the age of dinosaurs
TRANSCRIPT
THE AGE OFDINOSAURS
IN NEW MEXICO
TH
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GE
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E NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND SCIENCEISBN: 978-0-692-00661-0
AgeofDinos_Cover.indd 1 11/18/09 11:35 AM
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New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
A Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
2009
The Age ofdinosAurs
in new mexico
4
Text: Spencer G. Lucas
Art: Matt Celeskey and Mary Sundstrom
Photography: David Baccadutre
Additional credits on pp. 80–81
Front Cover:
The Ambush: Saurophaganax and Seismosaurus
Painting by Mary Sundstrom and Matt Celeskey
Page 1 image:
NMMNH P-42200 Coelophysis bauri, photo by David Baccadutre
Page 2 image:
New Mexico’s Seacoast exhibit, photo by David Baccadutre
Published by New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
1801 Mountain Road N.W. Albuquerque New Mexico 87104 USA
http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org
Executive Director: Hollis J. Gillespie
Original printing: December, 2009
Printed in Canada
ISBN: 978-0-692-00661-0
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A division of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the State of New Mexico,
the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science opened its doors to
the public in 1986. The Museum’s mission is to foster an understanding and
appreciation of the diverse natural history and physical sciences of New Mexico
and the Southwest for the benefit of residents of, and visitors to New Mexico.
The Museum thus provides educational experiences and promotes scientific
inquiry through focused collections, research, public programs and exhibitions.
More than 40,000 square feet of exhibition space are open to the public in
the Museum’s main building. Most of these exhibits focus on a walk through
geologic time that showcases billions of years of New Mexico history. Every
year about a quarter of a million people visit the Museum, learning about natural
history and science from the Museum’s exhibits and other public programs.
The Museum’s website (nmnaturalhistory.org) provides
diverse information about its programs and resources.
The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
is the only place where the public can learn in-depth about
the entire age of dinosaurs in New Mexico. Three exhibit
halls focus on New Mexico’s record of dinosaur domination
through the three periods of the Mesozoic Era:
Age of Dinosaurs Exhibits
TriassicDawn of the Dinosaurs
CretaceousNew Mexico’s Seacoast
JurassicAge of Super Giants
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Dinosaurs originated during the Triassic,
and New Mexico has a world-famous fossil
record of some of the earliest dinosaurs
and their contemporaries. The “Dawn of
the Dinosaurs” hall displays many of the
Late Triassic fossils from New Mexico
and is key to understanding the origin
and early evolution of the dinosaurs.
The Certified New Mexico
Fossil seal, used in this book
and on labels throughout
the Museum, indicates that
you are looking at real fossils
found in New Mexico.
Dawn of the Dinosaurs:Triassic New Mexico
7
Early andMiddle Triassic
Permian/TriassicExtinction
Ery
thro
such
ian
Introduction
Video: First Evolving,Persisting, & Going Extinct
Lun
gfis
h
Ph
yto
sau
rP
lace
rias
Aet
osau
rs
Ph
yto
sau
rs
Phytosaur vs.Placerias(pp. 18–19)
Coelophysisblock
(pp. 20–23)
Pseudopalatus(p. 18)
AmmonitesAmphibiansDinosaur tracks
(pp. 24–25)
Reptiles Fish
Pterosaurs
MammalsDinosaursLiving Fossils
NM
Sta
teFo
ssil
Sanmiguelia(p. 17)
Petrified wood (p. 16)
Zamites (p. 17)
Triassic New Mexico
88
Brachiosaurusfore limb
Introduction
Lake Todilto(pp. 30–31)
Jura
ssic
En
viro
nm
ents
Ely Kish Mural (pp. 32–33)
Gig
anti
sm
Din
osa
urs
to
Bir
ds
Stegosaurus
Seismosaurus(pp. 36–38)
Saurophaganax(p. 39)
99
The Late Jurassic was the golden age of dinosaurs,
when huge dinosaurs—the largest land animals ever—
stalked the landscape. The “Age of Super Giants” hall
features New Mexico’s own Seismosaurus, one of the
largest dinosaurs to have walked the planet.
Jurassic:Age of Super Giants
10
Cretaceous Menagerie
Clayton Lake Tracks(pp. 48–49)
Daspletosaurus(p. 69)
Pentaceratops(pp. 66–67)
Nodocephalosaurus(p. 64)
The BloomingCretaceous
pp. 58–59
The K/T Extinctionpp. 74–75
Dinosaurs as Living A
nimals
Pentaceratops(pp. 66–67)
Prenocephale(p. 65)
Parasaurolophus(pp. 62–63)
Tyrannosaurus(pp. 72–73)
The Bisti Beast(pp. 70–71)
Hadrosaur Skin(pp. 60–61)
Introduction
Forest
The Sea Advancesand Recedes(pp. 50–51)
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During the Cretaceous, seas covered parts of New
Mexico, and along their shorelines lived some of the last
dinosaurs. “New Mexico’s Seacoast” explores the interplay
of land and sea environments in Cretaceous New Mexico
that preceded the final extinction of the dinosaurs.
Coal Mine
Reading the Rockspp. 54–55
Mammals
Under the Cretaceous Seapp. 52–53
Evolator
Marine Tank
The K/T Extinctionpp. 74–75
Mosasaur
Cretaceous:New Mexico’s Seacoast
1212
1313
Dawn of the DinosaursTriAssic
252 to 201 million years ago
The Global
Triassic
During the Triassic Period, all the con-
tinents were united into one super-
continent called Pangea (pan-JEE-uh).
A single, vast ocean called Panthal-
assa (pan-thuh-LASS-uh) surrounded
Pangea. What is now New Mexico
was located in western Pangea just
north of the Equator.
The Triassic world lacked ice caps,
and warm and subtropical climates
prevailed across Pangea. There were
only two seasons, wet and dry.
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In northern New Mexico, the Moenkopi
Formation was deposited by subtropical
rivers during part of the Middle Triassic.
A few fossil plants and reptiles, and many
fossils of amphibians have been collected
from New Mexico’s Moenkopi rocks.
There are no
Early Triassic
rocks or fossils
in New Mexico.
