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Early Paleocene Vertebrates, Stratigraphy, and Biostratigraphy

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Early Paleocene Vertebrates, Stratigraphy, and Biostratigraphy EarlyPaleocene vertebrates, stratigraphy and biostratigraphy,West Fork of GallegosGanyon, SanJuan Basin, New Mexico bySpencer G. Lucas,Department ofGeology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87131 Introduction U.S. Bureauof Land Managementcollected mudstoneand sandstonedetritus locallyde- There are only three well known areasin in this area (Kues and others, 1977). rived from the Nacimiento Formation (Qal, and of Wells, 1982,fig. 101).However, the San |uan Basin where early Paleocene This paper reports the fossil vertebrates Qal, (Puercan)vertebrates occur in the lowermost collectedbv this field partv. establishestheir the Oio Alamo Sandstonedoes form the re- strata of the Nacimiento Formation. These stratigraphicprovenance, ind discussestheir sistanibedrock under the plateauincised by areas,Betonnie Tsosie Wash, Kimbeto Wash, biostratigraphicsignificance. AMNH refers GallegosCanyon and its tributaries, and it and the headlandsof De-na-zinand Alamo to specimensin the Department of Verte- is exposed approximately 1 km (0.5 mi) Washes(Fig. 1), were already known when brate Paleontology,American Museum of northwest of the head of the WestFork (Ree- Sinclairand Granger(1914) published the re- Natural Historv; UNM refers to snecimens side, 1924,p. 30, pl. 1). This relationship to sults of two field seasons (1912-1913) of in the Departmentof Geology,University of the Ojo Alamo Sandstoneand the occurrence stratigraphicand paleontologicstudies of the New Mexico. of Puercanmammals indicate that the Na- strataexposed here are of the lower Paleoceneof the San Juan Basin. However, cimiento Sinclairand Granger(1974, p.315) did men- Stratigraphy -oart of the formation. tion a fourth occurrenceof Puercan verte- More than 37 m (l2I ft) of the Nacimiento The exposedNacimiento Formation con- bratesin the headlandsof the West Fork of Formation are exposedin rugged badlands sists of mudstone (63%), sandstone(33Vo), GallegosCanyon (Fig. 1). The only verte- at the headof the WestFork of GallegosCan- silcrete(3Vo), and siltstone(1%). These strata bratesthey reported from this locality (their yon (Figs.2, 3, 4).TheOjoAlamo Sandstone, can be consideredin three parts (Fig. 4): localitv4) were two teethof the Puercanmul- which underlies the Nacimiento Formation LowER MUDSTONES AND srLCRETns-The lower 16.5m (54ft) of sectionD (Fig. 3) and titubeiculate " Polymastodon"(: Taeniolabis).throughout the San Juan Basin (Baltz, 1,967), No additional vertebrateswere collectedfrom is not exposedhere (Fig.2). Instead,the base correlatedunits of sectionsA-C (Fig. 3) con- the West Fork of Gallegos Canyon unlil1977 of the Nacimiento Formation is coveredby sist of variegatedbands of red, green, buff, and gray mudstone intercalatedwith thin, when a field party under contract with the Quaternaryalluvium that consistsmainly of resistantsilcretes. Some of these strata, es- peciallythe silcretes,are laterallycontinuous for more than 1 km (0.6 mi) and thus allow a securecorrelation of sectionsB-D (Fig. 3). The silcretesare gray (but weather to yellow- brown), well-cemented,fine-grained, silica- rich layers (Rains,1981). MEDTALsANDSToNE courlnx-A thick (up to 14m; 46 ft) and complexsequence of sand- stone and clayey sandstoneforms a promi- nent part of the Nacimiento Formation exposedhere (Fig.3). Most of the sandstone is gray-white, trough crossbedded,fine grained, and quartzose.However, two thin but distinctivehorizons of black,fine- to me- dium-grainedsandstone are present,one near the base and the other near the top of the sequence(Figs. 3, 5). Sinclair and Granger Q91a, p. 305) attributed the black color of this type of sandstoneto the presenceof manganeseoxide, but it seems likely that iron oxide also contributesto the black color and high density.Whether the formation of these black sandstones was a syndeposi- tional or diageneticevent is unclear,and their genesisneeds further study. The baseof the entire sandstonecomplex is an erosionalsurface of low relief (Fig. 3). At or near this base,fossil logs up to L m in diameterare common (Fig.6), and other fos- sil logs and wood fragments occur sporad- icallythroughout the sandstonecomplex. All fossil vertebrate occurrencesin the Naci- miento Formation at the head of the West Fork are in the sandstonecomplex and are associatedwith the blacksandstone horizons (Fig.3). In fact,many of the vertebratefossils FIGURE 1-Location map of study area, San Juan County, northwest New Mexico. The colored circles collectedare encasedwithin the black sand- indicatelocations of Pueicancollecting areas in the NacimientoFormation. stone (Fig. 7D). August 1984 Nao MexicoGeology UPPER MUDSTONES/ SANDSTONES/ SILCRETES, ANDsrLTSroNps-In this area,the