The Geology and Paleontology of the Late Cretaceous Marine Deposits of the Dakotas
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THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Special Paper 427 gOF AMERICA' The Geology and Paleontology of the Late Cretaceous Marine Deposits of the Dakotas QE 1 G62 ted by James E. Martin no,427 and David C. Parris The Geology and Paleontology of the Late Cretaceous Marine Deposits of the Dakotas Edited by James E. Martin Museum of Geology Department of Geology and Geological Engineering South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, South Dakota 57701 USA and David C. Parris Bureau of Natural History New Jersey State Museum P.O. Box 530 Trenton, New Jersey 08625 USA M THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA® Special Paper 427 3300 Penrose Place, P.O. Box 9140 ■Boulder, Colorado 80301-9140 2007 Copyright 2007, The Geological Society of America, Inc. (GSA). All rights reserved. GSA grants permission to individual scientists to make unlimited photocopies of one or more items from this volume for noncommercial purposes advancing science or education, including classroom use. 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GSA Books Science Editor: Marion E. Bickford Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The geology and paleontology of the late Cretaceous marine deposits of the Dakotas / edited by James E. Martin and David C. Parris. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8137-2427-0 (pbk.) 1. Sediments (Geology)—South Dakota. 2. Sediments (Geology)—North Dakota. 3. Geology—South Dakota. 4. Geology—North Dakota. 5. Paleontology—Cretaceous. 6. Geology, Stratigraphic—Cretaceous. I. Martin, James E. II. Parris, David C. QE471.2.G465 2007 557.83—dc22 2007009883 Cover: Screened image is the Late Cretaceous Niobrara Chalk overlain by newly defined members of the Sharon Springs Formation of the Pierre Shale Group. The large reptile is that of a new species of the mosasaur (Hainosaurus) feeding upon a diving bird (Hesperornis). The illustration in the right foreground is a reconstruction of a new species of the Late Cretaceous diving bird (Baptornis). Both illustrations courtesy of Daniel Varner. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents I. Introduction to the geology and paleontology of the Late Cretaceous marine deposits of the Dakotas 1 D.C. Parris, S.Y. Shelton, and J.E. Martin 2. Revised lithostratigraphy of the lower Pierre Shale Group (Campanian) of central South Dakota, including newly designated members 9 J.E. Martin, J.L. Bertog, and D.C. Parris 3. Geochemical and mineralogical recognition of the bentonites in the lower Pierre Shale Group and their use in regional stratigraphic correlation 23 J. Bertog, W. Huff, and J.E. Martin 4. Stratigraphy and paleoecology of the middle Pierre Shale along the Missouri River, central South Dakota 51 P.A. Hanczaryk and W.B. Gallagher 5. Rare earth element (REE) analysis of fossil vertebrates from the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale Group for the purposes of paleobathymetric interpretations of the Western Interior Seaway 71 D. Patrick, J.E. Martin, D.C. Parris, and D.E. Grandstaff 6. Mollusks from the late Campanian upper DeGrey Formation of the Pierre Shale Group, Missouri River Valley, central South Dakota 85 J.E. Fox 7. Fossil fish from the Pierre Shale Group (Late Cretaceous): Clarifying the biostratigraphic record 99 D.C. Parris, B.S. Grandstaff, and W.B. Gallagher 8. Taxonomic comparison and stratigraphic distribution of Toxochelys (Testudines: Cheloniidae) of South Dakota 111 M. Hart Carrino 9. A new polycotylid plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Greenhorn Limestone (Upper Cretaceous; lower upper Cenomanian), Black Hills, South Dakota 133 B.A. Schumacher 10. Comparison of gastroliths within plesiosaurs (Elasmosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous marine deposits of Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula, and the Missouri River area, South Dakota 147 W.A. Thompson, J.E. Martin, and M. Reguero iii iv Contents 11. Rare earth element determination of the stratigraphic position of the holotype of Mosasaurus missouriensis (Harlan), the first named fossil reptile from the American West 155 D. Patrick, J.E. Martin, D.C. Parris, and D.E. Grandstaff 12. Stomach contents of Globidens, a shell-crushing mosasaur (Squamata), from the Late Cretaceous Pierre Shale Group, Big Bend area of the Missouri River, central South