Pierre Shale

The Pierre Shale is a geologic formation or series in the Upper Cretaceous which occurs east of the Rocky Mountains in the Great Plains, from Pembina Valley in CanadaCanadian Fossil Discovery Centre. to New Mexico.

The Pierre Shale was described by Meek and Hayden in 1862 in the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences (Philadelphia). They described it as a dark-gray shale, fossiliferous, with veins and seams of gypsum, and concretions of iron oxide. The Pierre Shale is about 3,138 feet (956m) thick at the type locality. It overlies the Niobrara division and underlies the Fox Hills beds. It was named for an occurrence near Fort Pierre on the Missouri River in South Dakota.

The Pierre Shale is of marine origin and was deposited in the Western Interior Seaway. It is correlative with other marine shales that occur farther west, such as the Bearpaw Shale, Mancos Shale and the Lewis Shale. It correlates with the Lea Park Formation in central Alberta. The Pierre is overlain by marginal marine deposits of the Fox Hills Formation.

Most of the formation was deposited in the Campanian Age of the late Cretaceous. However, the discovery of fossils of Baculites baculus in the uppermost beds of the Pierre Shale in the Raton, New Mexico area show that deposition continued here into the early Maastrichtian.

Mineral resources The Pierre Shale is the host formation for commercial petroleum deposits in the Florence and Cañon City fields in Fremont County, Colorado, and the Boulder Oil Field in Boulder County, Colorado. More recently, natural gas has been extracted in the Raton Basin in southern Colorado. The shale formation is usually too impermeable for hydrocarbon extraction, but produces in areas where it is naturally fractured or fractured by artificial means.

Paleofauna

Reptiles Dinosaurs Birds reported from the Pierre Shale Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImagesBrodavisB. varneriSouth DakotaSharon Springs Member.Aotsuka, K. and Sato, T. (2016). Hesperornithiformes (Aves: Ornithurae) from the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale, Southern Manitoba, Canada. Cretaceous Research, (advance online publication). A hesperornithiform.B. sp.ManitobaPembina Member.A hesperornithiform.HesperornisH. bairdiSouth DakotaSharon Springs Member.A hesperornithid.H. chowiManitoba & South DakotaPembina, Millwood, & Sharon Springs Members.A hesperornithid.H. lumgairiManitobaPembina Member.A hesperornithid.H. macdonaldiManitoba & South Dakota.Gammon, Pembina, Millwood(?), & Sharon Springs Members.A hesperornithid.H. mengeliManitoba & South Dakota.Pembina & Sharon Springs Members.A hesperornithid.H. regalisManitoba, South Dakota, & KansasGammon, Pembina, & Sharon Springs Members.A hesperornithid.H. sp.Manitoba.Pembina Member.Probably referrable to H. regalis, but indistinguishable from H. crassipes.HesperornithidaeGen. et. sp. indeterminateManitoba.Pembina Member.Multiple isolated synascra.A hesperornithid.HesperornithiformesFam., gen. et sp. indet. Manitoba.Pembina Member.Multiple vertebrae, phalanges, tibiotarsal fragments and a fibula.IchthyornisI. sp.Manitoba.Pembina Member."MDM B77.03.07 (vertebral centrum), B80.05.14 (femur)".An ichthyornithe.

Ornithischians reported from the Pierre Shale Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic positionMaterial Notes ImagesClaosaurusC. affinisSouth Dakota."Pedal phalanx (lost)."Currently considered dubious.