For most of the Early and Middle
Triassic, New Mexico must have
been an erosive landscape in
which no rocks were formed.MoenkopiFormation
Triassic outcrops in New Mexico today
TriassicNew Mexico
1515
The red sandstones, conglomerates and shales that form the Chinle Group, such as
those seen here in Bull Canyon in eastern New Mexico, preserve most of the Late
Triassic history of the state.
Chinle Group
Triassic Plants
Long before flowering plants appeared,
Triassic floras were dominated by seed
ferns, ginkgophytes, cycads, cycadeoids
and conifers. Leaf impressions and petrified
logs of these plants are common in Triassic
rocks and document the lush tropical
forests that covered Triassic New Mexico.
16
Araucarioxylon arizonicum Fossilized wood, NMMNH P-20382Petrified Forest Formation, Chinle GroupNavajo County, Arizona
17
The only Middle Triassic fossil plants
known from New Mexico are leaf
impressions of the cycad Zamites
(za-MIGHT-eez), which grew in
thickets along the Moenkopi river banks.
Some paleontologists identify the Late Triassic
plant Sanmiguelia (san-me-GELL-ee-uh) as
a palm, which, if correct, would make it the
oldest flowering plant (angiosperm). Most
paleontologists, however, regard Sanmiguelia
as a bizarre plant whose evolutionary
relationships to other plants are unclear.
Zamites powelli Leaf impression, NMMNH P-33279Moenkopi FormationGuadalupe County, New Mexico
Sanmiguelia lewisii Leaf impression, NMMNH P-49570Garita Creek Formation, Chinle GroupSan Miguel County, New Mexico
About 225 million years ago, a phytosaur
chewed on the end of this femur (thigh
bone) of a dicynodont (die-SIGH-no-dont).
The phytosaur tooth marks are the circular
to elliptical holes in the fossil bone.
18
Dinosaurs were not the top predators of the Late Triassic
landscape. Instead, the crocodile-like phytosaurs (FY-toe-saurs)
were the largest (up to 10 meters/32.8 feet long) and most ferocious
meat-eaters on the floodplain. Phytosaurs probably attacked their
prey by ambushing them with a sudden lunge from the water.
PseudopalatusSkull, NMMNH P-4256Bull Canyon Formation, Chinle GroupQuay County, New Mexico
Heterodontichnites huntiTooth marks on dicynodont femur,NMMNH P-13001Santa Rosa Formation, Chinle GroupSanta Fe County, New Mexico
1919
20
About 2 meters (6.5 feet) long, lightly built and bipedal (walking
on hind legs), Coelophysis (see-low-FY-sis) was a quick and
agile predator of the Late Triassic floodplain. The long curved
neck, relatively large eyes, and grasping hands suggest that
this dinosaur was a visual hunter that grabbed its prey (insects,
small reptiles, and mammals) with its mouth or hands.
Coelophysis
212121
This block of rock is full of skeletons of Coelophysis, a Late
Triassic dinosaur that is New Mexico’s official state fossil.
These skeletons are part of an extensive and world-famous
bone bed of Coelophysis discovered during the 1940s at Ghost
Ranch near Abiquiu in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico.Coelophysis bauriMultiple skeletonsRock Point Formation, Chinle GroupRio Arriba County, New Mexico
222222
Coelophysis bauriMultiple skeletonsRock Point Formation, Chinle GroupRio Arriba County, New Mexico
This page:(Left) Articulated skeleton
(Top right) Forearm and hand, ribs, other elements
Facing page:(Top left) Skull with hyoid bones
(Middle left) Tail vertebrae
(Bottom left) Furcula (wishbone)
(Bottom right) Multiple elements
(Top right) Large snout and jaws
2323
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The oldest definite dinosaur
tracks are called Grallator
(GRALL-ay- tor). They are the tracks
of relatively small, meat-eating
dinosaurs like Coelophysis, that
lived during the Late Triassic.
Trace fossils like tracks and tooth
impressions have different names
than the animals that made them.
Unless an animal literally “died
in its tracks,” paleontologists
can’t be certain whose foot made
the impression. Because of this,
the trace fossils receive their
own names so that they can
be discussed by scientists.
GrallatorFootprint, NMMNH P-44187Redonda Formation, Chinle GroupQuay County, New Mexico
2525
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Age of Super GiantsJurAssic
201 to 146 million years ago
The Entrada Sandstone is a rock formation
found across the northern half of New
Mexico. It was formed from windblown
sand in a desert that covered much of the
American Southwest 165 million years
ago, similar to the Sahara Desert of today.
Few plants or animals lived in the Jurassic
desert, and none of their fossils have been
preserved in New Mexico, though dinosaur
tracks have been found in the windblown
sandstone in Utah.
The Global
Jurassic
The supercontinent Pangea split apart
during the Jurassic, 200 to 145 million
years ago. New Mexico was near the
western shoreline of Pangea, about
20 to 30 degrees north of the Jurassic
equator. The Jurassic was the golden
age of dinosaurs, and giant dinosaurs
ruled the hot, humid river floodplains
and dense forests of conifers, cycads
and ferns that covered New Mexico
during the Late Jurassic, 150 million
years ago.
28
Jurassic outcrops in New Mexico today
There are no Early Jurassic rocks in New Mexico.
During this time, Jurassic New Mexico must have been
an erosive landscape in which no rocks were formed.
JurassicNew Mexico
Green and red shale, sandstone, and conglomerate deposited
by river channels on floodplains or in lakes make up the Late
Jurassic Morrison Formation, when giant dinosaurs roamed
New Mexico.
During the Middle Jurassic, about 160
million years ago, a huge salty lake (Lake
Todilto) formed in the Entrada desert of
northern New Mexico. It was very similar to
shallow salt lakes found today in the deserts
of Africa, the Middle East and Australia.
Mud on the bottom of Lake Todilto formed
limestone, and when the lake dried out, a
thick layer of gypsum was left behind.
2929
Morrison FormationEntradaSandstone
SummervilleFormation
Tod
ilto
Form
.
3030
During the Middle Jurassic, about 160 million years ago, a huge
salty lake (Lake Todilto) formed in the Entrada desert of northern
New Mexico. It was very similar to shallow salt lakes found
today in the deserts of Africa, the Middle East and Australia.
Mud on the bottom of Lake Todilto formed limestone, and when
the lake dried out, a thick layer of gypsum was left behind.
