera of ceratopsids, two new species of hadrosaur, a probable new genus of hypsilophodontid, new pachycephalosaurs and ankylosaurs, several kinds of theropods (including a new genus of oviraptor and a new tyrannosaur), plus the most complete specimen of a Late Cretaceous therizinosaur ever collected from North America, and much more. The research documented in this book is rewriting our understanding of Late Cretaceous paleobiogeography and dinosaur phyletics. At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah is a major stepping stone toward a total synthesis of the ecology and evolution of the Late Cretaceous ecosystems of western North America.

Foreword by Jeffrey G. Eaton
Preface
1. One Hundred Thirty Years of Cretaceous Research in Southern Utah
2. Geologic Overview
3. Accumulation of Organic Carbon–Rich Strata along the Western Margin and in the Center of the North American Western Interior Seaway during the Cenomanian–Turonian Transgression
4. Tectonic and Sedimentary Controls, Age, and Correlation of the Upper Cretaceous Wahweap Formation, Southern Utah
5. Implications of the Internal Plumbing of a Late Cretaceous Sand Volcano: Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah
6. The Kaiparowits Formation: A Remarkable Record of Late Cretaceous Terrestrial Environments, Ecosystems, and Evolution in Western North America
7. A Late Campanian Flora from the Kaiparowits Formation, Southern Utah, and a Brief Overview of the Widely Sampled but Little-Known Campanian Vegetation of the Western Interior of North America
8. Continental Invertebrates and Trace Fossils from the Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, Utah
9. Elasmobranchs from Upper Cretaceous Freshwater Facies in Southern Utah
10. Freshwater Osteichthyes from the Cenomanian to Late Campanian of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah
11. Preliminary Report on Salamanders (Lissamphibia; Caudata) from the Late Cretaceous (Late Cenomanian–Late Campanian) of Southern Utah, U.S.A.
12. Anuran Ilia from the Upper Cretaceous of Utah—Diversity and Stratigraphic Patterns
13. Turtles from the Kaiparowits Formation, Utah
14. Review of Late Cretaceous Mammalian Faunas of the Kaiparowits and Paunsaugunt Plateaus, Southwestern Utah
15. Late Cretaceous Mammals from Bryce Canyon National Park and Vicinity, Paunsaugunt Plateau, Southwestern Utah
16. Lizards and Snakes from the Cenomanian through Campanian of Southern Utah: Filling the Gap in the Fossil Record of Squamata from the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior of North America
17. Crocodyliforms from the Late Cretaceous of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and Vicinity, Southern Utah, U.S.A.
18. Review of Late Cretaceous Ankylosaurian Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase Region, Southern Utah
19. Ornithopod Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument Region, Utah, and Their Role in Paleobiogeographic and Macroevolutionary Studies
20. Review of Pachycephalosaurian Dinosaurs from Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Southern Utah
21. Ceratopsid Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase of Southern Utah
22. Late Cretaceous Theropod Dinosaurs of Southern Utah
23. A Trackmaker for Saurexallopus: Ichnological Evidence for Oviraptorosaurian Tracks from the Upper Cretaceous of Western North America
24. First Report of Probable Therizinosaur (cf. Macropodosaurus) Tracks from North America, with Notes on the Neglected Vertebrate Ichnofauna of the Ferron Sandstone (Late Cretaceous) of Central Utah
25. Fossil Vertebrates from the Tropic Shale (Upper Cretaceous), Southern Utah
26. Paleontological Overview and Taphonomy of the Middle Campanian Wahweap Formation in Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument
27. Taphonomy of a Subadult Teratophoneus curriei (Tyrannosauridae) from the Upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of Utah
28. A New Macrovertebrate Assemblage from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Southern Utah

Index

Sujets

• Sciences de la nature
• Biologie
• Natural History
• Life Sciences
• Sciences et techniques
• Biology
• Paleontology
• Evolution
• Animals
• 454 Life Sciences
• Science

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 09 octobre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253008961
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