upper part of the Nacimiento Formation consisti of deeply weatheredgray, green, buff, and black mudstoneand lesseramounts of sandstone, silcrete,and siltstone (Fig. 3). A thick, brown, medium-grained,and subarkosicsandstone is presentat the top of the exposuresin the northeastpart of the headlands(Fig. 3, sec- tion A). A prominent erosionalunconformity sep- arates Quaternary (and late Tertiary?) d^e- posits from the underlying Nacimiento Formation. These deposits are stable pedi- ment and terracedeposits capped by eolian sands (QTP1,;of Wells, 1982, frg. 1.0t). Vertebratepaleontology Twenty-one localities in the Nacimiento Formation at the head of the West Fork of GallegosCanyon (Fig.2) have producedver- tebratefossils representing the fish, reptile, and mammal taxa discussedbelow. ClassOsrrrcHrHyES Huxlev, 1880 Family LEprsosrsrperCuviea 1825 Genus and speciesindeterminate An incompletegar scale(UNM B-400c)and two gar scales(UNM 8-388) were FIGURE2-Geologic map collected of the headlandsof the west Fork of GallegosCanyon, from SanJuan Counry, New Mexrco. localities358 and 349, respectively. ClassRrpulra Linnaeus, 1758 Order TEsruorlps Linnaeus, 1758 Genus Asprotnnns Quoternory Hay, 7904 Aspideretes deposils sp. UNM 8-385, a nearly complete but frag- mented carapace(locality 347) is assignedio Aspideretesbecause it has eight pairs of cos- tals and the ridge-and-pit ornamentation upper mudslones, characteristic soodsiones, of this genus. Six speciesof si cretes ond Aspideretesare recognizedfrom the Puercan silistones of the Sanfuan Basin(Gilmore, 1979, pp.56- / 62;Matthew, 1937,p. 332),and the genus is in need of revision. Becauseof this, no spe- cies-leveldetermination of UNM 8-385 is'at- Lo*", verlebrotes ] tempted. UNM 8-1082 (locality 1037)consists of shell fragmentsidentical Mediol sondstone to thoseof UNM complex 8-385. Fossilmommcls ond owervertebrotes Genus and speciesindeterminate (/ocolities34\345, 348,349,35O,35t, Undiagnostic turtle-shell fragments 354,357, 358,36O, and other postcraniawere observedbut not col- lectedat localities345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 352, 353,355, 358, L037,1038, and 1039. Order Eosucnra Broom, 1914 Genus Cueupsos.qunusCope, 7877 Champsosaurussp. UNM B-381a(locality 344) is a small. am- phiplatyan vertebralcentrum. This centrum Unconsolidoied T-:-l Mudstone has a ventral keel, ' ' Sond F::=i a circular cross section, slightly concave li-..,----Illsondrton"fllllllllll.',^.^,^ sides, a large neurocentral t!"".":,,""" sutureon its superior surface,parapophyses I that areconfluent with the diapophyses,and F:rJ sittsrone a slight dorso-ventral compression poste- riorly. Clearly,this small (length : t4 mm) FIGURE 3-correlation of measuredstratigraphic sections of the lower part of the centrum is an anterior dorsal centrum of Nacimiento Formation in the headlandsof"thi west Fork or crii"g;, eu'nyon,---'r-" sun Champsosaurus,but it is inadequatefor a spe- JuanCounty, New Mexico.See Fig. 2 for locationof each,".tio.r.'-- cies-levelidentification (Erickson, 1972).-G. Nm MexicoGeology August'l9M Order Cnocoorr-n Gmelin, 1788 (locality 349); 8-396, teeth (locality 353); B- Genus Lnoyosucuus Lambe, t907 Genus AuocNaruosucHus Mook, 1921 398a,partial skull (locality354);B-400a, par- ?Leidyosuchussp. Allognathosuchusmooki Simpson, 1930 tial lower jaw (locality358); and B-1086,teeth (locality1039). Storrs and others (1983)described UNM B-401a (locality360), the oldest known en- UNM 8-1121 (locality 351) is a fragmen- docastofan eusuchiancrocodilian. Based on lower jaw still bearing one globoseand tary skull fragments of UNM V407a, they ten- tooth. The anterior part of this lower striated tatively identified this specimen as Leidyo- bearsthree alveoli followed bv a much iaw suchus.The bicarinate,conical teeth and skull iargeralveolus, which, in turn, is'followed fragmentsof UNM 8-1083(locality 1037) also four much smalleralveoli. The diameters by may pertain to Leidyosuchils.If these identi- theseeight alveoli(5, 4.5, 4.4, 1.25,5.5, of fications are correct, they represent the first 4.5, and 4.0 mm from front to back) are 5.5, report of Leidyosuchusfrom the Puercan of somewhatgreater than thoseof AMNH 6780, the San Basin. the holotype of A. mooki(Simpson, 1930, p. fuan 7), but otherwisethe UNM andAMNH spec- Genus and speciesindeterminate imens are identical.Assignment of UNM B- 1121to A. mookithus seemscertain. Other Undiagnostic crocodilian remains were specimensfrom the West Fork of Gallegos observedbut not collectedat localities344, Canyonthat probablypertain to A. mookiare: u5, 346, 349, 352, 353, 355, 356, 358, 359, UNM 8-382, teeth (locality 344);8-387, teeth FIGURE6-Fossil los at baseof medial sandstone 1037,t038, and 1039.UNM 8-394 0ocalitv complexnear locality 1102,lower part of the Na- 351)is an eusuchianvertebral centrum, and cimiento Formation in the headlands
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