Lake Todilto
Todilto Fishes
Very few animals lived in Jurassic
Lake Todilto. Two kinds of bony fish
swam in the salty water. The larger
fish, Hulettia (hew-LET-ee-uh), ate the
smaller fish, Todiltia (to-DILL-tee-uh),
which ate tiny crustaceans.
31
Todiltia schoeweiFish with stomach contents,NMMNH P-14470Todilto FormationGuadalupe County, New Mexico
Hulettia americanaFish, NMMNH P-14458Todilto FormationGuadalupe County, New Mexico
3232
33
Murals of prehistoric animals painted by
world famous artist Ely Kish can be seen at
the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
D. C., the Canadian Museum of Nature in
Ottawa, Ontario and in many other museums,
galleries, and books. Ely Kish painted
this mural for the New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science in 1985-1986.
The mural depicts a late afternoon in New
Mexico during the Late Jurassic, 150 million
years ago. A river slowly flows by, dinosaurs
are active in the river and along its bank, and
pterosaurs fly overhead. The giant sauropod
dinosaur Camarasaurus wades in the water,
while the meat-eater Allosaurus threatens a
Stegosaurus, and a plant eater, Camptosaurus,
takes a dust bath on the river bank.
Ely Kish Mural
3434
Discovered by Museum volunteer Rod Peterson in the 1960s,
the Peterson quarry is New Mexico’s most extensive Late
Jurassic dinosaur bonebed. Located west of Albuquerque
in the Morrison Formation, volunteers from the New Mexico
Museum of Natural History and Science, lead by Rod and
his son Ron, have devoted many hundreds of person days
to excavating the bonebed. Like most of the other great
Morrison Formation dinosaur bonebeds, the fossils of sauropod
dinosaurs dominate the Peterson quarry assemblage.
Peterson Quarry
35
To date, more than 70 plaster jackets of fossil
bones have been collected at the quarry and,
besides sauropods, include the fossils of New
Mexico’s only known Jurassic turtle and the partial
skeleton of the giant meat eater Saurophaganax.
36
One of the largest sauropods, 110-foot-(33-meter)-long Seismosaurus
(SIGHS-mo-sore-us) is known only from New Mexico. The tail of this giant
plant eater was like a whip that could be used to defend against attacking
predators. Seismosaurus weighed an estimated 30 tons (27 metric tons).
Seismosaurus hallorumVertebrae and hip bones, NMMNH P-3690Morrison FormationSandoval County, New Mexico
Seismosaurus
37
Many people believe an entire skeleton can be reconstructed from a single bone. Not so!
Paleontologists compare single bones or a few bones of a new dinosaur to the complete
skeletons of similar dinosaurs to reconstruct a complete skeleton of the new dinosaur.
Paleontologists compared the hip and back bones of Seismosaurus to the complete
skeleton of the closely-related dinosaur Diplodocus (di-PLOD-oh-kuss)
to reconstruct the skeleton of Seismosaurus seen here.
38
The Discovery of Seismosaurus
In 1979, Arthur Loy and Jan Cummings were hiking in the
Bureau of Land Management area called the Ojito, northwest
of Albuquerque. Loy spotted the large bones first and casually
called to his friend, “Come see what you make of this.” Cum-
mings recalls the event: “I instantly recognized from thirty
feet the obvious vertebrae of a large dinosaur. The articulated
vertebral column looked like a huge chicken neck laying half in
and half out of sandstone.”
For fear of the precious fossils being vandalized, Cummings and Loy
kept their find secret, only sharing it with a small group of friends. In
1985, with increased recreational activity in the Ojito, they reported
their find to the BLM and the newly-established New Mexico Museum
of Natural History. Excavation by the Museum uncovered the partial
skeleton of a huge new sauropod, later named Seismosaurus (“[earth]-
shaking lizard”), one of the longest
dinosaurs known to science.
39
Volunteers of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History
and Science collected this portion of a Saurophaganax
skeleton at the Peterson quarry in 1995. Fossils of
Saurophaganax are very rare, and this is the only one
known from New Mexico. One of the largest meat-eating
dinosaurs of the Jurassic, Saurophaganax (sore-oh-FAG-
uh-nax) was an ambush predator nearly as large as the
46 foot (14 meter) Cretaceous Tyrannosaurus rex.
SaurophaganaxNMMNH P-26083Morrison FormationBernalillo County, New Mexico
Saurophaganax
40
4141
42
Collected from the Upper Jurassic Morrison formation near San Ysidro,
this vertebra is from the only partial skeleton of Camarasaurus (KAM-
uh-ruh-sore-us) known from New Mexico. “Only” 55 feet (17 meters)
long, Camarasaurus was one of the most common dinosaurs that
lived on the Late Jurassic river floodplains of the American West.
front back
Camarasaurus grandisVertebra, NMMNH P-21094Morrison FormationBernalillo County, New Mexico
Not all Jurassic dinosaur fossils are huge. In
1995, a three-year-old boy discovered these small
fragments of eggshell of a meat-eating dinosaur
in Jurassic rocks west of Albuquerque. The boy
was sure he had found dinosaur eggshell, so
his father brought the boy and his find to the
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and
Science. Museum paleontologists agreed with
the boy—he had found New Mexico’s first
evidence of Jurassic dinosaur eggs!
Dinosaur eggshells have a bumpy surface
texture and are made of calcium carbonate. Their
microscopic shell structure is also distinctive,
and allows paleontologists to distinguish
dinosaur eggs from the eggs of other reptiles.
43
An incomplete Diplodocus (di-PLOD-oh-kus) skull was
collected at the Peterson quarry. Notice the numerous pencil-
like (tubular) teeth of the dinosaur. These teeth are those of a
plant eater that clipped off and tore vegetation with them.
Diplodocus sp.Teeth, NMMNH P-26804Morrison FormationBernalillo County, New Mexico
Dinosaur eggshell fragmentsNMMNH P-26142Morrison FormationSandoval County, New Mexico
4444
New Mexico’s SeacoastcreTAceous
146 to 65 million years ago
4545
The Global
Cretaceous
By Cretaceous time, the Pangean su-
percontinent had fragmented, and
the outlines of the modern continents
were almost clear. High sea levels
flooded vast areas of most of the con-
tinents, and the climate was a global
greenhouse. Cretaceous New Mexico
was a tropical seacoast.
