Neoplagiaulax is a mammal genus from the Paleocene of Europe and North America. In the case of the latter continent, there may possibly be some slightly earlier, Upper Cretaceous material too. It existed in the age immediately following the extinction of the last dinosaurs. This animal was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata, lying within the suborder Cimolodonta and family Neoplagiaulacidae.
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone, and limestone and is light gray, greenish gray, or red. Most of the fossils occur in the green siltstone beds and lower sandstones, relics of the rivers and floodplains of the Jurassic period.
The Lance (Creek) Formation is a division of Late Cretaceous rocks in the western United States. Named after Lance Creek, Wyoming, the microvertebrate fossils and dinosaurs represent important components of the latest Mesozoic vertebrate faunas. The Lance Formation is Late Maastrichtian in age, and shares much fauna with the Hell Creek Formation of Montana and North Dakota, the Frenchman Formation of southwest Saskatchewan, and the lower part of the Scollard Formation of Alberta.
The Cloverly Formation is a geological formation of Early and Late Cretaceous age that is present in parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah in the western United States. It was named for a post office on the eastern side of the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming by N.H. Darton in 1904. The sedimentary rocks of formation were deposited in floodplain environments and contain vertebrate fossils, including a diverse assemblage of dinosaur remains. In 1973, the Cloverly Formation Site was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
The Fort Union Formation is a geologic unit containing sandstones, shales, and coal beds in Wyoming, Montana, and parts of adjacent states. In the Powder River Basin, it contains important economic deposits of coal, uranium, and coalbed methane.
Proscalops is an extinct genus of insect-eating mammal. Formerly placed in the defunct order Insectivora, it is now placed with the Eulipotyphla. The first and most numerous Proscalops fossils were found in the Sharps Formation of South Dakota, near Wounded Knee. Other samples have been found in the Brule Formation of South Dakota, the Deep River Formation of Montana, and in Wyoming.
Ectocion is an extinct genus of placental mammals of the family Phenacodontidae. The genus was earlier classified as Gidleyina and Prosthecion It reached 6 to 12 kg and was similar in size and morphology to Copecion. Both these herbivorous ungulates likely occupied similar ecological niches.
Brachychampsa is an extinct genus of alligatoroid, possibly a basal caiman. Specimens have been reported from New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, New Jersey, and Saskatchewan, though only those from Montana, Utah, and New Mexico are based on material sufficient to justify the referral. One specimen has been reported from the Darbasa Formation of Kazakhstan, although the species status is indeterminate for the fossil. The genus first appeared during the late Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous and became extinct during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Cretaceous. Brachychampsa is distinguished by an enlarged fifth maxillary tooth in the upper jaw.
The Mowry Shale is an Early Cretaceous geologic formation. The formation was named for Mowrie Creek, northwest of Buffalo in Johnson County, Wyoming.
Bahndwivici is an extinct genus of lizard known from a nearly complete and articulated skeleton discovered in rocks of the Green River Formation of Wyoming, United States. The skeleton is very similar to that of the modern Chinese crocodile lizard, Shinisaurus.
Paleontology in the United States refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the United States. Paleontologists have found that at the start of the Paleozoic era, what is now "North" America was actually in the southern hemisphere. Marine life flourished in the country's many seas. Later the seas were largely replaced by swamps, home to amphibians and early reptiles. When the continents had assembled into Pangaea drier conditions prevailed. The evolutionary precursors to mammals dominated the country until a mass extinction event ended their reign.
The Graneros Shale is a geologic formation in the United States identified in the Great Plains as well as New Mexico that dates to the Cenomanian Age of the Cretaceous Period. It is defined as the finely sandy argillaceous or clayey near-shore/marginal-marine shale that lies above the older, non-marine Dakota sand and mud, but below the younger, chalky open-marine shale of the Greenhorn. This definition was made in Colorado by G. K. Gilbert and has been adopted in other states that use Gilbert's division of the Benton's shales into Carlile, Greenhorn, and Graneros. These states include Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and New Mexico as well as corners of Minnesota and Iowa. North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana have somewhat different usages — in particular, north and west of the Black Hills, the same rock and fossil layer is named Belle Fourche Shale.
The Montana Group is a geologic group in South Dakota. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period.
The Three Forks Shale is a geologic formation in Montana and North Dakota. It preserves fossils dating back to the Devonian period.
The Lebo Member is a geologic member of the Fort Union Formation in Montana and Wyoming. It preserves fossils dating back to the Paleogene period.
The Park City Formation is a fossiliferous sedimentary formation from the late Permian of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. It is defined by its cherty, gray to pinkish limestone, calcareous siltstone, and cherty sandstone. The rocks in this formation formed along a shallow marine continental shelf and were regularly interrupted by the Phosphoria Formation due to tectonic forces and sea level change.
The Belle Fourche Formation or Belle Fourche Shale is a fossiliferous early Late-Cretaceous geologic formation classification in Wyoming. Named for outcrops in Belle Fourche River, Wyoming, this unit name is also used in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
The Wasatch Formation (Tw) is an extensive highly fossiliferous geologic formation stretching across several basins in Idaho, Montana Wyoming, Utah and western Colorado. It preserves fossils dating back to the Early Eocene period. The formation defines the Wasatchian or Lostcabinian, a period of time used within the NALMA classification, but the formation ranges in age from the Clarkforkian to Bridgerian.
The Hoback Formation is a geologic formation in west-central Wyoming, located within the Hoback Basin. It formed as a result of increased sedimentation rates from the Laramide Orogeny and preserves fossils dating back to the late Paleogene period, through the early Eocene.
The Red Peak Formation is a geologic formation in Wyoming belonging to the Chugwater Group. It preserves fossils dating back to the Triassic period.
