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Home , Brachychampsa, Carl Wiman, Fruitland Formation, Goniopholis, Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin

posed that the narial cavities of Para- Wima1l- saurolophuswere vocal resonating chambers' Goniopholiskirtlandicus Apparently included with this material shippedto Wiman was a partial skull that lromthe Wiman describedas a new speciesof croc- forgottencrocodile odile, Goniopholis kirtlandicus. Wiman publisheda descriptionof G. kirtlandicusin Basin, 1932in the Bulletin of the GeologicalInstitute KirtlandFormation, San Juan of IJppsala. Notice of this specieshas not appearedin any Americanpublication. Klilin NewMexico (1955)presented a descriptionand illustration of the speciesin French, but essentially repeatedWiman (1932). byDonald L. Wolberg, Vertebrate Paleontologist, NewMexico Bureau of lVlinesand Mineral Resources, Socorro, NIM Localityinformation for Crocodilian bone, armor, and teeth are Goni o p holi s kir t landicus common in Late and Early Ter- The skeletalmaterial referred to Gonio- tiary deposits of the and pholis kirtlandicus includesmost of the right elsewhere.In the Fruitland and Kirtland For- side of a skull, a squamosalfragment, and a mations of the San Juan Basin, Late Creta- portion of dorsal plate. The referral of the ceous were important carnivores of dorsalplate probably represents an interpreta- the reconstructed stream and stream-bank tion of the proximity of the material when community (Wolberg, 1980). In the Kirtland found. Figs. I and 2, taken from Wiman Formation, a mesosuchian , Gonio- (1932),illustrate this material. pholis kirtlandicus, discovered by Charles H. Wiman(1932, p. 181)recorded the follow- Sternbergin the early 1920'sand not described ing locality data, provided by Sternberg: until 1932 by Carl Wiman, has been all but of Crocodile.Kirtland shalesa 100feet ignored since its description and referral. "Skull below the Ojo Alamo Sandstonein the blue Specimensreferred to other crocodilian genera cley. Barrel Springs Wash, 2.5 miles S. may actually represent G. kirtlandicus or Trading Store(Post), Ojo Alamo Wash New other mesosuchians. A better understanding Mexico.CH. H. STERNBERG1921." In his of the distribution of G. kirtlandicus may aid descriptionof the specimen,Wiman notesthat in determining.age relationships in Late the bones are light gray externallybut are Cretaceousdeposits of the San Juan Basin. darker. almost btack ("fast schwarz"), Numerous studies related to Late Creta- "on ceous vertebrate faunal assemblagesof the San Juan Basin frequently mention crocodiles, but usually only in passing. Published work includes Gilmore (1916, 1919, 1935), Bauer (1916),Reeside (1924), Colbert (1950),Powell (1972, 1973), and Wolberg and LeMone (1980). Unpublished reports include Kues and others (1977) and LeMone and others (1977, 1979). Gilmore (1916) reported crocodiles and sp. from the Kirtland and "crocodiles" from the Ojo Alamo . FIGURE l-RecoNsrnucrroN oF DoRSALASPEcT oF Later, in 1919, he reported "crocodiles" from Got'ttopnotts KTRTLANDICUS,approximately % the Fruitland, Kirtland, and Ojo Alamo but size. Abbreviations: Na, external nares; In, in- noted in 1935 that "the and Pisces dentation for pseudo-canine of mandible; Pm' premaxillary; N, nasal; La, are too fragmentary to be of assistance" Mx, maxillary; lacrimal; Pfr, prefrontal; Or, orbit; Por, post- (p. 187). Reeside (1924) lists sp. orbital; Fr, frontal; Fts, superior temporal fossa; and Brachychampsa? sp. for the Kirtland For- Pa, parietal; Sq, squamosal(after Wiman, 1932). mation. Powell (1972, 1973) lists Crocodylus sp. and Brachychampsa? sp. for the Fruitland and Kirtland Formations. Crocodylus sp. and Brachychampsa? sp. are also mentioned by fenestra, a ceratopsian found by Kues and others (1977), LeMone and others Sternbergin Kimbeto Wash.Sternberg found (1977, 1979), and Wolberg and LeMone a similar specimenin 1922and sold it to the (1980). Few detailed analyses of crocodilians American Museum of Natural History. Henry have been done, and the Fairfield Osborn, the well-known American crocodiles of the San Juan Basin have not paleontologist,published a descriptionof this been adequatelystudied. specimenand named it Pentacerotopsstern- bergii (Osborn,l92l). Early in San Juan Basin Wiman (1931)published a descriptionof Charles H. Sternberg, a well-known still anotherdinosaur found by Sternbergin collector of the late 1800'sand early 1900's, Parasaurolophustubicen. 