In eastern New Mexico, rocks of the
Tucumcari Shale, Mesa Rica Sandstone
and Pajarito Formation document Early
Cretaceous muddy seas, shoreline and
river delta environments and are host to
thousands of dinosaur footprints.
46
PajaritoFormation
TucumcariShale
Mesa RicaSandstone
Cretaceous outcrops in New Mexico today
Early Cretaceous rocks document the
invasion of seas into New Mexico—
the first time since the Permian
Period, more than 150 million years
earlier. Throughout the Cretaceous,
the seas continued to inundate parts
of New Mexico, only (and finally)
leaving the state just before the end
of the age of dinosaurs.
CretaceousNew Mexico
Late Cretaceous rocks are known throughout New Mexico, but most famous to paleontologists
are strata of the Fruitland and Kirtland formations near Farmington—they yield one of the world’s
best fossil records of plants, turtles, crocodiles, dinosaurs and mammals and other organisms
that lived during the 10 million years that preceded dinosaur extinction.
47
OjoAlamoForma-
tion
KirtlandFormation
FruitlandFormation
48
Not all dinosaur fossils are bones and teeth. Dinosaur tracks (footprints) are important fossils that
tell us how dinosaurs walked, how fast they walked, and some of the things they were doing.
The river floodplains of Jurassic New Mexico (Morrison Formation) were followed by a sea that covered much
of the state during the Cretaceous. Near Clayton in northeastern New Mexico, erosion has uncovered one of
New Mexico’s oldest Cretaceous seacoasts, where dinosaurs lived 100 million years ago. The typical Late
Jurassic dinosaurs—sauropods, stegosaurs, and allosaurs—were replaced during the Cretaceous by ornithopods
(including the duck-billed dinosaurs), ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs) and tyrannosaurs. Sauropods were the
dominant plant eaters of the Late Jurassic. But the dinosaur footprints found near Clayton were almost all made
by ornithopods, and thus indicate that these dinosaurs were the dominant plant-eaters of the Cretaceous.
Clayton Lake Tracks
4949
The majority of the 800 tracks preserved at
Clayton Lake State Park were made by blunt-
toed, plant-eating, ornithopod dinosaurs like
those pictured above. But, sharp-clawed,
meat-eating, theropod dinosaurs also left a
few tracks (right).
50
During the Cretaceous Period, shallow seas covered parts of New Mexico and much
of the middle of North America. This happened because rapid movement of the
Earth’s tectonic plates and volcanic eruptions decreased the volume of the ocean
basins, thus pushing seawater out of the ocean basins and onto the continents.
90 million years agothe sea covered most of the state
98 million years agothe Cretaceous sea first flooded part of New Mexico
The Sea Advances…
51
During times of slow tectonic movements and little volcanism, the seafloor subsided and
the volume of the ocean basins increased. Seawater retreated into the enlarged ocean
basins and the seas receded from the continents. The changing volume of the ocean basins
thus controlled the advance and retreat of the sea across Cretaceous New Mexico.
68 million years agojust before the dinosaur extinction, most of New Mexico was above sea level.
80 million years agothe sea had retreated to cover only a small area.
…and Recedes
Mosasaurs were large marine lizards
closely related to living monitor
lizards, such as the Komodo Dragon.
Some mosasaurs grew to lengths
of more than 50 feet (17 meters).
They were voracious, air-breathing
predators of the Cretaceous seas.
52
The shallow and warm seas that covered parts of New
Mexico during the Late Cretaceous teemed with life.
Sharks, ammonites and giant marine reptiles—the
mosasaurs and plesiosaurs—swam over the sandy and
muddy bottoms. Clams and snails populated the sea floor.
Under the Cretaceous Sea
Ammonites are extinct relatives of living octopus and nautilus. Ammonites first
evolved about 400 million years ago and became extremely abundant and diverse in
the Cretaceous oceans, going extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, at the same time
as the dinosaurs. Their fossils are found at many locations in New Mexico.
Ammonites lived in ornate shells and were able to adjust the buoyancy of these
shells to float at different depths in the water. They also moved with “jet propulsion”
by squirting water in one direction and moving in the opposite direction. They had
numerous tentacles for grasping prey.
Long-necked plesiosaurs were
fish-eating reptiles. They were
air breathers who must have laid
their eggs on dry land.
53
At the Cretaceous shoreline, three types of sediments were deposited—coal-forming floodplain and swamp deposits on land, sand at the beach, and sea-floor mud offshore.
As the sea advanced over the land, beach sands were depos-ited on top of floodplain and swamp deposits.
When the sea receded, beach sands were deposited on top of sea-floor mud.
land
beach
sea
1
land
beach
advancing sea
2
landbeach
receding sea
3
54
Sedimentary rocks, such as shale, sandstone
and limestone, preserve a record of the ancient
environment during their time of formation. A
swampy river delta becomes sandstone, shale
and coal; a beach sand becomes sandstone; and a
sea floor becomes limestone and shale. Evidence
of animals and plants that lived in these ancient
environments becomes fossils in the rock.
This outcrop of Cretaceous sedimentary
rocks near Farmington tells the story of the
Cretaceous sea as it covered New Mexico
and then retreated to the east. As the ancient
environment changed from ocean to beach to
coal swamp and river delta, the rocks changed.
Reading the Rocks
Lewis ShaleReceding Sea
Pictured Cliffs SandstoneBeach
Fruitland FormationRiver Deltas & Swamps
5555
Reading the Rocks
5656
57
Located near Farmington in northwestern New Mexico, the Bisti/De-na-zin
Wilderness is 45,000 acres of remote and desolate terrain, mostly badlands
developed in the Late Cretaceous Fruitland and Kirtland formations.
This Federal Wilderness area and nearby badlands yield
one of the world’s best fossil records of the dinosaurs
and other organisms—especially plants, turtles,
crocodiles and mammals—that lived during the
10 million years that preceded the extinction of
the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago.
The Bisti/De-na-zin Wilderness
58
A new kind of plant evolved during the Cretaceous, and completely
transformed the world. These new, flowering plants (angiosperms)
grew, reproduced, and healed much faster than other non-flowering
plants. Before the Cretaceous, the world was dominated by conifers
and cycads. By the end of the Cretaceous, flowering plants had
taken over. Today, they compirse about 90% of all land plants.
