Judith River Formation

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Judith River Formation
Ma
Claggett Formation, Pakowki Formation
Thicknessmax 360 meters (1,180 ft)[1]
Lithology
PrimaryMudstone and sandstone
Location
Region Montana
Country United States
Type section
Named forJudith River near the confluence with the Missouri River
Named byF.V. Hayden, 1871;[2] F.B. Meek, 1876.[3]

The Judith River Formation is a

geologic formation in Montana, and is part of the Judith River Group. It dates to the Late Cretaceous, between 79 and 75.3 million years ago,[4] corresponding to the "Judithian" land vertebrate age. It was laid down during the same time period as portions of the Two Medicine Formation of Montana[5] and the Oldman Formation of Alberta.[6]
It is an historically important formation, explored by early American
paleontologists such as Edward Drinker Cope, who named several dinosaurs from scrappy remains found here on his 1876 expedition (such as Monoclonius). Modern work has found nearly complete skeletons of the hadrosaurid Brachylophosaurus
.

Lithology

The Judith River Formation is composed of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.[1] Coal beds, bentonite and coquinas are also observed.

Judith River Formation, Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument

Relationship with other units

The Judith River Formation conformably overlies the

Belly River Formation in the southern Canadian Rockies foothills, the Lea Park Formation in central Alberta and the Wapiti Formation
in the northwestern plains.

Sub-divisions

Missouri River carved through the Judith River Formation, Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument

The Judith River Formation is divided into four members, the Parkman Sandstone Member, the McClelland Ferry Member, the Coal Ridge member, and the Woodhawk Member.[7] The McClelland Ferry Member (78.7-76.3 Ma) is believed to be equivalent to the Oldman Formation, with the Coal Ridge Member (76.3-75.3 Ma) equivalent to the Dinosaur Park Formation.[4]

Fauna

Faunal list follows a review published by Ashok Sahni in 1972 unless otherwise noted.[8]

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon
Ootaxon
Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Amphibians

There are three potential species of discoglossid frogs. Hip bones, possibly representing a North American member of the European spadefoot toad family are also known from the formation.

Amphibians of the Judith River Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Habrosaurus

H. dilatus

A

siren
.

Lisserpeton

L. bairdi

A scapherpetonid salamander.

Opisthotriton

O. kayi

A possible

lungless salamander
.

Prodesmodon

P. copei

A

lungless salamander
.

Scapherpeton

S. tectum

A scapherpetonid salamander.

Fish

Bony fish

Bony fishes
of the Judith River Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images
Belonostomus
Belonostomus longirostris
An aspidorhynchiform.
Cyclurus C. fragosus A bowfin.[9]
Lepisosteus L. occidentalis Scales[10] A gar.
?Paralbula ?P. sp. A bonefish.
Priscosturion P. longipinnis McClelland Ferry[11] Upper Campanian[11] A sturgeon.
Psammorhynchus P. longipinnis McClelland Ferry[11] Upper Campanian[11]
Preoccupied name, renamed Priscosturion.[12]
Polyodontidae
Indeterminate A paddlefish. Known remains exceeded size of Chinese paddlefish, total length would exceed 2 metres (6.6 ft).[13]


Cartilaginous fish

Cartilaginous fishes
of the Judith River Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Myledaphus

M. bipartitus

A stingray.

Choristoderes

Choristoderes of the Judith River Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Champsosaurus

C. sp.

Champsosaurus

Crocodilians

Crocodilians
of the Judith River Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Brachychampsa

B. montana

An
alligatorid
.
Brachychampsa
Deinosuchus

Leidyosuchus

L. canadensis

An alligatorid.
Deinosuchus D. hatcheri[14] Teeth

Lizards

Lizards of the Judith River Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Chamops

C. segnis

A whiptail.

Exostinus

E. lancensis

A knob-scaled lizard.

Leptochamops

L. denticulatus

A whiptail.

Paraderma

P. bogerti

A

parasaniwid
.

Parasaniwa

P. wyomingensis

A parasaniwid.

Ornithischian dinosaurs

Ornithischians
reported from the Judith River Formation
Genus Species Location Member Material Notes Images

Albertaceratops

A. nesmoi[15]

Reclassified as Medusaceratops lokii

Avaceratops
Brachylophosaurus
Edmontonia
Furcatoceratops
Judiceratops
Medusaceratops
Mercuriceratops
Monoclonius
Probrachylophosaurus
Spiclypeus
Zuul

Avaceratops

A. lammersi[15]

lower McClelland Ferry

"[Two] partial skulls, skeleton, juvenile,"

type specimen

A ceratopsid

Brachylophosaurus

B. canadensis

middle McClelland Ferry

A hadrosaurid which was one of the more common dinosaurs in the area.[17]

Ceratops

C. montanus

"

type specimen

A dubious ceratopsid

Corythosaurus C. sp.[19] middle Coal Ridge two partial skeletons A lambeosaurine hadrosaurid

Diclonius

D. calamarius

"Teeth."[20]

