Foster, J.R. and Lucas, S. G. R.M., eds., 2006, Paleontology and Geology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 36. 233 THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF THE MORRISON FORMATION: 2006 DANIEL J. CHURE1, RON LITWIN2, STEPHEN T. HASIOTIS3, 4, EMMETT EVANOFF5 AND KENNETH CARPENTER6 1 Dinosaur National Monument, Box 92, Jensen, UT 84035; 2 MS 970, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 22092; 3 Department of Geology and 4 Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas, 120 Lindley Hall, 1475 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045-7613; 5 Geology Section, University of Colorado Museum, 265 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0265; 6 Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Natural History and Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205-5798 The Morrison Formation is best known for its abundant and diverse sent hidden biodiversity—that is diversity not counted in any taxonomic dinosaur remains. Exposures of the Morrison provided much of the mate- compilations based solely on body fossils (Hasiotis, 2000, 2002, 2003). rial for the “dinosaur gold rush” in the western US during the last half of For example, the entire record of Morrison insects, a group which must the nineteenth century. These specimens have made immense and funda- have been both abundant and diverse in Morrison ecosystems, is based mental contributions to our understanding of Mesozoic continental eco- solely on ichnofossils. Not a single insect body fossil has yet been reported systems. Thus, dinosaurs dominated the paleontological research in the from this rock unit. We recognize that the assignment of a trace fossil to a Morrison Formation until the latter third of the 20th century and remain a tracemaker is fraught with difficulties. As is clear from Hasiotis (2004), major research effort in the formation. there may be several candidate tracemakers for a single type of trace fossil. Over the last two decades, however, more field work and research In such cases, we have listed the fossil under all potential tracemakers when has focused on the questions related to the composition, structure, and so indicated by the author of the source paper. A good example of this is the evolution of Morrison ecosystems. These efforts revealed an unexpectedly diverse nest types listed under the various families of the termite order rich record of paleobiodiversity. Many of these discoveries have been re- Isoptera. ported across a wide spectrum of scientific periodicals, some of which are We thank Brooks Britt, William Tidwell, Fred Peterson, and John obscure. These publications range from broader systematic reviews to a Foster for their reviews. focus on a single species or a small taxonomic group. Chure et al. (1998) was the first modern attempt to compile a complete floral and faunal list for I. BODY FOSSILS the Morrison using all the literature, including trace fossils. Significant ad- vances have been made since that publication, and an update is timely. We KINGDOM ANIMALAE have followed the format of our 1998 paper, including both body and trace fossils. We have placed fossils, whether named or not, in a family—gener- PHYLUM PORIFERA ally following the assignment given in the source citations—in the belief CLASS DEMOSPONGEA that such a low-level taxonomic assignment will be helpful to those using Family Spongillidae this list, especially for groups the user many not be intimate with. For each family we have given the citations used to compile that Eospongia morrisonensis entry. While these citations may be the original description, more compre- [Sources: Dunagan 1999] hensive reviews have also served as sources. For example dinosaurs are well reviewed in the various chapters in Weishampel et al. (2004). Simi- CLASS incertae sedis larly, we have followed Kielan-Jaworowska et al. (2004) for the composi- Family incertae sedis tion of the Morrison mammal fauna. These thorough works provide an Unidentified sponge spicules entry into the primary scientific literature for those groups. Spicule-like remains Given space limitations, the Latin binomials listed are only those [Sources: Waldschmidt and LeRoy 1944; formal names considered valid by the present authors. This is not a com- Yen and Reeside 1952 p. 31] prehensive list of all names proposed for Morrison fossils. For the same reasons we have not listed synonyms for those names that we consider PHYLUM MOLLUSCA valid. Such synonymy lists are available elsewhere for some groups (Weishampel et al., 2004; Kielan-Jaworowska et al., 2004). For most groups, CLASS BIVALVIA however, such revisions are yet to be written. Family Unionidae In contrast to our 1998 paper, we have greatly reduced the number Unio baileyi of personal communications. In part this is because the specimens involved U. felchi have subsequently been described and are now in the faunal list as a for- U. iroides mally-named species. We now feel that personal communications about