Paleontology in Texas
state of Texas
Paleontology in Texas refers to
Paluxysaurus jonesi after the Texan fossils once referred to the former species were reclassified to a new genus
.
Prehistory
During the
El Paso Regions.[7]
placoderms were preserved in central Texas.[6]
Like the state's Devonian rocks, those of
Mississippian. Contemporary brachiopods were preserved in the Hueco Mountains of the Trans-Pecos Region and Llano Uplift. They tend to be the most common fossil in the Hueco Mountain sites. Contemporary bryozoan and gastropod fossils were preserved in the Hueco Mountains of the Trans-Pecos Region, but are less common. The other taxa's fossils were preserved in the Llano Uplift.[7]
During the
sharks, which left behind their teeth.[6] Plant fossils were preserved in abundance in the Llano Uplift, north-central, and Trans Pecos Texas. Plant fossils from the latter two localities tended to be poorly preserved.[8] Very early reptile fossils are also known from the deposits of the Llano Uplift.[7]
middle Permian, Texas was hot with dry and wet seasons attested to by playa lake deposits. Fossil footprints left by small reptiles are common in these sediments.[11]
Texas was home to a massive river system during the
ammonites, gastropods, and pelecypods.[6]
The
plesiosaurs (preserved near Waco), and some icthyosaurs( Platypterygius) found in the Grayson Formation and Duck Creek Formation.[10] Forty foot Tylosaurus swam over Texas during the Campanian.[19] More sharks left behind their teeth to fossilize during the Late Cretaceous.[6] The terrestrial flora of Late Cretaceous Texas left behind plant fossils in northern Texas.[6]
During the early
dire wolves.[10]
History
tapirs as well as carnivores and insectivores. This monograph was the culmination of almost twenty years of research and its subject the most spectacular known Tertiary-aged fossil tracksite in the western United States.[27]
Protected areas
Natural history museums
- Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, Bryan
- Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens, El Paso
- Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary, McKinney
- Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston
- Mayborn Museum Complex, Waco
- Museum of Nature & Science, Dallas
- Naranjo Museum of Natural History, Lufkin
- Texas Memorial Museum, Austin
- Texas Through Time, Hillsboro
- Whiteside Museum of Natural History, Seymour
- Witte Museum, San Antonio
Notable clubs and associations
- Austin - Paleontological Society of Austin (http://www.austinpaleo.org/)[28]
- Dallas Paleontological Society (http://www.dallaspaleo.org/)[28]
- Houston Gem & Mineral Society[28]
See also
- Paleontology in Arkansas
- Paleontology in Louisiana
- Paleontology in New Mexico
- Paleontology in Oklahoma
Footnotes
- ^ a b Murray (1974); "Texas", page 265.
- ^ Murray (1974); "Texas", pages 265-266.
- ^ Murray (1974); "Texas", page 266.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Newman, Scotchmoor, and Rieboldt (2006); "Paleontology and geology".
- ^ Murray (1974); "Texas", pages 266-267.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Murray (1974); "Texas", page 268.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Murray (1974); "Texas", page 267.
- ^ a b c d Murray (1974); "Texas", pages 267-268.
- ^ Murray (1974); "Texas", pages 269-270.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Murray (1974); "Texas", page 270.
- ^ Lockley and Hunt (1999); "Tracks of the Arid Permian", page 39.
- ^ Everhart (2005); "One Day in the Life of a Mosasaur", page 5.
- ^ Everhart (2005); "Pliosaurs and Polycotylids", page 143-144.
- ^ Everhart (2005); "Other Times, Other Sharks", page 69.
- ^ Everhart (2005); "Pachyrhizodus", page 83.
- ^ Lockley and Hunt (1999); "'Swimming' Brontosaurs and the Dangers of Misinterpretation", page 185.
- ^ Lockley and Hunt (1999); "'Swimming' Brontosaurs and the Dangers of Misinterpretation", page 186.
- ^ Lockley and Hunt (1999); "'Swimming' Brontosaurs and the Dangers of Misinterpretation", page 191.
- ^ Everhart (2005); "Enter the Mosasaurs", page 169.
- ^ Mayor (2005); "Archeological Evidence of Ancient Fossil Collecting", page 166.
- ^ Jacobs (1995); "Home on the Range", pages 4-5.
- ^ Jacobs (1995); "Home on the Range", page 5.
- ^ Jacobs (1995); "Home on the Range", pages 5-6.
- ^ Jacobs (1995); "Home on the Range", page 6.
- ^ Jacobs (1995); "Home on the Range", pages 6-8.
- ^ Jacobs (1995); "Home on the Range", page 8.
- ^ Lockley and Hunt (1999); "One-of-a-Kind Tracks from the Eocene", page 256.
- ^ a b c Garcia and Miller (1998); "Appendix C: Major Fossil Clubs", page 198.
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paleontology in Texas.
- Everhart, M. J. 2005. Oceans of Kansas - A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, 320 pp.
- Garcia; Frank A. Garcia; Donald S. Miller (1998). Discovering Fossils. Stackpole Books. pp. 212. ISBN 0811728005.
- Jacobs, L. L., III. 1995. Lone Star Dinosaurs. Texas A&M University Press.
- Lockley, Martin and Hunt, Adrian. Dinosaur Tracks of Western North America. Columbia University Press. 1999.
- Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans. Princeton University Press. 2005. ISBN 0-691-11345-9.
- Murray, Marian (1974). Hunting for Fossils: A Guide to Finding and Collecting Fossils in All 50 States. Collier Books. p. 348. ISBN 9780020935506.
- Newman, Kent, Judy Scotchmoor, Sarah Rieboldt. November 1, 2006. "Texas, US." The Paleontology Portal. Accessed September 21, 2012.