Flowering plants provided new food for insects, and many
of the flowering plants used insects to distribute their pollen
for reproduction. Some of these plants evolved colorful and
aromatic flowers to attract insects, and, at the same time,
some insects evolved preferences for particular flowers and
special mouths for feeding on flower pollen and nectar.
MagnoliopsidaLeaf and fragments, NMMNH P-38080Ringbone FormationHidalgo County, New Mexico
The Blooming Cretaceous
59
The earliest flowers were small and simple. Beetles probably
fed on them and pollinated them. Other pollinators soon
evolved, including bees, butterflies, wasps and flies.
Quercus viburnifoliaLeaves, NMMNH P-43208 Crevasse Canyon FormationSocorro County, New Mexico
6060
61
Popularly known as the duck-billed dinosaurs, hadrosaurs were
among the most common and successful plant-eating dinosaurs of
the Cretaceous. Large, up to 30 feet (9 meters) long, hadrosaurs had
broad and toothless beaks (the “duck bill”) and a battery of cheek teeth
that they used to grind up vegetation. Some of the hadrosaurs had
hollow tubes or crests on their skulls that may have served as visual
display and probably acted as resonators to produce distinctive calls.
HadrosauridaeSkin Impression, block and detail NMMNH P-26111Ringbone FormationHidalgo County, New Mexico
Hadrosaurs
62
Parasaurolophus is one of the largest hadrosaurs and had the
largest crest on its skull of any hadrosaur. Only about ten skulls
of Parasaurolophus have ever been found, and this one, from the
Kirtland Formation near Farmington, is one of the most complete.
The Parasaurolophus skull shown here was analyzed with a
medical CT scanner that revealed the complex internal tubing.
Computer modeling of the respiratory passages of Parasaurolophus,
a joint research program of the New Mexico Museum of Natural
History and Science and Sandia National Laboratories, revealed
that it was capable of producing very distinctive sounds.
Parasaurolophus tubicenSkull and crest, NMMNH P-25100Kirtland FormationSan Juan County, New Mexico
Parasaurolophus Crest
Some duck-billed dinosaurs had elabo-
rate crests of various shapes and sizes
on their skulls. These crests are hollow
and contained part of the animal’s re-
spiratory passages. It is likely that the
crest was used to produce visual signals
and to create distinctive sounds.
63
64
The ankylosaurs were heavily-armored
plant-eating dinosaurs of the Cretaceous.
Ankylosaur fossils (mostly armor plates)
are known from the Late Cretaceous
badlands of northwestern New Mexico.
These stocky, quadrupedal dinosaurs
were like army tanks, relying on their
extensive and thick body armor for
protection from meat-eating dinosaurs.
New Mexico’s best known ankylosaur
is Nodocephalosaurus, an ankylosaur
unique to the state. Represented
by a skull and armor found near
Farmington in the Kirtland Formation,
Nodocephalosaurus closely resembles
some ankylosaurs found in Mongolia,
and this suggests dinosaur migration
between Asia and North America
during the Late Cretaceous.
Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensisSkull, State Museum of Pennsylvania VP–900Kirtland FormationSan Juan County, New Mexico
Ankylosaurs
65
The dome-headed dinosaurs, pachycephalosaurs, were
small, plant-eating dinosaurs of the Cretaceous with greatly
thickened bones of the skull roof. Some paleontologists
believe that they fought by butting heads.
This skull is one of the few pachycephalosaur fossils to be found
in New Mexico. From the Kirtland Formation near Farmington,
it was originally named Sphaerotholus. But, it is now assigned
to Prenocephale, a kind of pachycephalosaur also known from
Mongolia. This provides strong evidence of dinosaur migration
between Asia and North America during the Late Cretaceous.
“Sphaerotholus” goodwiniDome, NMMNH P-27403(left, right, and rear views)Kirtland FormationSan Juan County, New Mexico
Pachycephalosaurs
66
One of the most diverse and successful groups
of dinosaurs of the Cretaceous, ceratopsians
were the horned dinosaurs, best known from
Triceratops. New Mexico’s best known ceratopsian
is Pentaceratops, from the Fruitland and Kirtland
formations near Farmington. Pentaceratops
takes its name, which means “five-horned face,”
from the five horns—one above the nostril, two
above the eyes and one on each cheek.
Pentaceratops is a type of ceratopsian dinosaur
long found only in New Mexico, but recently a
Pentaceratops fossil was found in Colorado.
Pentaceratops sternbergiiHorncore in left and right side views NMMNH P-21098Kirtland FormationSan Juan County, New Mexico
Ceratopsians
67
This is a cast of a relatively small but nearly
complete Pentaceratops skull found near
Farmington. Note that the frill (shelf of bone
projecting from the back fo the skull) has two
large, oval openings in it for muscle attachment.
Pentaceratops sternbergiiSkull cast, NMMNH C-3175Fruitland FormationSan Juan County, New Mexico
6868
Daspletosaurus sp.Partial skeleton, NMMNH P-25049Fruitland FormationSan Juan County, New Mexico
6969
Tyrannosaurs were huge, bipedal meat-eating
dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous. At the top of
the Late Cretaceous food chain, these monsters
are typified by Tyrannosaurus rex, the king of the
tyrant lizards. Fossils of T. rex are known from
New Mexico, as are fossils of other tyrannosaurs,
including Albertosaurus and the “Bisti Beast.”
David Thomas (1928–1999) sculpted this
life-sized model of Albertosaurus that stands
in front of the New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science.
Tyrannosaurs
7070
71
This skull is a new kind of tyrannosaur that is similar to, and closely
related to, the famous Tyrannosaurus rex. Distinctive features
include the horns over the eyes, the roughened snout, and the
unusually large teeth. This tyrannosaur was the top predator
near New Mexico’s seacoast during the Late Cretaceous.
This tyrannosaur has a large injury (hole) on the lower
jaw, perhaps the bite mark of another predator. It lost the
tip of one tooth, perhaps during feeding. It also had a
broken but healed rib. The tyrannosaur survived these in-
juries, though they probably caused extreme pain.
TyrannosauridSkull, NMMNH P-27469Kirtland FormationSan Juan County, New Mexico
“The Bisti Beast”
72
This jaw collected near Elephant Butte Reservoir in Sierra
County. Some of its serrated teeth, such as the one shown
here full-size, are nearly as large as a banana.