U. knighti unidentified specimens may be of little use to the reader and might actually U. lapilloides confuse matters. So, while a few personal communications remain, they U. macropisthus have by and large been omitted. We have included fossils that are distinct U. mammillaris but have not been named, using the description given by the author in the U. nucalis source paper. U. stewardi Although the Morrison Formation is predominantly a continental U. stewardi utahensis deposit, there are marine units in the Windy Hill Member. Hence, the pres- U. toxonotus ence of what might at first appear to be anomalous fossils, such as the U. willistoni anthozoan trace fossil Conichnus isp., is in fact real occurrences of marine Vetulonaia faberi body and trace fossils. V. mayoworthensis We included named and unnamed ichnofossils in our list because V. whitei our intent is to present the most complete record of biotic diversity that Hadrodon jurassicus existed during deposition of the Morrison Formation. Ichnofossils are ex- H. lateralis ceedingly important for this type of information because trace fossils repre- H. trigonus 234 [Sources: Evanoff, Good, and Hanley PHYLUM ARTHROPODA 1998; Yen and Reeside 1952; Good 2004] CLASS CRUSTACEA Subclass Branchiopoda CLASS GASTROPODA Suborder Conchostraca Family Neritidae Family Cyzicidae Mesoneritina morrisonensis Cyzicus cf. tendaguruensis [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; Euestheris sp. Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] Lioestheria tendagurensis Family Cyclophoridae Lioestheria sp. A Amplovalvata cyclostoma Lioestheria sp. B A. scabrida Nestoria krasinetzi A. scabrida leei [Sources: Hassinger 1959; Kirkland and A.? reesidei Armstrong 1992; Lockley 1986; Lucas and [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; Kirkland 1998] Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] Family Viviparidae Subclass Ostracoda Viviparus morrisonensis Family Darwinulidae V. reesidei Darwinula acuminata [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; D. cf dakotensis Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] [Sources: Branson 1935; Hassinger 1959; Family Pleuroceridae Sohn 1958] Lioplacodes jurassicus Family Cytherideidae [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952;Evanoff, Cytheridea atlantosaurica Good, and Hanley 1998] Cushmanidea marshi Family Bithyniidae [Sources: Branson 1935; Sohn 1958] Reesidella gilloides Family Paracypridiae R. jurassica Paracypris simplus [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; [Sources: Hassinger 1959] Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] Family Cyprididae Family Valvatidae Cypris purbeckensis Liratina jurassica Candona coloradensis Tropidina jurassica C. morrisonensis “Pentagoniostoma” altispiratum [Sources: Hassinger 1959; Schudack [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; 1995, 1998] Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] Family Limnocytheridae Family Amnicolidae Bisulcocypris pahasapensis Amnicola gilloides B. pustulosa A. jurassica Metacypris bradyi [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; M. minnekahtensis Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] M. whitei Family Elobiidae Gomphocythere sp. Mesauriculstra accelerata Helmdachia petersoni M. morrisonensis H. prima M. morrisonensis ovalis H. turneri Mesochilina spiralis Timiriasevia guimarotensis [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; [Sources: Branson 1935; Hassinger 1959; Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] Peck 1959; Sohn 1958; Schudack 1998] Family Otinidae Family Dryelbidae Limnopsis jurassica Dryelba pustulosa [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; Theriosynoecum wyomingense Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] [Sources: Branson 1935; Sohn 1982] Family Lymnaeidae Family Ilyocyprididae Lymnaea ativuncula Cypridea acuticyatha L. consortis Rhinocypris jurassica L. morrisonensis [Sources: Schudack 1998] [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; Family incertae sedis Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] Cetacella armata Family Planorbidae C. striata Gyraulus veternus Cetacella sp. [Sources: Yen and Reeside 1952; Trapezoidella aff. rothi Evanoff, Good, and Hanley 1998] [Sources: Schudack 1995] 235 Subclass Malacostraca Order Caudata Family Cambaridae Family incertae sedis Undescribed crayfish Comonecturoides marshi [Sources: Callison 1987; Hasiotis and Iridotriton hechti Demko 1998] New long bodied salamander (D.J. Chure, personal observation 1999). PHYLUM CHORDATA [Sources: Evans and Milner 1993; Hecht CLASS OSTEICHTHYES and Estes 1960; Evans, Lally, Chure, and Order Paleonisciformes Elder 2005] Family Coccolepididae CLASS REPTILIA Morrolepis schaefferi Order Testudines [Sources: Kirkland 1998] Family Pleurosternidae Family incertae sedis Dinochelys whitei ?paleoniscid dentary Glyptops plicatulus [Sources: Jensen and Padian 1989] Uluops uluops Order Semionotiformes [Sources: Gaffney