Astoria Formation

Last updated
Astoria Formation
Stratigraphic range: Miocene
Type Geological formation
Sub-unitsFrom top to bottom: [1]
  • Big Creek sandstone member
  • Newport sandstone member
  • Silver Point mudstone member
  • Angora Peak sandstone member
Underlies Montesano Formation [2]
Overlies Lincoln Creek Formation [2]
Location
RegionFlag of Washington.svg  Washington (state) Flag of Oregon.svg  Oregon
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States

The Astoria Formation (formerly known as the Astoria shales) is a geologic formation in Washington state & Oregon. It preserves fossils dating back to the early to middle Miocene (but was formerly thought to date to the Oligocene). [1]

Contents

Description

The Astoria Formation is a thick marine formation representing a near shore, relatively shallow-water shelf deposit. [2] The formation spans a considerable amount of time, with its base considered to be lower boundary of Newportian Stage (late Early Miocene) & its top to be upper boundary of Newportian Stage (middle Middle Miocene). [1]

Fossil content

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxonTaxon falsely reported as presentDubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Mammals

Carnivorans

GenusSpeciesStratigraphyMaterialNotesImages
Desmatophoca D. brachycephalaEast of Knappton, Washington. [3] Skull elements. [3] A desmatophocid.
D. oregonensisIron Mountain Bed & an unspecified horizon. [3] [4] Multiple specimens. [3] [4] A desmatophocid.
Desmatophoca oregonensis 2.jpg
Enaliarctos E. emlongiSouth of Big Creek, Lincoln County, Oregon. [5] USNM 250345. [5] A pinnipedimorph, may instead be from the Nye Mudstone.[ citation needed ]
Enaliarctos emlongi Enaliarctos cropped.png
E. sp.Iron Mountain bed, Lincoln County, Oregon. [6] Partial skeleton (UWBM 89114). [6] A pinnipedimorph.
Enaliarctos mealsi NT.jpg
Eodesmus E. condoniIron Mountain Bed, Oregon. [7] A nearly complete cranium. [7] A desmatophocid.
Pacificotaria P. hadrommaIron Mountain bed, Lincoln County, Oregon. [8] Complete cranium (LACM 127973). [8] A pinnipedimorph.
Proneotherium P. repenningi Lincoln County, Oregon. [9] Remains of multiple individuals. [9] An odobenid.
Pteronarctos P. goedertae Lincoln County, Oregon. [10] Skulls. [10] A pinnipedimorph.

Cetaceans

GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Cophocetus C. oregonensisNorth of Yaquina Bay. [4] Associated skull, jaws & skeletal elements. [4] A baleen whale.
Dilophodelphis D. fordyceiNye Beach, Oregon. [11] USNM 214911. [11] A platanistid.
Dilophodelphis fordycei skull.stl
Wimahl W. chinookensis Washington State [12] A kentriodontid.
Zarhinocetus Z. donnamatsonaeNear Elma, Washington. [2] UCMP 86139. [2] An allodelphinid.

Perissodactyls

GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Aphelops A. sp.Fragment of skull (USNM 187123). [4] A rhinoceros.
Aphelops sp. (fossil rhinoceros) (Ash Hollow Formation, Middle Miocene; Hottell Ranch, near Harrisburg, Nebraska, USA) 5 (32695130172).jpg
Tylocephalonyx T. sp.Iron Mountain Bed, Lincoln County, Oregon. [13] A skull (NMNH 187129). [13] A chalicothere.

Birds

GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Diomedeidae Gen. et. sp. indet.East of Knappton, Washington. [14] Partial skeleton (SMF Av 644). [14] An albatross.

Cartilaginous fish

GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
Carcharodon C. megalodon North of Newport, Oregon. [15] Species reassigned to the genus Otodus .
Carcharocles megalodon (Agassiz, 1837).jpg
Cetorhinus C. piersoniNorth of Newport, Oregon. [16] Teeth. [16] A basking shark.
Cosmopolitodus C. hastalis Coos Bay, Oregon. [15] A tooth. [15] A lamnid shark.
Isurus hastalis teeth.jpg
C. planus?North of Newport, Oregon. [15] A lamnid shark.
Isurus planus teeth.png
Galeocerdo G. cf. aduncus North of Newport, Oregon. [15] A requiem shark.
Fosiles de dientes de tiburon tigre (Galeocerdo aduncus), Zuber, Florida, Estados Unidos, 2021-01-19, DD 105-144 FS.jpg
Hexanchus North of Newport, Oregon. [15] A cow shark.
Six-gill shark.jpg
Isurus I. hastalis Coos Bay, Oregon. [15] A tooth. [15] Species reassigned to Cosmopolitodus .
I. planus?North of Newport, Oregon. [15] Species reassigned to Cosmopolitodus .
Myliobatis North of Newport, Oregon. [15] An eagle ray.
Myliobatis californica monterey bay aquarium.jpg
Otodus O. megalodon North of Newport, Oregon. [15] Originally reported as Carcharodon megalodon.
Megalodon restoration.png

