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Eocene vertebrates and late Laramide stratigraphy of New Mexico
... Imprint of dewclaw in posterior of artiodactyl fossil footprints limited to the Pecoripeda (Cervipeda) dicroceroides Vialov (1965); Fustinianapodus arriazui Díaz-Martínez et al. (2020), Suidichnus de Carvalho et al. (2020), and Bovinichnus de Carvalho et al. (2022. There are however, unnamed artiodactyl footprints report with distinctive dewclaw (Lucas and Williamson 1993;Dalla Vecchia and Rustioni 1996;Herrero et al. 2022). Casanovas-Cladellas and Santafé-Llopis (1982) and Santamaria et al. (1989Santamaria et al. ( -1990 reported tetradactyl footprints named Bothriodontipus with two main digits in manus and pes and elongated lateral digit impressions, which difficult to attribute them to the dewclaw imprints. ...
... Divergent hooves imprints with dewclaw imprints are rare in the artiodactyl reported footprints. Lucas and Williamson (1993) reported large artiodactyl footprints with wellpreserved dewclaw imprints and parallel hooves imprints. These footprints can be considered as Bovinichnus uripeda de Carvalho et al. (2022). ...
... Because the Hyracotherium fossil is in the upper part of the Diamond Trail Formation, the base of the formation may be Paleocene in age ( Lucas et al., 1997). Features consistent with an early Eocene or older age for the base of the Laramide basin fill are middle and late Eocene vertebrate fossils from the overlying Galisteo Formation ( Lucas, 1980;Lucas and Williamson, 1993). No age-diagnostic fossils have been discovered in the El Rito Formation in the northern part of the GalisteoEl Rito Basin. ...
... Separated by the Laramide Sierra uplift, the basin fill in both the Baca and Carthage-La Joya Basins is assigned to the Baca Formation ( Cather, 2004). Middle Eocene vertebrate fossils are present near the base of the Baca Formation in both the Baca and Carthage-La Joya Basins ( Lucas, 1990;Lucas and Williamson, 1993). Similarly, vertebrate fossils from the lower part of the Cub Mountain Formation in the Sierra Blanca Basin suggest an age near the earlymiddle Eocene boundary ( Lucas et al., 1989). ...
The Laramide orogeny is a classic yet controversial mountain-building event that resulted, in the southwest United States, in uplifts, sedimentation, and magmatism that can be used to constrain the onset of this event in the region and expand our knowledge of Late Cretaceous to Paleogene tectonism. The McRae Formation marks the onset of deposition in the Laramide Love Ranch Basin, which was located to the northeast of the west-northwest−trending coeval Rio Grande uplift in south-central New Mexico, but its age is not well constrained. A previously published late Maastrichtian age for the McRae Formation was based on the presence of dinosaur bones in the upper of two members of the formation. We obtained new U-Pb dates from one dacite clast and three ash-fall tuffs from the lower Jose Creek Member and from one ash-fall tuff from the lower part of the overlying Hall Lake Member of the McRae Formation. The clast yielded a date of 75.0 ± 1.1 Ma, whereas the ages of the tuffs, in ascending stratigraphic order, are 74.9 ± 0.7 Ma, 74.7 ± 0.6 Ma, 75.2 ± 1.3 Ma, and 73.2 ± 0.7 Ma. These dates indicate that the onset of Laramide deposition in the Love Ranch Basin must have occurred earlier, in late Campanian time, similar to deposition in the Laramide Ringbone Basin in southwestern New Mexico. In addition, U-Pb zircon dates of 75.7 ± 1.3 Ma and 75.0 ± 2.8 Ma were obtained on the Twin Peaks stock and on a dacite sill, respectively, in the Burro Mountains of southwestern New Mexico. These dates are similar to those of other Laramide arc magmatic centers in southern New Mexico, which have a limited range of ages from 75 to 70 Ma, including the Hidalgo Formation in the Little Hatchet Mountains, the Silver City−Pinos Altos region, and the Copper Flat porphyry system. These new and previously published dates indicate that during the onset of Laramide deformation in southwestern and south-central New Mexico, the angle of subduction of the Farallon plate may have been steep enough to allow partial melting of an asthenospheric wedge, resulting in arc magmatism far inboard of the trench.