Fossils of Tyrannosaurus rex are rare and known
only from the American West. In New Mexico,
two fossils of T. rex are well known.
Tyrannosaurus rexTooth and lower jawNMMNH P-3698McRae FormationSierra County, New Mexico
New Mexico’s T. rex
The other fossil is the only
footprint known of Tyrannosaurus
rex, discovered near Raton in
Colfax County. This huge track is
the largest known footprint of a
meat-eating dinosaur.
7373
7474
By the end of the Cretaceous, dinosaurs had
lived on Earth for more than 150 million years.
They occupied every continent, from the
equator to near the north and south poles. The
last of the plant-eating dinosaurs included the
ceratopsians and the hadrosaurs, and the last
of the meat-eating dinosaurs included the very
large and successful Tyrannosaurus rex.
7575
Approximately 65 million years ago, the age of the
dinosaurs ended suddenly when a mass extinction
terminated the dinosaurs, ammonites and some other
kinds of animals. The survivors of this extinction included
the ancestors of all modern animals and plants. The
extinction coincided with a collision between the earth
and a comet or asteroid off the coast of Mexico.
Very rarely, perhaps only once every 100 million years or so, a
mountain-sized rock collides with the Earth, causing drastic
global climate change and extinctions. A little more than 100
miles (160 km) in diameter, the Chicxulub impact crater off
the coast of Yucatan, Mexico, is believed to record the impact
that ended the Cretaceous Period. The object that struck the
Earth to create this crater was probably about 6 miles (10 km)
in diameter and traveling at speeds between 15 and 20 km per
second. A small asteroid may have created Chicxulub. When
the asteroid hit, it released energy equivalent to more than
five billion Hiroshima atom bombs (100 million to 10 trillion
megatons or about 10,000 times today’s total nuclear arsenal).
The Age of Dinosaurs Ends
Alamosaurus* (AL-uh-mo-sore-us)
A Late Cretaceous sauropod from San Juan
and Sierra counties. [for Ojo Alamo, a spring
in San Juan County]
Albertosaurus (al-BURR-toe-sore-us)
A Late Cretaceous theropod from San Juan and
Hidalgo counties. [for Alberta, Canada]
Allosaurus (AL-oh-sore-us)
A Late Jurassic theropod from Sandoval and
Cibola counties. [Greek allos, “other”]
Anasazisaurus* (ah-nah-SAHZ-ee-sore-us)
A Late Cretaceous hadrosaur from San Juan
County. [for the Anasazi people]
Camarasaurus
(KAM-uh-ruh-
sore-us) A Late
Jurassic sauropod
from Sandoval County.
[Greek camara, “chamber”]
Caririchnium (car-eer-IK-nee-um)
Cretaceous ornithopod footprints from
Union, Quay, San Juan, Catron and Doña Ana
counties. [the Carir basin in Brazil and Greek
ichnos, “trace”]
Coelophysis* (see-low-FI-sis)
Late Triassic theropod from Rio Arriba
County; New Mexico’s official state fossil.
[Greek koilos, “hollow,” and physis, “form”]
Diplodocus (di-PLOD-oh-kus)
Late Jurassic sauropod from
Bernalillo and Sandoval counties.
[Greek diplos, “double,” and
dokos, “beam”]
Grallator (GRAL-uh-tore)
Late Triassic theropod footprints found
in Union and Quay counties. [Grallae, the
heron/stork family of birds]
Kritosaurus* (krit-oh-SORE-us)
Late Cretaceous hadrosaur from San Juan
County. [Greek kritos, “noble”]
Magnoavipes (mag-no-AY-vee-pes)
Early Cretaceous theropod footprint from
Union and Doña Ana counties. [Latin
magnus, “large,” avis, “bird” and pes, “foot”]
Nodocephalosaurus*
(no-do-SEPH-uh-lo-sore-us) Late Cretaceous
ankylosaur from San Juan County. [Latin
nodos, “knot” and Greek kephale, “head”]
76
Generic names of the better known New Mexico dinosaurs are listed here with a guide
to pronunciation, a brief description of the dinosaur’s distribution in New Mexico and the
etymology of the dinosaur name (sauros is Greek for “lizard” or “reptile”). An asterisk after
the name means that the dinosaur or dinosaur track was first discovered in New Mexico.
Coelophysis
CamarasaurusNodocephalosaurus
New Mexico Dinosaur Dictionary
Parasaurolophus
(par-uh-sore-ALL-uh-fus) Late Cretaceous
hadrosaur from San Juan County. [Greek para,
“similar” and Saurolophus, another hadrosaur
with a rear-projecting crest]
Pentaceratops* (pen-tuh-SAYR-uh-tops)
Late Cretaceous ceratopsian from San Juan
County. [Greek pente, “five” and ceratops,
“horned face”]
Prenocephale (pree-no-SEPH-uh-lee)
Late Cretaceous pachycephalosaur from San
Juan County. [Greek prenes, “sloping” and
kephale, “head”] Also known as Sphaerotholus
[Greek sphaira, “ball” and tholus, “dome”].
Saurophaganax (sore-oh-FAG-uh-nax)
Late Jurassic theropod from Bernalillo County.
[“King of the reptile eaters,” from the Greek
sauros, “reptile,” phagos, “eater” and
anax “king;”]
Seismosaurus* (SIGHS-mow-sore-us)
Late Jurassic sauropod from Sandoval County.
[Greek seismos, “earthquake”]
Stegosaurus (STEG-oh-sore-us)
Late Jurassic stegosaur from
McKinley and Guadalupe
counties. [Greek stegos,
“plated”]
Tyrannosauripus* (ti-RAN-oh-sore-ih-pus)
Late Cretaceous footprint of Tyrannosaurus
from Colfax County. [Greek tyrannos, “tyrant”
and Latin pedes, “foot”]
Tyrannosaurus (ti-RAN-oh-sore-us)
Late Cretaceous theropod from San Juan and
Sierra counties. [Greek tyrannos, “tyrant” ]
77
Saurophaganax
Parasaurolophus
Prenocephale
Stegosaurus
Tyrannosauripus
78
More information on the Age of Dinosaurs in New Mexico, and the museum’s Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous exhibits,
can be found at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science website: www.nmnaturalhistory.org
Foster, J. R. and Lucas, S. G. (editors). 2006. Paleontology and geology
of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science, Bulletin 36, 249 pp.