1921,the hadrosaur FICURE 2-RrcoNsrnucrtoN oF rHE PALATAL sold a number of reptilian specimenshe col- P. tubicenis characterizedby the development ASeECToF Got'ttoptlotts KIRTLANDICUS,approx- lected in l92l in the San Juan Basin to Carl of a cranialcrest (Lull and Wright, 1942)that imately % size. Abbreviations: Pmn premaxillary; Wiman, paleontologist at the Paleontological may havefunctioned as a visual and acoustical Mx, maxillary; Pal, palatine; Or, orbit; ln, inden- Institute of (Sternberg, displayorgan (Hopson, 1975).Wiman sug- tation for pseudo-canine of mandible (redrawn 1932). Wiman (1930) describedPentaceratops gesteda similaridea in his 1931paper and pro- from Wiman, 1932,with modifications)'

New Mexico August1980 freshly fracturedsurfaces. He notesthat the On the basis of the observable morphology enclosingmatrix consistsof a yellow-gray, ' of G. kirtlandicus, the is separable Oio" Alano z fine-grainedsandstone that provedto be very T.P. x' from other members of the noted . fr* .^ hardduring preparation. *'."."tivl.q{'lu, \),J-' above. lf additional specimens of G. kirt- The old Ojo Alamo Trading Post was sit- $(9 landicus occur in existing collections, they l->l \ .6 uated along Alamo Wash in SE%NW% sec. 'sl'l should be separable from eusuchians, given 8, T.24 N., R. ll W. at an elevationof j_4i' adequatematerial. ,. -"n*.(, approximately 6,340 ft (Clemens, 1973\. $ ,t Sternberg noted that G" kirtlandicus was Crocodilian phylogeny found approximately2.5 mi south of the The crocodiles belong to the reptilian trading post in Barrel Springs Wash, now subclass, the Archosauria (the "ruling rep- known as De-na-zinWash. Sternbergprob- tiles"), which includes the dominant ably overestimatedthe distancesouth of the ' of the Era, the and ptero- trading post. The specimenprobably came ,{' saurs. Along with other members of the sub- from nearthe middle of sec.20, T. 24 N., R. ,lot class, the order Crocodilia originated within 1l W.: a distanceof 2.5 mi south of the !,- a' the order Thecodontia sometime during the tradingpost sitewould haveplaced Sternberg . The Crocodilia includes five in the extremesouthern portion of sec.20, out 1F' suborders: Protosuchia, Archaeosuchia, of De-na-zinWash (fig. 3). Mesosuchia, Sebecosuchiaand the The stratigraphicdefinitions of the upper- /L' (Romer, 1966). Since their appearanceduring - t mostCretaceous and lowermostTertiary units )da ,, the Triassic (fig. 5) members of Crocodilia in the San Juan Basinhave been discussed at have remained relatively generalized in struc- lengthby Baltz and others(1966), Fassett and ture and have retained many primitive char- Hinds (1971), and Clemens (1973). The acters, except for the development of a boundary between the Kirtland and Ojo specialized palate. The crocodiles have Alamo Formation, long disputedby various adapted to an aquatic environment by authors(Brown, l9l0; Sinclairand Granger, FIGURE 3-Mnp oF rHE oLD Oro AL.c.N,roTneuuc developing a powerful tail for swimming, par- l9l4), lies within the area of the old Ojo Posr enEe, T. 24 N., R. I I W. Sternberg's local- tially webbed feet, and-most importantly-a ity Alamo Trading Post. Fassett and Hinds data for Goniopholis kirtlandicus indicated secondary palate that separatesbreathing and that the specimen came from Barrel Springs Ar- (1971)mapped as Kirtland the areadescribed functions. This last adaptation is royo (now swallowing by Sternberg'sdescription