... No magnetostratigraphic studies have been done on Santiago and " Sweetwater " formations, so correlation of these formations to the GPTS cannot be made. The Galisteo Formation of New Mexico has yielded the Duchesnean Tonque Local Fauna (Lucas et al., 1981; Lucas, 1982 Lucas, , 1992 Lucas and Williamson, 1993), which Lucas (1982 Lucas ( , 1992) regarded as most similar faunally to the Porvenir Local Fauna and the Lapoint Fauna. Prothero and Lucas (1996) documented the magnetostratigraphy of the Duchesnean part of the Galisteo Formation of New Mexico, wherein the two sections within the formation that yielded the Tonque Local Fauna were correlated to Chrons C17n.r1 to C17n.3n (Arroyo del Tuerto section) and Chron C17r (Cerrillos section) of the GPTS of Berggren et al. (1995). ...
... The Baca Formation of New Mexico has yielded a fauna that was originally regarded as Chadronian in age (Snyder, 1970Snyder, , 1971 Schrodt, 1980; Schiebout and Schrodt, 1981). Subsequently, other investigators reevaluated the fauna and reassigned it to the late Duchesnean (Lucas, 1983Lucas, , 1992 Lucas and Williamson, 1993; Prothero et al., 2004). Prothero et al. (2004) documented that the stratigraphic section that yielded the fauna is of reversed magnetic polarity. ...
... For instance, the oldest artiodactyl tracks are known from upper Eocene strata of Europe and North America 10-12 . Normally, artiodactyl tracks are didactyl 13,14 , but they may be tetradactyl too 11,15 . They are paraxonic and the impression of digits III and IV appear to be equally important in both didactyl and tetratractyl tracks 16 . ...
We present a new locality with at least 880 vertebrate tracks found at the top of a limestone bed from the lower Miocene Tudela Formation (Spain). The trampled surface was formed by artiodactyls that crossed a muddy carbonate accumulated under the influence of water level variations in a palustrine environment. The tracks reflect different types of morphological preservation. The well-preserved tracks have tetradactyl digit impressions caused by both manus and pes, and are the type series of a new artiodactyl ichnotaxon, Fustinianapodus arriazui ichnogen. nov. and ichnosp. nov. The rest of the tracks, which are not as well preserved, are didactyl and were classified as undetermined artiodactyl tracks. According to their preservation, morphology, size, arrangement and orientation, we propose that this tracksite is the product of a social behaviour, particularly gregariousness, of a multi-age group of artiodactyls ~19 Ma ago. The morphologic and palaeoecologic data presented here suggest that the trackmakers were a group of anthracotheres with a livelihood similar to current hippos. They crossed, periodically, a fresh water palustrine area along some preferential pathways (trails).
... Late Laramide deposits in central New Mexico consist of red beds of sandstone, conglomerate, and minor mudstone that crop out west and east of Socorro (Wilpolt et al., 1946;Wilpolt and Wanek, 1951;Potter, 1970;Snyder, 1971;Johnson, 1978;Cather, 1980;Johnson, 1984, 1986;Lucas and Williamson, 1993;Cather, 2004). Most workers have assigned these deposits to the Baca Formation (cf. ...