Nomen dubium

D. pentagonius

"Fragmentary dentary with teeth,"

type specimen

A dubious hadrosaurid

D. perengulatus

"Teeth."[20]

Nomen dubium

Dysganus

D. bicarinatus

"Isolated teeth."[18]

Nomen dubium

D. encaustus

"Single tooth and [five] tooth fragments."[20] "Isolated teeth."[18]

Nomen dubium

D. haydenianus

"Isolated teeth."[18]

Nomen dubium

D. peiganus

"Tooth."[18]

Nomen dubium

Edmontonia E. longiceps Isolated teeth[21]
Furcatoceratops F. elucidans Fergus County, Montana.[22] Upper Coal Ridge[22] Nearly complete subadult skeleton.[22] A ceratopsid

Hadrosaurus

H. paucidens

Reclassified as Lambeosaurus? paucidens

Hanssuesia H. sternbergi A pachycephalosaurid. Also present in the Dinosaur Park and Oldman Formations. Possible synonym of Stegoceras.

Judiceratops[23]

J. tigris[23]

lower McClelland Ferry

A ceratopsid

?"Kritosaurus"

?"K." breviceps

A dubious hadrosaurid

?Lambeosaurus

?L. paucidens

"Squamosal, maxilla."[20]

Nomen dubium. An indeterminate lambeosaurine.[24]

Medusaceratops

M. lokii[25]

lower McClelland Ferry

Bonebed[25]

A ceratopsid

Mercuriceratops

M. gemini[26]

lower Coal Ridge

"one apomorphic squamosal"[26]

A ceratopsid

Monoclonius

M. crassus[15]

lower Coal Ridge

"[Five] skulls, [one] complete."

Type specimen

A dubious ceratopsid

Paleoscincus

P. costatus

"Tooth,"

type specimen

A dubious ankylosaur

Probrachylophosaurus

P. bergei

lower McClelland Ferry

A

brachylophosaurin
hadrosaur

Pteropelyx

P. grallipes

"Skeleton lacking skull."[27]

A dubious hadrosaurid

Trachodon

T. mirabilis

Isolated teeth,

type specimen[10]

A dubious hadrosaurid

Spiclypeus S. shipporum McClelland Ferry[28] Partial skull, vertebrae, ribs, humerus, ilium, femur, tibia, and fibula. A ceratopsid
Zuul Z. crurivastator middle Coal Ridge Cranial and postcranial skeletal remains and soft tissue,
type specimen
An ankylosaurid

Theropod dinosaurs

Theropods
reported from the Judith River Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Aublysodon

A. lateralis

"Isolated teeth,"

type specimen

Junior synonym of Deinodon horridus[8]

Daspletosaurus
Dromaeosaurus
Gorgosaurus
Hesperornis
Saurornitholestes
Troodon

A. mirandus

Teeth,

type specimen

Possible junior synonym of Deinodon horridus[8]

Hesperornis

H. altus

Partial tibiotarsus

One of the only known freshwater occurrences of a

hesperornithid.[31]

Daspletosaurus D. torosus Maxilla[32] and two partial skeletons [33][34] A large tyrannosaurid.
D. wilsoni[35] Jack’s B2 Partial skull, cervical, sacral, and caudal vertebrae, and a rib, chevron, and first metatarsal Originally considered to be a transitional species between D. torosus and D. horneri, though the validity of this claim has been questioned [36]

Deinodon

D. falculus

Teeth

Isolated tyrannosaur teeth classified in the dubious genus Deinodon

D. hazenianus

Teeth

Junior synonym of Deinodon horridus[8]

D. horridus

"Teeth,"

type specimen

Isolated tyrannosaur teeth that formed the basis of the dubious genus Deinodon

D. incrassatus

Teeth

Junior synonym of Deinodon horridus[8]

D. lateralis

Junior synonym of Deinodon horridus[8]

Dromaeosaurus

D. albertensis

Ox Hill Quarry, Careless Creek Quarry, Hidden Valley Quarry & Blackbird Ridge Quarry.[37]

Teeth[37]

A dromaeosaurid, also found in the Dinosaur Park Formation

D. explanatus

"Tooth."[38]

Possible relative of Saurornitholestes

D. laevifrons

"Tooth."[38]

Possible relative of Saurornitholestes

Gorgosaurus G. libratus Postorbital[32] A large tyrannosaurid, also found in the Dinosaur Park Formation and possibly the Two Medicine Formation.

Ornithomimus

O. tenuis

"Fragmentary metatarsal."[39]

A possible troodontid or juvenile tyrannosaurid

Paronychodon

P. lacustris

Teeth,

type specimen

An indeterminate maniraptoran, also found in the Dinosaur Park, Milk River, and Kirtland Formations

Richardoestesia R. gilmorei Careless Creek, Emily's Ankle, Hidden Valley & Blackbird Ridge quarries.[37] 12 teeth[37] A coelurosaur
Saurornitholestes S. langstoni Careless Creek, Emily's Ankle, Top Cat, Hidden Valley & Blackbird Ridge quarries.[37] Numerous teeth[37] A dromaeosaurid
Theropod "A" Antelope Head, Careless Creek, Emily's Ankle, Top Cat, Hidden Valley, Blackbird Ridge & Jensen Ranch quarries.[37] 28 teeth[37] Teeth of a large theropod distinct from those of tyrannosaurids

Troodon

T. formosus

Antelope Head, Careless Creek, Emily's Ankle, Top Cat & Hidden Valley quarries.[37]

Teeth (

type specimen),[10][37]
egg

A troodontid, possibly dubious.

