In this Book

At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah

Book
Edited by Alan L. Titus and Mark A. Loewen
2013
Published by: Indiana University Press
Series: Life of the Past
buy this book Buy This Book in Print
summary

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah is the location of one of the best-known terrestrial records for the late Cretaceous. A major effort in the new century has documented over 2,000 new vertebrate fossil sites, provided new radiometric dates, and identified five new genera of ceratopsids, two new species of hadrosaur, a probable new genus of hypsilophodontid, new pachycephalosaurs and ankylosaurs, several kinds of theropods (including a new genus of oviraptor and a new tyrannosaur), plus the most complete specimen of a Late Cretaceous therizinosaur ever collected from North America, and much more. At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah documents this major stepping stone toward a synthesis of the ecology and evolution of the Late Cretaceous ecosystems of western North America.

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is the location of one of the best-known terrestrial records for the late Cretaceous. Prior fieldwork confirmed the richness of the area, but a major effort begun in the new century has documented over 2,000 new vertebrate fossil sites, provided new radiometric dates, and identified five new genera of ceratopsids, two new species of hadrosaur, a probable new genus of hypsilophodontid, new pachycephalosaurs and ankylosaurs, several kinds of theropods (including a new genus of oviraptor and a new tyrannosaur), plus the most complete specimen of a Late Cretaceous therizinosaur ever collected from North America, and much more. The research documented in this book is rewriting our understanding of Late Cretaceous paleobiogeography and dinosaur phyletics. At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah is a major stepping stone toward a total synthesis of the ecology and evolution of the Late Cretaceous ecosystems of western North America.

Table of Contents

Cover

pp. C-C

Title Page, Copyright Page

pp. i-vi

Contents

pp. vii-viii

Foreword

pp. ix-x

Preface

pp. xi-xii

Acknowledgments

pp. xiii-xiv

List of Contributors

pp. xv-xviii

1 One Hundred Thirty Years of Cretaceous Research in Southern Utah

pp. 1-12

2 Geologic Overview

pp. 13-41

3 Accumulation of Organic Carbon–Rich Strata along the Western Margin and in the Center of the North American Western Interior Seaway during the Cenomanian–Turonian Transgression

pp. 42-56

4 Tectonic and Sedimentary Controls, Age, and Correlation of the Upper Cretaceous Wahweap Formation, Southern Utah

pp. 57-73

5 Implications of the Internal Plumbing of a Late Cretaceous Sand Volcano: Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah

pp. 74-84

6 The Kaiparowits Formation: A Remarkable Record of Late Cretaceous Terrestrial Environments, Ecosystems, and Evolution in Western North America

pp. 85-106

7 A Late Campanian Flora from the Kaiparowits Formation, Southern Utah, and a Brief Overview of the Widely Sampled but Little-Known Campanian Vegetation of the Western Interior of North America

pp. 107-131

8 Continental Invertebrates and Trace Fossils from the Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, Utah

pp. 132-152

9 Elasmobranchs from Upper Cretaceous Freshwater Facies in Southern Utah

pp. 153-194

10 Freshwater Osteichthyes from the Cenomanian to Late Campanian of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah

pp. 195-236

11 Preliminary Report on Salamanders (Lissamphibia; Caudata) from the Late Cretaceous (Late Cenomanian–Late Campanian) of Southern Utah, U.S.A.

pp. 237-272

12 Anuran Ilia from the Upper Cretaceous of Utah – Diversity and Stratigraphic Patterns

pp. 273-294

13 Turtles from the Kaiparowits Formation, Utah

pp. 295-318

14 Review of Late Cretaceous Mammalian Faunas of the Kaiparowits and Paunsaugunt Plateaus, Southwestern Utah

pp. 319-328

15 Late Cretaceous Mammals from Bryce Canyon National Park and Vicinity, Paunsaugunt Plateau, Southwestern Utah

pp. 329-369

16 Lizards and Snakes from the Cenomanian through Campanian of Southern Utah: Filling the Gap in the Fossil Record of Squamata from the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior of North America

pp. 370-423

17 Crocodyliforms from the Late Cretaceous of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and Vicinity, Southern Utah, U.S.A.

pp. 424-444

18 Review of Late Cretaceous Ankylosaurian Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase Region, Southern Utah

pp. 445-463

19 Ornithopod Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument Region, Utah, and Their Role in Paleobiogeographic and Macroevolutionary Studies

pp. 463-481

20 Review of Pachycephalosaurian Dinosaurs from Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Southern Utah

pp. 482-487

21 Ceratopsid Dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase of Southern Utah

pp. 488-503

22 Late Cretaceous Theropod Dinosaurs of Southern Utah

pp. 504-525

23 A Trackmaker for Saurexallopus: Ichnological Evidence for Oviraptorosaurian Tracks from the Upper Cretaceous of Western North America

pp. 526-529

24 First Report of Probable Therizinosaur (cf. Macropodosaurus) Tracks from North America, with Notes on the Neglected Vertebrate Ichnofauna of the Ferron Sandstone (Late Cretaceous) of Central Utah

pp. 530-535

25 Fossil Vertebrates from the Tropic Shale (Upper Cretaceous), Southern Utah

pp. 536-562

26 Paleontological Overview and Taphonomy of the Middle Campanian Wahweap Formation in Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument

pp. 563-587

27 Taphonomy of a Subadult Teratophoneus curriei (Tyrannosauridae) from the Upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of Utah

pp. 588-598

28 A New Macrovertebrate Assemblage from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Southern Utah

pp. 599-622

Index

pp. 623-639
Back To Top