At the Top of the Grand Staircase

AT THE TOP OF THE GRAND STAIRCASE
The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah
Edited by ALAN L. TITUS and MARK A. LOEWEN
LIFE OF THE PAST James O. Farlow, editor
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS Bloomington Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
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Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
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2013 by Glen Canyon Natural
History Association
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
At the top of the grand staircase : the late Cretaceous of Southern Utah / edited by Alan L. Titus and Mark A. Loewen.
pages cm.-(Life of the past)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-00883-1 (cloth : alk. paper)-ISBN 978-0-253-00896-1 (e-book)
1. Geology, Stratigraphic-Cretaceous.
2. Paleontology-Cretaceous. 3. Geology-Utah. 4. Animals, Fossil-Utah. 5. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Utah) I. Titus, Alan L. (Alan Lee), [date] editor of compilation. II. Loewen, Mark A., editor of compilation.
QE688.A85 2013
551.7 7097925-dc23
2013005859
1 2 3 4 5 18 17 16 15 14 13
This volume is dedicated to William Jefferson Clinton, forty-second president of the United States, who established Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by presidential proclamation in 1996 and indirectly spurred a new era of study on southern Utah s Cretaceous stratigraphic and paleontological record.
Proceeding eastward to the Kaiparowits the Cretaceous presents itself in a manner which is highly significant, and which merits careful examination.
Clarence Dutton Tertiary History of the Grand Canyon District, 1882
Contents
C

Foreword by Jeffrey G. Eaton
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Contributors
1 One Hundred Thirty Years of Cretaceous Research in Southern Utah
Alan L. Titus
2 Geologic Overview
Alan L. Titus, Eric M. Roberts, and L. Barry Albright III
3 Accumulation of Organic Carbon-Rich Strata along the Western Margin and in the Center of the North American Western Interior Seaway during the Cenomanian-Turonian Transgression
Walter E. Dean, Erle G. Kauffman, and Michael A. Arthur
4 Tectonic and Sedimentary Controls, Age, and Correlation of the Upper Cretaceous Wahweap Formation, Southern Utah
Zubair Jinnah
5 Implications of the Internal Plumbing of a Late Cretaceous Sand Volcano: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
Edward L. Simpson, Hannah L. Hilbert-Wolf, Michael C. Wizevich, and Sarah E. Tindall
6 The Kaiparowits Formation: A Remarkable Record of Late Cretaceous Terrestrial Environments, Ecosystems, and Evolution in Western North America
Eric M. Roberts, Scott D. Sampson, Alan L. Deino, Samuel A. Bowring, and Robert Buchwaldt
7 A Late Campanian Flora from the Kaiparowits Formation, Southern Utah, and a Brief Overview of the Widely Sampled but Little-Known Campanian Vegetation of the Western Interior of North America
Ian M. Miller, Kirk R. Johnson, Douglas E. Kline, Douglas J. Nichols, and Richard S. Barclay
8 Continental Invertebrates and Trace Fossils from the Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, Utah
Leif Tapanila and Eric M. Roberts
9 Elasmobranchs from Upper Cretaceous Freshwater Facies in Southern Utah
James I. Kirkland, Jeffrey G. Eaton, and Donald B. Brinkman
10 Freshwater Osteichthyes from the Cenomanian to Late Campanian of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
Donald B. Brinkman, Michael G. Newbrey, Andrew G. Neuman, and Jeffrey G. Eaton
11 Preliminary Report on Salamanders (Lissamphibia; Caudata) from the Late Cretaceous (Late Cenomanian-Late Campanian) of Southern Utah, U.S.A.
James D. Gardner, Jeffrey G. Eaton, and Richard L. Cifelli
12 Anuran Ilia from the Upper Cretaceous of Utah-Diversity and Stratigraphic Patterns
Zbyn k Ro ek, James D. Gardner, Jeffrey G. Eaton, and Tom P ikryl
13 Turtles from the Kaiparowits Formation, Utah
J. Howard Hutchison, Michael J. Knell, and Donald B. Brinkman
14 Review of Late Cretaceous Mammalian Faunas of the Kaiparowits and Paunsaugunt Plateaus, Southwestern Utah
Jeffrey G. Eaton and Richard L. Cifelli
15 Late Cretaceous Mammals from Bryce Canyon National Park and Vicinity, Paunsaugunt Plateau, Southwestern Utah
Jeffrey G. Eaton
16 Lizards and Snakes from the Cenomanian through Campanian of Southern Utah: Filling the Gap in the Fossil Record of Squamata from the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior of North America
Randall L. Nydam
17 Crocodyliforms from the Late Cretaceous of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Vicinity, Southern Utah, U.S.A.
Randall B. Irmis, J. Howard Hutchison, Joseph J. W. Sertich, and Alan L. Titus
18 Review of Late Cretaceous Ankylosaurian Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase Region, Southern Utah
Mark A. Loewen, Michael E. Burns, Michael A. Getty, James I. Kirkland, and Matthew K. Vickaryous
19 Ornithopod Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Region, Utah, and Their Role in Paleobiogeographic and Macroevolutionary Studies
Terry A. Gates, Eric K. Lund, C. A. Boyd, Donald D. DeBlieux, Alan L. Titus, David C. Evans, Michael A. Getty, James I. Kirkland, and Jeffrey G. Eaton
20 Review of Pachycephalosaurian Dinosaurs from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Southern Utah
David C. Evans, Thomas Williamson, Mark A. Loewen, and James I. Kirkland
21 Ceratopsid Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase of Southern Utah
Mark A. Loewen, Andrew A. Farke, Scott D. Sampson, Michael A. Getty, Eric K. Lund, and Patrick M. O Connor
22 Late Cretaceous Theropod Dinosaurs of Southern Utah
Lindsay E. Zanno, Mark A. Loewen, Andrew A. Farke, Gy-Su Kim, Leon P. A. M. Claessens, and Christopher T. McGarrity
23 A Trackmaker for Saurexallopus : Ichnological Evidence for Oviraptorosaurian Tracks from the Upper Cretaceous of Western North America
Gerard Gierlinski and Martin Lockley
24 First Report of Probable Therizinosaur (cf. Macropodosaurus ) Tracks from North America, with Notes on the Neglected Vertebrate Ichnofauna of the Ferron Sandstone (Late Cretaceous) of Central Utah
Gerard Gierlinski and Martin Lockley
25 Fossil Vertebrates from the Tropic Shale (Upper Cretaceous), Southern Utah
L. Barry Albright III, David D. Gillette, and Alan L. Titus
26 Paleontological Overview and Taphonomy of the Middle Campanian Wahweap Formation in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Donald D. DeBlieux, James I. Kirkland, Terry A. Gates, Jeffrey G. Eaton, Michael A. Getty, Scott D. Sampson, Mark A. Loewen, and Martha C. Hayden
27 Taphonomy of a Subadult Teratophoneus curriei (Tyrannosauridae) from the Upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of Utah
Jelle P. Wiersma and Mark A. Loewen
28 A New Macrovertebrate Assemblage from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Southern Utah
Scott D. Sampson, Mark A. Loewen, Eric M. Roberts, and Michael A. Getty
Index
Foreword
F

