The Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex sits above Cretaceous-age strata ranging from ≈145-66 Ma. These Cretaceous-aged sediments lie above the eroded Ouachita Mountains and the Fort Worth Basin, which was formed by the Ouachita Orogeny. Going from west to east in the DFW Metroplex and down towards the Gulf of Mexico, the strata get progressively younger. The Cretaceous sediments dip very gently to the east.
Protohadros is a genus of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous.
Bernissartia is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodyliform that lived in the Early Cretaceous, around 130 million years ago.
The Woodbine Group is a geological formation in east Texas whose strata date back to the Early to Middle Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous. It is the producing formation of the giant East Texas Oil Field from which over 5.42 billion barrels of oil have been produced. The Woodbine overlies the Maness Shale, Buda Limestone, or older rocks, and underlies the Eagle Ford Group or Austin Chalk. In outcrop the Woodbine Group has been subdivided into the Lewisville Sandstone, Dexter Sandstone, and/or Pepper Shale formations. Thin-bedded sands of the Woodbine and Eagle Ford are collectively referred to as the "Eaglebine" oil and gas play in the southwestern portion of the East Texas region.
Pholidosauridae is an extinct family of aquatic neosuchian mesoeucrocodylian crocodylomorphs. Fossils have been found in Europe, Africa, North America and South America. The pholidosaurids first appeared in the fossil record during the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic. Jouve & Jalil (2020) described postcranial material of a pholidosaurid from the Paleocene (Danian) of Ouled Abdoun Basin (Morocco), representing the most recent record of the family. The authors also reinterpreted putative Maastrichtian dyrosaurid Sabinosuchus as a pholidosaurid, and argued that at least two independent pholidosaurid lineages reached the Maastrichtian, among which one survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Before the publication of this study it was thought that the family became extinct during the Late Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous.
Gilchristosuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodyliform. Its fossils have been found in the upper Milk River Formation of Alberta, Canada, in rocks of either latest Santonian or earliest Campanian age. Gilchristosuchus was described in 1993 by Wu and Brinkman. The type species is G. palatinus, in reference to its distinctive palatine bones.
Woodbinesuchus is an extinct genus of goniopholidid mesoeucrocodylian. Its fossils have been recovered from the Cenomanian-age Upper Cretaceous Woodbine Formation of Texas. Crocodyliform fossils are widespread in the formation.
The Williams Fork Formation is a Campanian (Edmontonian) geologic formation of the Mesaverde Group in Colorado. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, most notably Pentaceratops sternbergii,. Other fossils found in the formation are the ammonite Lewyites, neosuchian crocodylomorphs, and the mammals Glasbius and Meniscoessus collomensis.
The Britton Formation is a geologic formation deposited during the Middle Cenomanian to the Early Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous in modern-day East Texas. It forms the lower half of the Eagle Ford Group in the northern portion of East Texas. The formation was named by W. L. Moreman in 1932 for outcrops on Mountain Creek near the small town of Britton, south of Dallas. In the Dallas area it has been subdivided into the Six Flags Limestone, Turner Park Member, and Camp Wisdom Member. The Six Flags Limestone is a 3 ft thick fossiliferous calcarenite made up of pieces (prisms) of Inoceramus clams. The Turner Park and Camp Wisdom Members were subdivided based on the numerous volcanic ash beds (bentonites) found in the Turner Park, and the common occurrence of concretions in the Camp Wisdom. They are approximately 120 ft and 250 ft thick in the Dallas area. Thin sandstones known as the Templeton Member are found in Grayson County, north of Dallas, that are age equivalent to the lower part of the Turner Park Member. The Templeton Member was originally described as a part of the Woodbine, but it was recently placed in the Britton Formation of the Eagle Ford Group based on its age as derived by ammonites. Plesiosaur remains are among the vertebrate fossils that have been recovered from its strata.
Flexomornis is a genus of enantiornithean birds known from fossils found in Texas rocks belonging to the Woodbine Formation dating to the middle Cenomanian age of the late Cretaceous period. It contains a single species, Flexomornis howei, named for the amateur fossil hunter Kris Howe, who discovered the site where the fossils were found.
Susisuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliform from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. Fossils have been found from the Nova Olinda Member of the Aptian-age Crato Formation in the Araripe and Lima Campos Basins of northeastern Brazil. Named in 2003, Susisuchus is the sole member of the family Susisuchidae, and is closely related to the clade Eusuchia, which includes living crocodilians. The type species is S. anatoceps, known from a single partial articulated skeleton that preserves some soft tissue. A second species, S. jaguaribensis, was named in 2009 from fragmentary remains.
Caririchnium is an ichnogenus of ornithopod dinosaur footprint, belonging to either derived iguanodonts or basal hadrosauroids. It includes the species Caririchnium lotus from Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation and C. protohadrosaurichnos from Upper Cretaceous Woodbine Formation. Specimens are also known from the Lower Cretaceous El Castellar Formation and Camarillas Formations.
Paluxysuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian crocodyliform known from the Early Cretaceous Twin Mountains Formation of north-central Texas. It contains a single species, Paluxysuchus newmani. Paluxysuchus is one of three crocodyliforms known from the Early Cretaceous of Texas, the others being Pachycheilosuchus and an unnamed species referred to as the "Glen Rose Form". Paluxysuchus has a long, flat skull that is probably transitional between the long and narrow skulls of many early neosuchians and the short and flat skulls of later neosuchians.
Woodbine is an unincorporated community in Cooke County, Texas, United States, a few miles south of U.S. Route 82, east of Gainesville. The population was 246 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Gainesville TX-Micropolitan Statistical Area and the Texoma Region.
The Eagle Ford Group is a sedimentary rock formation deposited during the Cenomanian and Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous over much of the modern-day state of Texas. The Eagle Ford is predominantly composed of organic matter-rich fossiliferous marine shales and marls with interbedded thin limestones. It derives its name from outcrops on the banks of the West Fork of the Trinity River near the old community of Eagle Ford, which is now a neighborhood within the city of Dallas. The Eagle Ford outcrop belt trends from the Oklahoma-Texas border southward to San Antonio, westward to the Rio Grande, Big Bend National Park, and the Quitman Mountains of West Texas. It also occurs in the subsurface of East Texas and South Texas, where it is the source rock for oil found in the Woodbine, Austin Chalk, and the Buda Limestone, and is produced unconventionally in South Texas and the "Eaglebine" play of East Texas. The Eagle Ford was one of the most actively drilled targets for unconventional oil and gas in the United States in 2010, but its output had dropped sharply by 2015. By the summer of 2016, Eagle Ford spending had dropped by two-thirds from $30 billion in 2014 to $10 billion, according to an analysis from the research firm Wood Mackenzie. This strike has been the hardest hit of any oil fields in the world. The spending was, however, expected to increase to $11.6 billion in 2017. A full recovery is not expected any time soon.
Wannchampsus is an extinct genus of paralligatorid neosuchian, close to but not a true crocodilian. It is known from fossils discovered in Lower Cretaceous rocks in north-central Texas, United States.
Deltasuchus is a genus of neosuchian crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous of Texas, specifically in the Woodbine Formation, which was a part of the Appalachian continent during the Cretaceous. It is known from one species, D. motherali, named in 2017 by Thomas Adams, Christopher Noto, and Stephanie Drumheller. It was a large crocodyliform with an estimated total body length of 5.6–6 metres (18–20 ft). In 2021, new material was described, allowing Deltasuchus to be placed within the family Paluxysuchidae as the sister taxon to Paluxysuchus.
Tarsomordeo is an extinct genus of paralligatorid neosuchian known from the Early Cretaceous Twin Mountains Formation in Texas. It contains a single species, T. winkleri.
Titanochampsa is a genus of large mesoeucrocodylian from the Maastrichtian Marilia Formation of Brazil. Although only known from a single skull roof, the material shows that Titanochampsa was not a member of Notosuchia, which were previously believed to have been the only crocodyliforms present in the strata of the Bauru Group. Body size estimates vary greatly and range between 2.98–5.88 m due to the incomplete nature of the holotype fossil. The overall anatomy of the skull roof, alongside its size and possible affinities with Neosuchians, may suggest that it was a semi-aquatic ambush hunter similar to modern crocodilians.