Fraser, N. 2006. Dawn of the dinosaurs: Life in the Triassic. Indianapolis,
Indiana University Press, 307 pp.
Gillette, D. D. 1994. Seismosaurus: The Earth Shaker. New York,
Columbia University Press, 205 pp.
Harris, J. D., Lucas, S. G., Spielmann, J. A., Lockley, M. G., Milner,
A. R. C. and Kirkland, J. I. (editors). 2006. The Triassic-Jurassic
terrestrial transition. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and
Science, Bulletin 37, 607 pp.
Heckert, A. B. and Lucas, S. G. (editors). 2002. Upper Triassic
stratigraphy and paleontology. New Mexico Museum of Natural
History and Science, Bulletin 21, 301 pp.
Long, R. A. and Houck, R. 1988. Dawn of the dinosaurs: The Triassic in
Petrified Forest. Petrified Forest Museum Association, Petrified
Forest National Park, 96 pp.
Lucas, S. G. 1993. Dinosaurs of New Mexico. Albuquerque, New
Mexico Academy of Science, 130 pp.
Lucas, S. G., Connealy, S., Celeskey, M., Sundstrom, M. and Baccadutre, D.
2008. Triassic New Mexico: Dawn of the dinosaurs. Albuquerque,
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 48 pp.
Lucas, S. G. and Heckert, A. B. (editors), 2000. Dinosaurs of New
Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science,
Bulletin 17, 300pp.
Lucas, S. G. and Hunt, A. P. (editors). 1989. Dawn of the age of
dinosaurs in the American Southwest. Albuquerque, New
Mexico Museum of Natural History, 414 pp.
www.nmnaturalhistory.org/sci_dinodawn.html
Lucas, S.G., Kirkland, J. I. and Estep, J. W. (editors) 1998. Lower
and middle Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems. New Mexico
Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 14, 330 pp.
Lucas, S. G. and Sullivan, R. M. (editors) Late Cretaceous
vertebrates from the Western Interior. New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science, Bulletin 35, 410 pp.
Sullivan, R. M. and Williamson, T. E. 1999. A new skull of
Parasaurolophus (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Kirtland
Formation of New Mexico and a revision of the genus. New
Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 15,
52pp.
The Museum has assembled a comprehensive look at New
Mexico’s State Fossil, the Triassic dinosaur Coelophysis, online at
www.nmstatefossil.org
The Museum’s scientific publications are available to view or
download at www.nmnaturalhistory.org/bulletins.html
Further Reading
Spencer G. Lucas received a Ph.D. in geology from Yale University in 1984 and has been Curator of Geology and Paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science since 1988. He has collected and studied Triassic fossils for more than 20 years and was curator of the “Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” “Age of Super Giants,” and “New Mexico’s Seacoast” exhibits at the Museum.
Matt Celeskey has spent the past 15 years designing and illustrating exhibits for zoos and museums. He joined the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in 1998, and has created art and interactive displays for the Museum’s Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous halls.
David Baccadutre began his museum career in 1977 at the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History while pursuing a degree in photojournalism. Since that time he has participated in the development, design, and production of numerous exhibits. He has been with the New Mexico Museum of Natural History since 1987 and currently serves as the manager of the Exhibit Design and Media Arts department.
Mary Sundstrom has a degree in Fine Arts. Her experience encompasses art instruction, fine arts printer/printmaker, book illustrator with 17 children’s book titles and an Audobon field guide series as well as numerous exhibit illustrations for the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
79
A gift from the Janet Upjohn Stearns Charitable Trust
made the publication of this catalogue possible.
The Legislature of the State of New Mexico and many
donors provided funding to develop, design and build the
Museum’s Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous exhibit halls.
The exhibits showcased here have been created, enhanced, and
maintained by the dedicated efforts of the staff and volunteers
at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and
the New Mexico Museum of Natural History Foundation.
Andrew Heckert, Robert Sullivan, Jessica Sapunar-Jursich and
Hollis J. Gillespie provided helpful reviews of the manuscript.
Christie Gross prepared many of the images for publication.
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
80
CoverJurassic ambush illustration: Mary Sundstrom and Matt Celeskey
Page 1Coelophysis photograph: David Baccadutre
Page 2Cretaceous seacoast photograph: David Baccadutre
Page 5Museum photograph: Tim Aydelott
Pages 7–11Exhibit photographs: David BaccadutreExhibit diagrams: NMMNHS Exhibit Design department
Pages 12–13Coelophysis flock illustration: Mary Sundstrom and Matt Celeskey
Pages 14–15Triassic globe illustration: Mary SundstromTriassic outcrop map after Heckert, A. B., Lucas, S. G., and Sullivan, R. M., 2000, Triassic Dinosaurs in New Mexico: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 17. pp. 17–26. Moenkopi & Chinle photographs: Spencer G. Lucas
Pages 16–17 Triassic forest & plant Illustrations: Mary SundstromSpecimen photographs: David Baccadutre
Pages 18-19Specimen photographs: David BaccadutreRedondasaurus & Placerias illustration: Matt Celeskey and Mary Sundstrom
Pages 20-21Coelophysis illustration: Matt CeleskeyCoelophysis block photograph: Lorrie Latham
Pages 22–23 Coelophysis photographs: David Baccadutre
Pages 24–25Grallator photograph: David BaccadutreCoelophysis illustration: Mary Sundstrom and Matt Celeskey
Pages 26–27 Jurassic ambush illustration: Mary Sundstrom and Matt Celeskey
Pages 28–29 Jurassic globe illustration: Matt CeleskeyJurassic outcrop map after Lucas, S. G., and Heckert, A. B., 2000, Jurassic Dinosaurs in New Mexico: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 17. pp. 43–45Entrada and Todilto photographs: Spencer G. LucasMorrison photograph: David Baccadutre
Pages 30–31Lake Todilto map: Mary SundstromLake Todilto mural: Ely KishMural & specimen photographs: David Baccadutre
Pages 32–33Mural: Ely KishPhotographs: NMMNHS archives
Pages 34–35All images courtesy of Ron Peterson
Pages 36–37Seismosaurus bone map: Matt Celeskey