Wiman. De-na-zin Wash), 2.5 mi south of the to Stern- trading post. As can be seenfrom the map, Stern- obviously useful for an that takes at berg (1932)seems certain of his stratigraphic berg must have overestimatedthe distance. least part of its food under water. units; moreover, he reports lengthy discus- Modern crocodiles representthe last surviv- sionswith J. B. Reeside.who was also in the ing remnant of the archosaurian branch that field in 1921; Reesideprobably provided DescriptionoI Goniopholiskirtlandicus dominated the Mesozoic world. These recent, Sternberg with stratigraphic information. Wiman (1932)described G. kirtlandicusin still-surviving members of the Eusuchia are Sternberg'sstratigraphy (1932) appears to be detailand suggestedreconstructions for miss- actually a relatively late adaptive radiation coincidentwith interpretationspublished by ing portionsof the skulland palate(figs. I and that first appeared in the Lower Cretaceous Reeside(1924\, and G. kirtlandicus must have 2). He further distinguishedthe morphology and includes two families, the and beenfound in theKirtland Formation(fig. a). of G. kirtlondicus from the other recognized the Crocodylidae. speciesreferred to thegenus. The gavials are presently restricted to the In G. kirtlandicus, the skull is triangular in major rivers of India, Pakistan, and Burma Gents Goniopholis shape(dorsal view) and lessthan twiceas long but earlier in the had a much greater distribution that included North and South Goniopholis was described by Owen on the as wide at the reconstructedbase. The skull is America, , and . basis of fossil material from the Wealden moderatelybroad with the externalnares well posterior Cretaceous of . The type species is anterior and the orbits and Goniopholis crossidens. In addition to the marginal. The specimenretains the right premaxillary, type species and G. kirtlandicus, the following both nasals,the right lacrimal, prefrontals, post- specieshave been recognized (Wiman, 1932; both the frontal, the right Kiilin, 1955): orbital, and most of the right squamosal.The superior temporal openingsmust have been G. simus Owen, 1878, from the Wealden of well developed and roughly elliptical in England and Belgium, outline,larger than theorbital openings. G. felix Marsh, 1877, from the of Wiman'sreconstruction of the palateshows , and a rather blunt snout region with ten teeth in G. gilmori Holland, 1905, from the Jurassic the premaxillaries.The maxillariesbroaden of . posteriorlyand showspaces for l8 teethalong the external margin of each maxillary. With other genera that range in age from Wiman's palatal reconstructionis slightly Late Jurassicto Cretaceous, Goniopholis is in- broaderthan his dorsalreconstruction. cluded in the family Goniopholidae. Romer The teeth in G. kirtlandicus are roughly F-_--:+ I ml (1966) suggested that Goniopholis and its conicalbut apically roundedand blunt (side allies were central to crocodilian evolution and view). Antero-posteriorly, the teeth are formed the mesosuchianstock from which the slightly recurved lingually with a distinct FIGURE 4-GENERALTZEDcEoI-oclc ueR showing eusuchians evolved in the or medialcrest or ridge. Prominentapical-basal units present in the area of Ojo Alamo Trading . Goniopholrs was of typical directedridges or enamelrugae give the teeth a Post. Goniopholis kirtlandicus must have been crocodilian form with a broad and not overly wrinkled or corrugated appearance.The found in the in the southern portion of T. 24 N., R. I I W. Abbreviations: Tn, long skull. The secondarypalate was relatively premaxillary teethappear to be much smaller ; Toa, Ojo Alamo Forma- more advanced than in other mesosuchians than the marginal maxillary teeth. The gaps tion; Kk, Kirtland Formation; Kf, Fruitland For- and extended farther back than in other for the pseudo-caninesappear relatively small mation; Kpc, Pictured Cliffs Formation (after forms. in size. Fassettand Hinds, 1971;Clemens, 1973).