Every fall since 1950, the New Mexico Geological Society (NMGS) has held an annual Fall Field Conference that explores some region of New Mexico (or surrounding states). Always well attended, these conferences provide a guidebook to participants. Besides detailed road logs, the guidebooks contain many well written, edited, and peer-reviewed geoscience papers. These books have set the national standard for geologic guidebooks and are an essential geologic reference for anyone working in or around New Mexico. Free Downloads NMGS has decided to make peer-reviewed papers from our Fall Field Conference guidebooks available for free download. Non-members will have access to guidebook papers two years after publication. Members have access to all papers. This is in keeping with our mission of promoting interest, research, and cooperation regarding geology in New Mexico. However, guidebook sales represent a significant proportion of our operating budget. Therefore, only research papers are available for download. Road logs, mini-papers, maps, stratigraphic charts, and other selected content are available only in the printed guidebooks. ABSTRACT-The elongate, north-northwest trending Carthage-La Joya basin of central New Mexico developed in the middle Eocene, late in the Laramide orogeny. Sedimentary strata in the basin consist of a fluviatile red-bed succession of sandstone, conglomerate, and minor mudstone as much as ~300 m thick. Sediments were derived mostly from the nearby Sierra uplift to the west, and were deposited on an east-facing, braided-alluvial piedmont system. In the northern part of the Carthage-La Joya basin, however, scattered deposits of a southwest-facing piedmont system are preserved. These deposits may provide a depositional record of the Montosa uplift to the northeast. An axial-river facies stratigraphically intervenes between deposits of the opposing piedmont facies in parts of the northern basin and overlies Mesozoic strata on the east flank of the basin, where it shows evidence for southeasterly paleoflow. These axial-river deposits are dominated by well-rounded, varicolored quartzite clasts that appear to have been derived from the Mogollon Highland far to the west in central Arizona, and record an extraba-sinal river that at times spilled over the Sierra uplift from the Baca basin. The Carthage-La Joya basin region is extraordinarily complex structurally, but relatively few structures can be definitively shown to be Laramide. These include (1) the reverse faults and folds of the Amado-Cañas structural zone in the west-central part of the basin, (2) the Stapleton thrust fault in the northern part of the basin, (3) two northeast-striking systems of high-angle Laramide faults in the northern part of the basin (the Parida and Milagro structural zones) that may be related to the dextral-oblique Montosa fault system to the east, and (4) widespread, low-angle, top-east normal faults in Permian evaporite strata.
... The presence of a well-preserved and relatively complete specimen of Notharctus tenebrosus in the Sheep Pass Formation of Nevada is of some paleobiogeographic significance. Notharctus tenebrosus is mainly known from Wyoming and Colorado, but there is a mandibular specimen from central New Mexico (Lucas and Williamson, 1993). There is also an isolated, broken N. tenebrosus m3 known from the Uintan of Texas (West, 1982). ...
A new specimen, referred to the notharctid primate Notharctus tenebrosus, is described from the middle Eocene of eastern Nevada. The material consists of the upper and lower jaws with most tooth loci represented, including rare representation of relatively unworn upper incisors. The completeness of the specimen permits a restoration of the spatial relationships of the anterior teeth, demonstrating that there was a small zone of interproximal contact between the upper central incisors. The relatively unworn upper incisors also indicate a unique cropping mechanism in notharctids not seen before in the group. The orientation of the cropping edges on the upper central incisors changed progressively with tooth wear, implying a shift in function and/or food properties over the course of dental senescence. The provenience of the specimen highlights the wide geographic distribution of this extinct primate species. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Perry, J. M. G., G. F. Gunnell, and R. J. Emry. 2017. New cranial material of Notharctus (Mammalia, Primates, Notharctidae) from the Sheep Pass Formation, Elderberry Canyon, Nevada, with implications for incisor morphology and paleogeography of notharctine primates. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1331914. 2017
... The San Jose Formation represents the final preserved episode of Laramide sedimentary aggradation in the San Juan Basin. The San Jose is as much as 550 m thick and contains early Eocene (Wasatchian) fossil vertebrates in its middle and upper parts (Smith and Lucas, 1991;Smith, 1992b;Lucas and Williamson, 1993b). Stratal accumulation rates for the San Jose Formation, estimated from thicknesses and age relations in the Eocene depocenter in the northeast part of the San Juan Basin, are ~99 m/m.y. ...