In 1982, Tom Ryer Came to the University of Wyoming to give a talk on coal geology in the Cretaceous of Utah. A few years earlier (1979), Jason Lillegraven had completed his groundbreaking Mesozoic Mammals book, and the gaps in our record of Cretaceous mammals were fresh in my mind. I asked Tom what was landward of these Cretaceous coals, and he replied, Boring floodplain sediments. That did it for me. After I graduated in 1982, I drove out to the San Rafael Swell, the Henry Mountains, and the Kaiparowits Plateau, and I found fossils everywhere I went. I was most impressed by the thick and well-exposed section on the Kaiparowits Plateau. So in May 1983, I went to the Kaiparowits Plateau to begin my dissertation research.
I fully expected to have the Kaiparowits Plateau to myself. However, that same year, the remarkable collector Will Downs led Richard Cifelli (then at the Museum of Northern Arizona) to the Kaiparowits Plateau. As it turned out, we ended up camped less than a mile from each other on Horse Mountain. This was the beginning of still-continuing paleontological discoveries on the Kaiparowits Plateau. The scientific resources of the region eventually became the basis for establishing Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, and subsequent paleontological research on the monument has been championed by Alan Titus, to whom all of us are indebted.
As was typical of the times, the workers that had simultaneously arrived on the Kaiparowits Plateau in 1983 studied mammals; however, this volume reflects the healthy diversification of research that has taken place on the plateau over the years. This volume includes chapters on flora, invertebrates, sharks and rays, fish, frogs, salamanders, turtles, lizards, crocodylians, dinosaurs (of course!), trackways, and marine vertebrates. Also, important contributions are being made on the chronostratigraphy of the region (it is wonderful to finally have some radiometric dates!) and on other aspects of the geology and sedimentology of this extraordinary sequence.
The premise on which Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was established is well demonstrated in this volume, but all of us who work in this region understand that this compilation does not represent the end of scientific research here, but rather a new starting place. The monument will serve to enh