The type locality of Belodon buceros Cope, 1881, a phytosaur (Archosauria: Parasuchidae) from the Upper Triassic of north-central New Mexico
- ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Andrew B. Heckert Ph.D., Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- Appalachian State University (ASU )
- Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
Abstract: Here we establish the stratigraphic and geographic provenance of the "Belodon" buceros Cope. The holotype, originally collected by David Baldwin in 1881, is an incomplete phytosaur skull discovered near "Huerfano Camp" in north-central New Mexico. This skull is the first phytosaur skull described from the American West, and its precise provenance has never been established. Baldwin's use of the term Huerfano Camp may refer to Orphan Mesa, an isolated butte just south of Arroyo Seco. Fossils collected by Baldwin, and our subsequent collections from Orphan Mesa, are from a fossiliferous interval high in the Petrified Formation of the Chinle Group. These strata yield a tetrapod fauna including the aetosaur Typothorax coccinarum and the phytosaur Pseudopalatus, both index taxa of the Revueltian (early-mid Norian) land-vertebrate faunachron. "Belodon" buceros is correctly referred to Pseudopalatus buceros (Cope) and is an index taxon of the Revueltian land-vertebrate faunachron.
The type locality of Belodon buceros Cope, 1881, a phytosaur (Archosauria: Parasuchidae) from the Upper Triassic of north-central New Mexico
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Lucas, S.G., Heckert, A.B., Zeigler, K.E., and Hunt, A.P., (2002) The type locality of Belodon buceros Cope, 1881, a phytosaur (Archosauria: Parasuchidae) from the Upper Triassic of north-central New Mexico, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 21, p. 189-192. (ISSN 1524-4156) Archived in NC DOCKS with permission of the editor. The version of record is available at: http://econtent.unm.edu/
- Language: English
- Date: 2002