Mosasaurs Mosasaurs reported from the Pierre Shale Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic positionMaterial Notes ImagesClidastesC. propythonManitoba.Pembina Member.MDM M74.10.06 (skull, mandible, vertebral column).A mosasaurine also known from the Mooreville Chalk.Western Kansas.Vertebrae associated with 'Plesiosaurus' gulo currently lost.Likely represents the stomach contents of 'Plesiosaurus' gulo.GlobidensG. dakotensisSouth Dakota.Sharon Springs Member.FMNH PR 846.A globidensin.G. schurmanniAt the Big Bend of the Missouri River, Buffalo County, South Dakota.Uppermost DeGrey Formation."SDSM 74764, partial anterior skeleton, including cranium, jaws, cervical and trunk vertebrae partially articulated, pectoral girdles, partial anterior paddle, isolated humerus and ulna, and isolated caudal vertebrae".G. sp.Northwestern Logan County, Kansas.Upper level of the Sharon Springs Member.A nearly complete right dentary (FHSM VP–13828).A globidensin.HainosaurusH. pembinensisNear Morden, Manitoba.Pembina Member.Reassigned to the genus Tylosaurus.JormungandrJ. walhallaensisCavalier County, North Dakota.Pembina Member.Partial skull & skeleton.A mosasaurine.LatoplatecarpusL. nichollsae"19 km northwest of Morden, Manitoba".Pembina Member.A skeleton (CMN 52261).A plioplatecarpine.MosasauridaeSubfam., gen. et. sp. indeterminateManitoba.Pembina Member.Fragmentary specimens consisting "mostly of vertebral scraps, ribs and flipper elements".MosasaurusM. conodon"South Dakota".A mosasaurine.M. missouriensis"South Dakota".A mosasaurine.PlatecarpusP. coryphaeusPembina Member.Now deemed synonymous with P. tympaniticus.P. ictericusPembina Member.Now deemed synonymous with P. tympaniticus.P. somenensisPembina Member.Found to nest within Latoplatecarpus nichollsae.P. tympaniticusPembina Member.Abundant specimens.A pliopatecarpine and the most abundant mosasaur of the Pierre Shale.P. sp.Manitoba.Pembina Member."Isolated skull elements, humeri and pectoral girdles".Probably referrable to P. tympaniticus based on size, but size alone is deemed insufficient for species identification.PlioplatecarpinaeGen. et. sp. indeterminateManitoba.Pembina Member.Poorly preserved and unprepared remains.PlioplatecarpusP. nichollsae"19 km northwest of Morden, Manitoba".Pembina Member.A skeleton (CMN 52261).Reassigned to the genus Latoplatecarpus.PrognathodonP. overtoniSouth Dakota.Virgin Creek Member.KUVP 950 (the holotype for the species) and SDSM 3339.A mosasaurine also found in the Bearpaw Shale.TylosaurinaeGen. et. sp. indet.Manitoba.Pembina Member.Isolated limb and girdle elements (MDM M74.28.05, M75.20.06, M82.13.17, M84.09.18).TylosaurusT. pembinensis Near Morden, Manitoba.Pembina Member. A tylosaurine.T. prorigerManitoba.Pembina Member.MDM M77.17.07 quadrate, FMNH PR 591 quadrate, pubis, vertebrae.A tylosaurine.T. rexKansasSharon Springs MemberKUVP 5033 and FHSM VP-2496A tylosaurine.

Plesiosaurs {| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="7" align="center" | Plesiosaurs reported from the Pierre Shale Formation |- ! Genus !! Species !! Location !Stratigraphic position !Material!! Notes !! Images |- |style="background:#E6E6E6;" rowspan=2|Alzadasaurus |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|A. pembertonii |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|South Dakota. |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|Sharon Springs Member. |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|Complete specimen (SDSM 451). |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|Synonymized with Styxosaurus snowii. |style="background:#E6E6E6;"| |- |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|cf. A. pembertonii |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|Manitoba. |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|Pembina Member. |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|A specimen consisting of two femora, one humerus, two epipodials, fragments of the pelvic girdle and 14 vertebrae (MDM P83.02. 18). |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|Synonymized with Styxosaurus snowii. |style="background:#E6E6E6;"| |- |rowspan=2|Elasmosauridae |Gen. et. sp. indeterminate |Manitoba. |Pembina Member. | |Remains undiagnostic at the generic level.

|Logan County, Kansas. |Upper Sharon Springs Member. |KUVP 129744, a specimen associated with 47 gastroliths. |An elasmosaurid too fragmentary to identify below the family level.

|?E. sp. |Manitoba. |Pembina Member. |"An incomplete specimen (TMP P84.162.4), consisting of pelvic girdle, distal end of a propodial, an epipodial and 21 vertebrae".

|Plesiosauria |Fam., gen. et. sp. indeterminate | |Pembina Member. |"Specimens consisting mostly of ribs, caudal vertebrae, broken girdle plates and phalanges". |"Further identification is not possible due to poor preservation and the incomplete nature of the material".

|'Plesiosaurus''' |'P.' gulo|Western Kansas. | |KUVP 1329 (the original specimen consisted of "eleven cervical, thirteen dorsal, and seven or eight other vertebrae" but now only 3 vertebrae remain). |An elasmosaurid associated with the remains of a mosasaur (likely Clidastes), representing the stomach contents of the plesiosaur.

|cf. S. snowii|Manitoba. |Pembina Member. |A specimen consisting of two femora, one humerus, two epipodials, fragments of the pelvic girdle and 14 vertebrae (MDM P83.02. 18). |An elasmosaurid originally reported as cf. Alzadasaurus pembertoni.

|Kansas. |Sharon Springs Member. |NJSM 15435. |An elasmosaurid tentatively assigned to the genus Styxosaurus.

Pterosaurs Pterosaurs reported from the Pierre Shale Formation Genus Species LocationStratigraphic positionMaterial Notes ImagesPteranodonP. longicepsKansas, Wyoming & South Dakota.Sharon Springs Member.A skull and multiple postcranial elements.A pteranodontid.

Turtles Turtles reported from the Pierre Shale Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic positionMaterial Notes ImagesArchelonA. ischyrosAlong the Cheyenne River in Custer County, South Dakota.A protostegid.A. sp.Colfax County, New Mexico.3 carapace fragments (NMMNHP-16079 and P-16104).A protostegid.ProtostegaP. sp.Manitoba.Pembina Member.MDM T75.01.06.A protostegid.TestudinesFam., gen. et sp. indet.Manitoba.Pembina Member.Remains only identifiable as "small turtles", probably referrable to Toxochelys latiremis.ToxochelysT. latiremisKansas & Manitoba.Pembina Member.

Fish

Bony fish

Pierre Shale

Bron en licentie