Pages 38–39Seismosaurus & Saurophaganax illustrations: Matt CeleskeySeismosaurus quarry photograph: NMMNHS archivesSaurophaganax bone map: Matt Celeskey
Picture Credits
81
Pages 40–41Jurassic exhibit photograph: Paul Sealey
Page 42–43Specimen photographs: David BaccadutreCamarasaurus & Diplodocus illustrations by Matt Celeskey
Pages 44–45The “Bisti Beast” illustration: Mary Sundstrom and Matt Celeskey
Pages 46–47Cretaceous globe illustration: Matt CeleskeyCretaceous outcrop map after Lucas, S. G., Heckert, A. B., and Sullivan, R. M., 2000, Cretaceous Dinosaurs in New Mexico: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 17. pp. Mesa Rica footprint photograph: Spencer G. LucasKirtland Formation photograph: Robert M. Sullivan
Pages 48–49Footprint photographs: Spencer G. LucasOrnithopod trackmakers illustration: Karl Huber
Pages 50–51Cretaceous sea maps from Roberts, L.N.R., and Kirschbaum, M.A., 1995, Paleogeography of the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior of middle North America-- Coal distribution and sediment accumulation: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1561, 115 p., (1 pl.).http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/coal_poster/cretcoals/cret.coals.html
Pages 52–53Cretaceous undersea mural: Karen Carr
Pages 54–55Advancing/Retreating sea diagrams: David BaccadutrePhotograph: David Baccadutre
Pages 56–57Bisti/De-na-zin photographs: Robert M. Sullivan
Pages 58–59Plant/Pollinator illustrations: Mary SundstromSpecimen photographs: David Baccadutre
Pages 60–61Juvenile Parasaurolophus models: Stephen CzerkasExhibit and specimen photographs: David Baccadutre
Pages 62–63Parasaurolophus crest photograph: David BaccadutreParasaurolophus crest CAT scan image from Sullivan, R.M. and Williamson, T.E., 1999. A new skull of Parasaurolophus (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Kirtland Formation of New Mexico and a revision of the genus. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 15. Lambeosaur illustrations: Matt Celeskey
Pages 64–65Nodocephalosaurus photograph: Robert M. SullivanNodocephalosaurus & Sphaerotholus illustrations: Matt CeleskeyPachycephalosaur dome photographs: David Baccadutre
Pages 66–67Pentaceratops skull photograph: Paul Sealey“Spike” photograph: David BaccadutrePentaceratops horncore photographs: Spencer G. LucasIllustrations: Matt Celeskey
Pages 68–69Photographs: David Baccadutre
Pages 70–71The “Bisti Beast” illustration: Mary Sundstrom and Matt Celeskey“Bisti Beast” fossil photographs: David BaccadutreBisti Badlands photograph: Robert M. Sullivan
Pages 72–73Tyrannosaurus rex jaw photograph: David BaccadutreTyrannosaurus rex illustration: Matt CeleskeyFootprint photograph: Spencer G. Lucas
Pages 74–75Chicxulub impact mural: Anton FriisChicxulub impact mural photograph: David BaccadutreCretaceous extinction mural detail: Karen Carr
Pages 76–77Coelophysis and Stegosaurus illustrations: Mary SundstromAll other illustrations: Matt Celeskey
Page 82Coprolite photograph: David Baccadutre
Pages 83–84Details of Cretaceous extinction mural: Karen Carr
82
Albertosaurus .............................69
Allosaurus .............................32–33
ammonites ..................... 52–53, 75
ankylosaurs ...............................64
Araucarioxylon ........................... 16
“Bisti Beast” .............44–45, 70–71
Bisti/De-na-zin Wilderness ....56–57
Camarasaurus .................32–33, 42
Camptosaurus .......................32–33
ceratopsians............ 66–67, 75, 83
Chinle Group ....................... 14–15
Chicxulub .............................74–75
Clayton Lake State Park ......48–49
conifers ..................................... 16
Coelophysis .............1, 12–13, 20–25
Cretaceous Period .... 10–11, 44–75
Cretaceous sea .............. 46, 50–55
cycads .........................................17
Daspletosaurus ...........................68
Diplodocus ................................. 43
eggshell (dinosaur) .................. 43
Entrada Sandstone .............28–29
extinction .............................74–75
flowering plants ............. 17, 58–59
footprints .... 24–25, 46, 48–49, 73
Fruitland Formation ............47, 55, 56–57
Grallator .............................. 24–25
Hadrosaurs ................... 60–63, 75
Heterodontichnites ..................... 18
Hulettia ................................30–31
Jurassic Period ............8–9, 26–43
Kirtland Formation ........47, 56–57
Kish, Ely ................................32–33
Lake Todilto ..........................30–31
Lewis Shale ................................55
Mesa Rica Sandstone ...............46
Moenkopi Formation ...........14, 17
Morrison Formation ......29, 34–35
mosasaurs ................................ 52
Nodocephalosaurus ....................64
Ojo Alamo Formation............... 47
ornithopod footprints .........48–49
pachycephalosaurs ................... 65
Pajarito Formation ....................46
Pangea ................................ 14, 28
Parasaurolophus ..................62–63
Pentaceratops ......................66–67
Peterson Quarry .............34–35, 39
petrified wood ........................... 16
phytosaurs ...........................18–19
Placerias ................................18–19
Pictured Cliffs Sandstone ..........55
plants ....................... 16–17, 58–59
plesiosaurs .................................53
Prenocephale .............................. 65
Pseudopalatus ............................ 18
Sanmiguelia ................................17
Saurophaganax .. 26–27, 39, 40–41
Seismosaurus ........... 26–27, 36–41
sharks ....................................52-53
Sphaerotholus ............................ 65
Stegosaurus ...........................32–33
Summerville Formation ............29
Todiltia ..................................30–31
Todilto Formation ..........29, 30–31
Triassic Period ..............6–7, 12–25
trace fossils .......18, 24–25, 43, 46, 48–49, 61, 73
Tucumcari Shale .......................46
Tyrannosauridae ............68–73, 75
Tyrannosaurus rex ..... 72–73, 75, 84
Zamites .......................................17
Dinosaur coproliteNMMNH P-27431Kirtland FormationSan Juan County, New Mexico
Index
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THE AGE OFDINOSAURS
IN NEW MEXICO
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E NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND SCIENCEISBN: 978-0-692-00661-0
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