August1980 Geology The Crocodilidae includes the , Kues,B. S., Froehlich,J. W., Schiebout,J. A., and crocodiles, and . The crocodiles, Lucas, S., 1977,Paleontological survey, resource generally characterized by a narrower snout assessment,and mitigation plan for the Bisti-Star than the alligators, are relatively broadly Lake area, northwesternNew Mexico: Albuquer- que, Report to the Bureau of Land Management distributed through tropical America, Africa, LeMone, D. V., and others, 1977, Applicant's and southern Asia. The alligators, with a paleontologicalassessment and continuingstudies broader snout than the crocodiles. have a for the proposed Star Lake mine: Chaco restricted range and occur only in the Western EnergyCompany, 152P. Hemisphere, except for a single species that LeMone, D. V., and others, 1979,Paleontological survivesin the Yangtze River of China. clearance assessmentand evaluation report, state The Goniopholidae (and the included lands, Bisti Project: Western Coal Company, 69 species Goniopholis kirtlandicus) belonged to p. and appendices the Mesosuchia. the crocodile suborder that Lull, R. S., and Wright, N. E., 1942,Hadrosaurian dinosaurs of : Ceological Society appeared during the Jurassic. In overall ap- of America, Spec.Paper 40,242p. pearance and probably in life habits as well, Osborn, H. F., 1923,A new genus and speciesof goniopholids the were similar to modern croc- Ceratopsia from New Mexico, Pentoceratops odilians. They attained substantial size, had sternbergii: American Museum Novitates, no. 93, FIGURE 5-GerEner- pHyLocENErtc RELATToN- broad but not especiallylong snouts, and sub- 3p. sHIpsoF cRocoDrLrAN (rectangles)and stantial teeth. Their vertebrae, however, still suBoRDERs Powell, J. 5., 19'12,The GallegosSandstone (for- other archosaurian orders for reference. retained primitive features and were amphi- merly Ojo Alamo Sandstone)of the San Juan coelus (concave at either end). Although the Basin, New Mexico: M.S. thesis, University of ,l3l p. palate was advanced in structure over earlier AcxNowr-pocMENTS-This manuscript was 1973, Paleontology and sedimentation species,it was still more primitive than that in read critically by Stephen Hook and John modelsof the Kimbeto Member of the Ojo Alamo the Eusuchia. Wright, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Sandstone, ir Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks of Towards the end of the Cretaceous the Mineral Resources; Richard Holtzman, Min- the southernColorado Plateau,J. E. Fassett,ed.: mesosuchiansand many other reptilian lines nesota Geological Survey; Joseph Hartman, GeologicalSociety, Mem., p. lll- of descent declined. Although mesosuchians Department of Geology and Ceophysics, Uni- r22 survived into the Early Tertiary in some areas versity of Minnesota; and Judith Schiebout, Reeside,J. B., Jr., 1924,UpperCretaceous and Ter- (Romer, 1966),competition with the expand- Louisiana State Universitv. tiary formations of the westernpart of the San ing eusuchian lineage was most likely a factor Juan Basin of Colorado and New Mexico: U.S. in their decline. The mesosuchians were GeologicalSurvey, Prof. Paper 134,70 p. References Romer, A. S., 1966,, third similar in form and probably in life habits to edition:University of ChicagoPress, 468 p. the eusuchians but lacked more progressive Baltz, E. H., Ash, S., and Anderson, R., 1966, Sinclair, W. J., and Granger, W., 1914, eusuchian features such as secondary palate History of nomenclature and of rocks adjacent to the Cretaceous-Tertiary boun- deposits of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico: development.In all likelihood, the eusuchians dary, westernSan Juan Basin, New Mexico: U.S. American Museum of Natural History, Bull., v. were better able to exploit the available Ceological Survey, Prof. Paper 524-D,23 p. 33,p.297-316 habitats that both subordersoccupied. Bauer, C. M., 1916,Stratigraphy of a part of the Sternberg,C. H., 1932,Hunting dinosaurson Red A general cause for widespread Chaco River Valley: U.S. Ceological Survey, Deer River, Alberta, Canada: San Diego, pub- may have operated late in