... Very few records of Paleogene fossil vertebrates have been documented from Arizona. No Paleocene-age rocks are known from the state, and although Eocene strata occur in the southern Colorado Plateau portion of the state, and yield fossil vertebrates from nearby New Mexico (Lucas and Williamson, 1993), these strata have failed to yield fossil vertebrates in Arizona. Thus, Arizona's Paleogene vertebrate fossils are confined to occurrences of Oligocene age, and these are two records of fossil mammals briefly reviewed here. ...
The El Rito and Galisteo depocenters in north‐central New Mexico archive tectonically‐driven Paleogene drainage reorganization, the effects of which influenced sedimentation along the northwestern margin of the Gulf of Mexico. Although separated by ~100 km and lacking depositional chronology for the El Rito Formation, the two aforementioned New Mexican depocenters are commonly considered remnants of a single basin with coeval deposition and shared accommodation mechanism. Detrital zircon U‐Pb maximum depositional ages indicate that the El Rito and Galisteo formations are not coeval. Moreover, stratigraphic thickness trends and mapping relationships indicate different accommodation mechanisms for the Galisteo and El Rito depocenters; tectonically‐induced subsidence versus infilling of incised topography, respectively. The regional unconformity that bounds the base of both the El Rito and Galisteo formations is a correlative surface induced by local tectonic activity and associated drainage reorganization in the early Eocene, and was diachronously buried by northward onlap of fluvial sediments. Detrital zircon distributions in both depocenters indicate increased recycling of Mesozoic strata above the unconformity, but diverge upsection as topographic prominence of local basement‐involved uplifts waned. Sediment capture in these depocenters is coeval with deposition in other externally‐drained Laramide basins. Further, it corresponds to a period of low Laramide province‐derived sediment input and replacement by Appalachian‐sourced sediment along the northwestern margin of the Gulf of Mexico during a basin‐wide transgression. This illustrates the potential effect that pockets of sediment storage within the catchment of a transcontinental drainage system can have over the sedimentary record in the receiving marine basin.
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North America preserves an unparalleled record of Cenozoic nonmarine tetrapod trace fossils. Tracks are the most studied, followed by coprolites, and most of the other kinds of trace fossils have received little attention. Paleogene tracks are relatively uncommon in North America, but they increase in number up through the Paleogene with an acme zone in the Eocene. Tracks are much more common in the Neogene than in the Paleogene. Tracks have two Neogene acmes, one in the Miocene (late Hemingfordian-Clarendonian) and the other in the Plio-Pleistocene. Paleocene tracks are mainly restricted to fluvial strata in Laramide basins. These ichnofaunas are rare because of taphonomic factors. With the advent of more pervasive lacustrine environments in the Eocene, vertebrate ichnofaunas become more widespread, although through the Oligocene they are still mainly restricted to the intermontane West. Most Neogene ichnofaunas are from lacustrine margin strata of the desert West and Southwest, notably California. Tracks are rare in the eastern United States because of past environments and present climate. Pre-Pleistocene coprolites mainly occur in fluvial strata in basins of the western United States. Fish coprolites are very common, but under-studied in the Eocene Green River Formation basins. There is an acme for tetrapod coprolites in the Eocene-Oligocene White River Group. Pleistocene tetrapod coprolites are principally known from caves in the arid Southwest. The distribution of human coprolites is comparable. The North American track record can be divided into six biostratigraphic intervals, and there appears to be a strong distinction between Paleogene and Neogene ichnofaunas. There is a distinct difference between Pleistocene and younger coprolites, but this is heavily biased by taphonomic factors. The arid Southwest preserves abundant herbivore coprolites, which are rare in pre-Pleistocene ichnofaunas. Late Pleistocene ichnofaunas, principally in caves of the arid West and Southwest, preserve human coprolites. All five archetypal ichnofacies are present in the Cenozoic-Chelichnus, Grallator, Brontopodus, Batrachichnus and Characichnos ichnofacies. There is a distinct coprolite ichnofacies in North American caves as opposed to those in Europe, Asia and Africa. Old World caves are dominated by hyena coprolites, whereas those in North America are dominated by diverse herbivore coprolites.
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