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Toshiyuki, Kimura; Barnes, Lawrence G. (March 2016). "New Miocene fossil Allodelphinidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Platanistoidea) from the North Pacific Ocean". Bull.Gunma Mus.Natu.Hist. 20: 1–58.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Barnes, Lawrence G. (1987-06-18). "An Early Miocene pinniped of the genus Desmatophoca (Mammalia: Otariidae) from Washington". Contributions in Science. 382: 1–20. doi: 10.5962/p.208126 . ISSN   0459-8113. S2CID   198245103.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Ray, Clayton E. (1976). "Fossil Marine Mammals of Oregon". Systematic Zoology. 25 (4): 420–436. doi:10.2307/2412515. ISSN   0039-7989. JSTOR   2412515.
  5. 1 2 Berta, Annalisa (1991). "New Enaliarctos* (Pinnipedimorpha) from the Oligocene and Miocene of Oregon and the Role of "Enaliarctids" in Pinniped Phylogeny". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 69 (69): 1–33. doi:10.5479/si.00810266.69.1. hdl:10088/19145.
  6. 1 2 Poust, Ashley; Boessenecker, Robert (2018). "Expanding the geographic and geochronologic range of early pinnipeds: new specimens of Enaliarctos from Northern California and Oregon". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 63. doi: 10.4202/app.00399.2017 . S2CID   55978096.
  7. 1 2 Tate-Jones, M. Kellum; Peredo, Carlos M.; Marshall, Christopher D.; Hopkins, Samantha S. B. (2020-07-03). "The Dawn of Desmatophocidae: A New Species of Basal Desmatophocid Seal (Mammalia, Carnivora) from the Miocene of Oregon, U.S.A." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (4): e1789867. Bibcode:2020JVPal..40E9867T. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1789867. ISSN   0272-4634. S2CID   224935328.
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  9. 1 2 Deméré, Thomas A.; Berta, Annalisa (2001-07-20). "A reevaluation of Proneotherium repenningi from the Miocene Astoria Formation of Oregon and its position as a basal odobenid (Pinnipedia: Mammalia)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 21 (2): 279–310. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0279:AROPRF]2.0.CO;2. ISSN   0272-4634. S2CID   88095414.
  10. 1 2 Berta, Annalisa (1994). New specimens of the Pinnipediform Pteronarctos from the Miocene of Oregon. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  11. 1 2 Boersma, Alexandra T.; McCurry, Matthew R.; Pyenson, Nicholas D. (May 2017). "A new fossil dolphin Dilophodelphis fordycei provides insight into the evolution of supraorbital crests in Platanistoidea (Mammalia, Cetacea)". Royal Society Open Science. 4 (5): 170022. Bibcode:2017RSOS....470022B. doi:10.1098/rsos.170022. ISSN   2054-5703. PMC   5451807 . PMID   28573006.
  12. Peredo, Carlos Mauricio; Uhen, Mark D.; Nelson, Margot D. (2018-03-04). "A new kentriodontid (Cetacea: Odontoceti) from the early Miocene Astoria Formation and a revision of the stem delphinidan family Kentriodontidae". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 38 (2): e1411357. Bibcode:2018JVPal..38E1357P. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1411357. ISSN   0272-4634. S2CID   89965454.
  13. 1 2 Coombs, Margery Chalifoux (1979). "Tylocephalonyx, a new genus of North American dome-skulled chalicotheres (Mammalia, Perissodactyla)". Bulletin of the AMNH. 164 (1): 1–64. hdl:2246/1041.
  14. 1 2 Mayr, Gerald; Goedert, James L. (July 2017). "Oligocene and Miocene albatross fossils from Washington State (USA) and the evolutionary history of North Pacific Diomedeidae". The Auk. 134 (3): 659–671. doi: 10.1642/AUK-17-32.1 . ISSN   0004-8038. S2CID   89636332.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Welton, Bruce J. (October 1972). "Fossil Sharks in Oregon" (PDF). The Ore Bin. 34 (10): 161–172.
  16. 1 2 Welton, Bruce J. (2015-08-21). "A New Species of Late Early Miocene Cetorhinus (Lamniformes; Cetorhinidae) from the Astoria Formation of Oregon, and coeval Cetorhinus from Washington and California". Contributions in Science. 523: 67––89. doi: 10.5962/p.241294 . ISSN   0459-8113. S2CID   242792009.