the Cretaceous;cer- Prof. Paper 98-P, p. 271-278 lishedby author, 261p. tainly many archosauran lines terminated at Brown, B., 1910,The CretaceousOjo Alamo beds Wiman, C., 1930,Uber Ceratopsiaaus der oberen Nova Acta the end of Cretaceoustime. A combination of of New Mexico with a descriptionof the new dino- Kreide in New Mexico: RegiaeSoci- etatisScientiarum Upsaliensis, ser. IV, v. 7, no.2, adverse environmental conditions and in- saur genus Kritosaurus: American Museum of p. l-19 creasedcompetition from the eusuchiansmay Natural History, Bull., v. 28,p.267-274 Clemens, W. A., 1973, The roles of fossil verte- 1931, tubicen n. sp. aus have isolatedmesosuchians in ever-dwindling brates in interpretation of Late Cretaceous der Kreide in New Mexico: Nova Acta Regiae refuges,finally resultingin their . stratigraphyof the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, SocietatisScientiarum Upsaliensis, ser. lV, v. 7, in Cretaceousand Tertiary rocks of the southern no.5, p. l-l I Conclusions , J. E. Fassett,ed.: Four Cor- 1932, Coniopholis kirtlandicus n. sp. aus der oberen Kreide in New Mexico: Ceological The recognition-intended by Wiman ners Ceological Society, Mem., p. 154-167 Institutionsof the Universityof Uppsala,Bull., v. almost 50 ago-of Goniopholis kirt- Colbert, E. H., 1950, Mesozoic vertebratefaunas and formations of : Society 23,p. l8l-192 landicus as a component of Kirtland Forma- of Vertebrate Paleontology, Cuidebook 4th field Wolberg, D. L., 1980, Data base and review of tion (Late Cretaceous) faunas establishesthe conference,p.57-73 paleofaunasand floras of the Fruitland Forma- presence of both mesosuchiansand eusuchians Fassett,J. 8., and Hinds, J. S., 1971,Geology and tion, Late Cretaceous,San Juan Basin, New Mex- in the San Juan Basin. Therefore, fossil col- fuel resources of the and ico, with interpretiveobservations and age rela- lections should be reexamined to identify Kirtland Shaleof the San Juan Basin. New Mex- tionships: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and additional mesosuchian material. Material ico and Colorado: U.S. CeologicalSurvey, Prof. Mineral Resources,Open-file Rept. I17, 70 p. Wolberg, V., previously referred to Crocodyhls sp. or Paper 676, 76 p. D. L., and LeMone, D. 1980,Paleon- tology of the Fruitland Formation near Bisti, San Brachychampsa? may actually represent Gilmore, C. W., 1916,Vertebrate faunas of the Ojo Juan Basin, New Mexico-a progressreport: New Goniopholis, either G. kirtlandicus or other Alamo, Kirtland and Fruitland Formations: U.S. CeologicalSurvey, Prof. Paper98-Q, p.279-308 Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, mesosuchian forms. Additional G. kirtlandi- 1919, Reptilian faunas of the Torrejon, Annual Report 1978-79,p. 55-57 n cas material will enhance our understanding Puerco and underlyingUpper Cretaceousforma- of the species.Similarly, other mesosuchian tions of San Juan County, New Mexico: U.S. forms may be discovered. Whether meso- GeologicalSurvey, Prof. Paper I 19,7l p. suchians also occur in the underlying Fruit- 1935,On the reptiliaof the Kirtland Forma- land Formation and in the overlying Ojo tion of New Mexico, with descriptionsof new Oil productionin New Mexico for the first Alamo Sandstoneis an important question. speciesof fossil : U.S. National Museum, threemonths of 1980was 19,460,604bbls, an The highest occurrence of C. kirtlandicus in Proceedings,v. 83, no. 2978,p" I 59- I 88 increaseof 38,873bbls over the same period in the San Juan Basin may have a significant Hopson, J., 1975,The evolurion of cranial display 1979.Gas production was 291,777,639,000 cu structures in hadrosaurian dinosaurs: Paleo- bearing on the age relationships of the Ojo ft, an increaseof 2,013,104,000over the same biology,v. l, no. |, p.2l-43 Alamo Formation and may be helpful in 1979 period (J. Ramey, Oil Conservation Kiilin, J., 1955, Crocodilia, in Traite de paleon- Division,N.M. Energyand Minerals Dept.). understanding the problem of Late Cretaceous tologie,v. 5, JeanPiveteau, ed.: Paris, Massonet extinctions. Cie, p. 695-784

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