Dakota 167 J.E. Martin and J.E. Fox 13. A new species of the durophagous mosasaur, Globidens (Squamata: Mosasauridae) from the Late Cretaceous Pierre Shale Group of central South Dakota, USA 177 J.E. Martin 14. A North American Hainosaurus (Squamata: Mosasauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of southern South Dakota 199 J.E. Martin 15. The largest mosasaur (Squamata: Mosasauridae) from the Missouri River area (Late Cretaceous; Pierre Shale Group) of South Dakota and its relationship to Lewis and Clark 209 R.W. Meredith, J.E. Martin, and P.N. Wegleitner 16. Pteranodon (Reptilia: Pterosauria): Stratigraphic distribution and taphonomy in the lower Pierre Shale Group (Campanian), western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming 215 J.E. Hargrave 17. A new species of the diving bird, Baptornis (Ornithurae: Hesperornithiformes), from the lower Pierre Shale Group (Upper Cretaceous) of southwestern South Dakota 227 J.E. Martin and A. Cordes-Person 18. Amphibian, reptilian, and avian remains from the Fox Hills Formation (Maastrichtian): Shoreline and estuarine deposits of the Pierre Sea in south-central North Dakota 239 J.W. Hoganson, J.M. Erickson, and F.D. Holland Jr. The Geological Society of America Special Paper 427 2007 Pteranodon (Reptilia: Pterosauria): Stratigraphic distribution and taphonomy in the lower Pierre Shale Group (Campanian), western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming Jennifer E. Hargrave University of Oklahoma, School of Geology and Geophysics, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA ABSTRACT The Cretaceous Pierre Shale Group in eastern South Dakota and western Wyoming contains numerous fossils, including the flying reptile Pteranodon, 19 specimens of which are described herein. Pteranodon specimens have been found in the two lower formations of the Pierre Shale Group: 4 in the basal Gammon Ferruginous Forma- tion, and 15 in the overlying Sharon Springs Formation. Of these specimens, 64% are associated forelimb elements. Two factors, or a combination thereof, explain the abun- dance of associated forelimb elements: (1) predatory preference of the muscle mass in the chest over the wing membrane, which may not have offered much nutrient to the predators; and (2) the strong wing membrane, which would have secured the wing ele- ments while the muscle mass would have fallen away. In either case, the wing mem- brane may have served as a protective layer over the forelimb bones until burial. Two Pteranodon specimens contain vertebrae of the fish Enchodus, which appear to be stom- ach contents, the first documented Pteranodon stomach contents from South Dakota. Keywords: Pteranodon, stratigraphy, taphonomy, Pierre Shale Group. INTRODUCTION tered, resulting in the questioning and testing of the taphonomy to determine if a preservational bias exists, and if the bias was the Under the direction of James E. Martin, the Museum of Geol- result of predatory preference or anatomical constraints. Finally, ogy, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM), has fish bones were found associated with the pterosaur skeletons, collected many vertebrate fossils from the Pierre Shale Group suggesting their stomach contents. (see Martin et al., this volume, for stratigraphic nomenclature) of The first Pteranodon fossil was found in 1870, and Othniel C. western South Dakota in order to provide a biostratigraphic dis- Marsh (1871) described a new species of American flying reptile tribution. The Pierre Shale Group consists of dark shales that were which he named Pteranodon, or "toothless flier," from the Niobrara deposited by the Western Interior Seaway that covered the mid- Formation in western Kansas. He based this new taxon on the lack dle of North America. Pterosaur specimens have been found in of teeth and the presence of a crest on the back of the skull. Skele- the lower two formations of the Campanian Pierre Shale Group, tons of this Late Cretaceous genus (from ca. 115-70 Ma) have the Gammon Ferruginous and Sharon Springs Formations. No also been reported from India, Japan, and possibly Brazil. The pterosaurs have yet been found in the overlying formations. An fossils from Brazil are fragmentary, and it is unclear whether they unexpected number of associated wing elements were encoun- belong to the genus Pteranodon (Wellnhofer, 1991). Bennett (1994) Hargrave, J.E., 2007, Pteranodon (Reptilia: Pterosauria): Stratigraphic distribution and taphonomy in the lower Pierre Shale