Zapsalis[40]

Z. abradens

"Teeth,"

type specimen

A

dromaeosaurid

Turtles

Turtles of the Judith River Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images
Adocus A. sp.

Basilemys

B. sp.

A Mesoamerican river turtle.

See also

  • List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

References

  1. ^ a b c Lexicon of Canadian Geological Units. "Judith River Formation". Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  2. ^ Hayden, F.V., 1871. Geology of the Missouri Valley: Preliminary report (4th annual) of the Geol. Surv. of Wyoming and portions of contiguous territories.
  3. ^ Meek, Fielding Bradford, 1876. A report on the invertebrate Cretaceous and Tertiary fossils of the upper Missouri country, Hayden, F.V., Geologist in Charge; United States Geologic and Geographic Survey of the Territories, vol. 9, page 629
  4. ^
    PMID 36163377
    .
  5. ^ Sullivan, R.M. and Lucas, S. G. (2006). "The Kirtlandian land-vertebrate "age"–faunal composition, temporal position and biostratigraphic correlation in the nonmarine Upper Cretaceous of western North America." Pp. 7-29 in Lucas, S. G. and Sullivan, R.M. (eds.), Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the Western Interior. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 35.
  6. .
  7. .
  8. ^ a b c d e f Sahni, A. (1972). "The vertebrate fauna of the Judith River Formation, Montana." Bulletin of the AMNH, v. 147 article 6: 321-415.
  9. ISSN 0272-4634
    .
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ .
  12. .
  13. .
  14. ^ Schwimmer, David (2002). King of the Crocodylians: The Paleobiology of Deinosuchus. 601 North Morton Street, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. p. 200.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  15. ^ a b c Ryan and Evans, 2005
  16. ^ a b "Table 23.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 495.
  17. ^ Trexler, David; Murphy, Nate; Thompson, Mark (June 2007). ""Leonardo," a Mummified Brachylophosaurus (Ornithischia: Hadrosauridae) from the Judith River Formation of Montana". In Carpenter, Kenneth (ed.). Horns and Beaks. IU Office of Scholarly Publishing Herman B Wells Library E350 1320 E 10th Street E4 Bloomington, IN 47405-3907: Indiana University Press. pp. 117–133.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  18. ^ a b c d e "Table 23.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 496.
  19. S2CID 253081338
    .
  20. ^ a b c d e "Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 442.
  21. hdl:2246/1099. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help
    )
  22. ^ .
  23. ^ .
  24. ^ Prieto-Márquez, Alberto; Weishampel, David B.; Horner, John R. (2006). "The dinosaur Hadrosaurus foulkii, from the Campanian of the East Coast of North America, with a reevaluation of the genus" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 51 (1): 77–98.
  25. ^ .
  26. ^ a b Ryan, Michael J.; Evans, David C.; Currie, Phillip J.; Loewen, Mark A. (2014). "A New chasmosaurine from northern Laramidia expands frill disparity in ceratopsid dinosaurs". Naturwissenschaften. doi:10.1007/s00114-014-1183-1
  27. ^ "Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 443.
  28. PMID 29166406
    .
  29. ^ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 78.
  30. ^ "Table 5.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 114.
  31. ^ Fox, R.C. (1974). "A middle Campanian, nonmarine occurrence of the Cretaceous toothed bird Hesperornis Marsh." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 11: 1335-1338.
  32. ^ a b Carr, Thomas D. (2018). "Significant geographic range extension for the sympatric tyrannosaurids Albertosaurus libratus and Daspletosaurus torosus from the Judith River Formation (Late Campanian) of northern Montana" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 38 (Supplement 1): 102.
  33. ^ Maltese, Anthony E. "DIFFICULT EXCAVATION AND PREPARATION OF A LARGE DASPLETOSAURUS SPECIMEN." Methods in Preparation: 63.
  34. ^ Stein, Walter W., and Michael Triebold. "Preliminary Analysis of a Sub-adult Tyrannosaurid Skeleton from the Judith River Formation of Petroleum County, Montana." Tyrannosaurid Paleobiology. Indiana University Press, Bloomington (2013): 55-77.
  35. PMID 36452080
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  36. .
  37. ^ .
  38. ^ a b c "Table 9.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 186.
  39. ^ "Table 6.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 139.
  40. ^ Larson, D. W.; Currie, P. J. (2013). "Multivariate Analyses of Small Theropod Dinosaur Teeth and Implications for Paleoecological Turnover through Time". In Evans, Alistair Robert. PLoS ONE 8: e54329. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054329. edit